Thursday, August 19, 2010

My induction cooking experience

  I have been thinking about buying an induction cooktop for over a year, after I saw it at my friend's place.She is a non-chennaiite and didn't have any ration-card for applying to gas connection.She was not interested in going for a private gas connection either as it was very expensive.She opted for a induction cooktop instead.She told me it cooked very fast and the power consumption was not much.And I have seen her cooking in it and thought it was a good choice.

  Yesterday night I came back home at 9.15 pm. We had dose batter ready at home so I switched on the gas stove and placed the tawa and found that the stove went off immediately. I tried a second time with the same result.So I thought that the cylinder was empty and proceeded to change the cylinder.But I could not even open the new cylinder.So I waited for my hubby to return home to help me. He successfully helped me to change the cylinder. But alas, the stove went off again.We had a spare stove in the loft.We took it down and connected the tube to it and tried again and to my dismay, got negative results this time too. By now the time was 10.30 pm and we went to 'Sangeetha' for dinner.

  Next day morning I had bread for breakfast and left for job.My husband had a 'Sangeetha T20 breakfast' and registered a complaint with the local gas agency.They gave a prompt reply of "rendu naal aagum sir".( oru velai gas leak aagudhunu solli irundha udane vandhiruppangalo ennavo. Gas varave illaina avangalukku onnum emergency illaiye). We managed lunch in our respective canteens.After coming home I called the gas agency again. Since the call was attended by a female employee I tried the sympathy angle 'Madam nethu nightle irundhu veetule edhuvume samaikkalai.Please yaaravadhu mechanic udane anuppunga(sigh...)She promised me she will take lunch only after sending a mechanic to my home immediately. Namma aalunga promise pathi thaan theriyume.So we tried changing the tube ...and guess what? Bulbu than erinjudhu aanaa aduppu eriyalai.

  Naangalum salaikkalai...We went to purchase a new gas stove( long time pending), came home and connected it...the result was ZERO,ZILCH,NOTHING,NADA... onnume nadakkalai.We guessed that the problem might be with the regulator,adhu onnu thaan innum mathalai.

  Appo than enakku prakaasamana idea onnu vandadhu.Dear, why don't we get a induction cooktop? My friend has been using it for a long time and blah blah blah(read para one again).Thus we began our second shopping trip for the evening.We compared few models and settled on 'Preethi Trendy' model.I already knew that regular aluminium cookers can't be used with induction cooktops,so purchased a cooker compatible with induction cooktop.The brochure told only flat vessels should be used,so got a flat steel kadai also.By the the time we came home the time was 8.50 pm.I proceeded to read the instruction booklet and started making upma.I was a bit apprehensive working with this new gadget.Since I was not familiar with the settings the rava got slightly burnt.But the cooking was fast and the upma came out decently.Finally had dinner at 9.30 pm.(Success...success...).Till the mechanic from the gas agency comes tomorrow (hopefully)I have to do full-fledged cooking in this induction cooktop only.I hope I will get over the learning curve soon....

Sunday, August 8, 2010

A Gujju Experience

   We went for shopping today ...Dont ask me where. Ofcourse T.nagar- the mecca of shoppers...
We wanted to have lunch in a decent place without much crowd and the people waiting peeping over our plates.Since we wanted to taste something different from the usual southindian, we tried Mansukh's restaurant in ramasamy street.I had already read about this 'Gujju' restaurant in burrp.com and found this had decent reviews.

   They had a sunday special called 'majarajha thali' for 160 rupees. They serve you a welcome drink of guava juice, followed by a starter. I dont know the name of this item, because i am not much familiar with gujarathi food.It was some kofta in a khadi base, which was very good.After that they serve you dhokla and  paan leaf bajji with mint chutney.Then you can have poori/ phulka/paratha/white rice/curd rice served with dhal, pulses subji,green subji,aloo subji, a dahi based curry( which was sweet and spicy, do not know the name),salad,two sweets, pickle and buttermilk to drink.And you finish off with icecream and beeda.The rasamalai was excellent.My hubby, who is not much of a sweetlover,  polished it off.All the subjis were decent.The phulkas were soft and fluffy.The rotis are served hot from the kitchen.The mild flavour of gujju food was a welcome change from the regular spicy northindian food. Many of the dishes had some amount of sweetness in them.(We all know Gujju's love for sweets).My husband was joking that except for the pickle all dishes had a tinge of sweetness.The service is good.And the ambience is neat.

  Oh..How did I forget? The thali is UNLIMITED.....But trust me,you  might get a second helping of some items but not all. The meal is so heavy on your tummy, I didnt feel like having dinner at all.Next time I visit Mansukh's I will try to have their roti/rice subji combos, which might be a little bit lighter.

But ,go taste the Maharhaja thali once and have a royal experience.

P.S. I found it amusing that almost all of the waiters are tamilians, I expected to see some northindian faces.