Anandvan Gokhle Mala - A village feel in the city!

Some of my Maharashtrian friends highly recommended this place for an authentic veg thali. Today being a vegetarian Saturday(Read Saraswati Puja), we landed at this place in a group of 6 adults and a kid for trying out their lunch thali.  








It a huge sprawling dhaba style place, complete with a play area for kids, lots of 'khaats' to lie down and chit chat after a full stomach. Lots of greenery around and a huge farm of guava and tamarind trees(to name a few), this place has a village feel to it. 

The moment you enter it kind of soothes your nerves, such a refreshing ambiance, not very far from the city. It's about 12 km from Vishrantwadi chowk on Alandi road. Once you cross the Sai Baba temple, look out for this place on the left. Easy to find! Lots of parking space.

On your arrival, there is a counter to buy food coupons from. Rs 200 per head. There is a 'gram udyog' counter at the entrance to pick up some authentic handmade papads and pickles.

The place is huge enough to have at least 100-120 people dine at one go. It's a covered area with four sides open in the middle of a farm. Lots of women folk are seen doling out dishes from the kitchen and also serving food. They seem to have a kitchen and serving staff of not less than 30 people, mostly women(probably from the nearby village). @Feministas - Please read this as women empowerment in the true sense! ;) :)

The thali included - Vangi ki bhaji, pithla, palak wadi, bhakris(jawari, bajra), chapati, thecha, misal(matki), kadi, dal khichdi, assorted papad and gulab jamun. The greedy me did expect some more items on the thali. ;) It's an unlimited thali, so eat until you are completely satisfied and full. The palak pakodas(served hot) were very crisp and tasty. They had a hint of ajwain and seem to have the right mix of rice flour and besan to make them crispy and crunchy. The brinjal curry was very basic and didn't appeal to me too much. It was low on salt and masala, both. My home cook does make amazing vangi ki bhaji, hence I had a comparison in mind to make.

Pithla is a thick gravy sorts dish, primarily made using besan and spices. It was mildly spiced and went well with the bhakris. There was a choice of jawar and bajra bhakris to choose from. The matki was the usual run of the mill kinds. Nothing extraordinary about this one. However, my favorite was the 'kadhi'. Slightly sweetened with just the perfect balance of salt and spices, it had a great texture and taste. I downed at least 2 full bowls of the same. They served 3 gulab jamuns, just enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. The food is very homely and is served hot. That the forte of this place. The thecha is a spicy condiment, very commonly seen on a Maharashtrian thali. It is primarily prepared using green chillis, garlic, salt, oil and a tadka of cumin, sesame etc. It was very spicy, yet very tasty to tingle my taste buds. The sweet lemon pickle served was also very tasty. 

The ladies did serve a generous dollop of makhan with bhakris. The dal khichdi was a rice-moong dal one and was served with a huge spoonful of desi ghee. I loved this one! 

We also ordered some chaas to end the meal. Very basic, with just salt added to the butter milk. 

The overall experience was good. Go there with your families for a tiny outing on a weekend. Lots of 'khaats' to a take a nap after your meal - a rare luxury when dining out! ;)

Wish to see a better variety of food and taste too. :)

Baba Ramdev Dhaba - a culinary trip to Rajasthan, sitting in Pune!

A bit tough to find, we reached the place in a group of 12 on a Sat evening. To our surprise the place was choc-a-block with people and vehicles! With around 60-70 people already in waiting, we were a bit dissapointed to have travelled more than 30km from our homes and see such a long queue. However, after a wait of 35-40 mins, we got a table, much to our relief. 






They have tables placed very close to each other, with hardly any space to move around. Lots of waiters  scurrying across serving aromatic yummy food. A very basic seating arrangement, a bit too messy to be frank. However, my expectations on this front were very high either.

The menu is a very elaborate one, complete with a huge variety of authentic Rajasthani fare to choose from. 





We went for a thali which included Rajwadi dal baati churma, chaas, lassi, baigan bharta, sev, gatte ki kadi and khicha papad. We also ordered masala khicha papad, gulab jamun and rabdi. What a treat! The baatis were served in a clay pot, brimming with desi ghee. The 'baatis' were half dipped in ghee and were served steaming hot. 

The dal itself was very flavorful and served in a little bucket. Churma was yummy and was perfectly sweetened. The air was filled with the aroma of desi ghee and it made us hungrier. The quantity was sufficient enough to be shared by two people. The pot had 4 large baatis. The gatte ki kadi was also very yummy. Lassi was way too thick in texture and sweetened over the top - a let down. Overall it was a very satisfying authentic meal, which made my taste buds very happy! 

Service is very quick and efficient.

Going by my experience of similar food until now in Pune, I can say this is the most authentic dal baati in town. Go there for the love of authentic dal baati! Don't expect too much from the ambiance point of view. It's a dhaba, which is always brimming with hungry people, dining and in waiting :)

Hotel Gavran Kolhapuri

I must admit I'm not a big fan of Kolhapuri cuisine, thanks to my average experiences until I visited Gavran Kolhapuri. Some of my work colleagues highly recommended this place and I finally made it on a Friday afternoon.

As was advised, we booked a table in advance. It's a tiny home run joint, very close to the EON IT park. This place is quite a hit amongst the IT crowd of EON. A Kolhapuri family run this tiny joint from their verandah! The family is completely involved in the cooking process of all the dishes on the menu, hence the homely touch to all their food. The masalas are home made.

It's a tiny garden-verandah kind of alfresco area with 4-5 tiny tables, neatly and sufficiently spaced out. We went for a veg thali and a chicken thali. The chicken thali came with a choice of 2 'bhakris' or 3 'chapatis' and rice alongwith egg masala, Kolhapuri style chicken,' tambada' and 'pandhara rassa'. We were also served some complimentary onion-lemon salad. The veg thali came with a rustic style dal and a chana masala.



The chicken curry was quite impressive. The masala had a burst of Kolhapuri flavours but was surprisingly not too high on the chilli content. Lots of coconut and authentic Kolhapuri masalas blended into a thick gravy with lots of succulent chicken pieces. How I wish they had used country('gavran') chicken instead! 

All my previous experiences of Kolhapuri cuisine made me believe that Kolhapuri food means highly spicy, oily and hot food. But this lunch certainly changed my perception completely and introduced me to some authentic food from the region.  The 'Sol Kadhi' that we ordered for, was served chilled and went very well with the food. I loved the Sol Kadhi! The 'tambada rassa' was bright red in color and was quite rich in terms of flavors and spices. The 'pandhra rassa' was it's milder cousin - white in color and very subtle in taste. The egg masala was pretty average and tasted too much of masala. It consisted of boiled egg halves in a thick spicy gravy.

Overall the food was pretty good. For those who like Kolhapuri cuisine and work/live in this part of the city, do give this place a shot. For others, you may drop by only if you're in the area. It's not worth a drive from distant places. Nevertheless, once you're here, be rest assured of home cooked taste :)