The Window seat

 

Lunch at Suvaii - a Pandyan legacy !

I had a day off from work today and so decided to give my wife a break from cooking. We had recently seen a video of a tamil chettinad cusine restaurant in Bengaluru named 'suvaii' on YouTube and were wanting to check it out. We thought today is the right day to try out their lunch menu. 

Suvaii - 'a Pandyan legacy' as its called, is located in Indiranagar, an area know for food in Bengaluru. Suvaii in Tamil literally means taste. The Pandyas were the medival Tamil empire who ruled the south with Madurai as their capital. So it was obvious that the owner of this restaurant must also be from my hometown Madurai. 

The restaurant's interior design was well done to reflect the traditional architecture of the Madurai Chettinad region. The use of Aathangudi tiles for the flooring and wooden pillars gave it an authentic vernacular feel. The ceiling was beautifully done with exquisite kolam art. The walls had framed art depicting the essence of Madurai like the Jallikattu, Meenakshi temple and other cultural scenes. Even the furniture and lighting complimented the Madurai concept beautifully. 

Temple chariot

Meenakshi temple corridor

Marudhu brothers

The menu was exhaustive with items that reminded me of my hometown...We started with the mutton bone soup. The soup was fiery red hot and if you are not used to hot spicy food this is not the place for you! 

Mutton bone soup

For the main course I went for the mutton Biriyani. I was told the mutton comes directly from Madurai. It was cooked with the flavorful seeraga samba rice and is one of the better Biriyanis I had tasted in Bengaluru. The meat was flavorful and tender and was accompanied by a boiled egg. The onion raitha was rather disappointingly dry and I had to order extra curd to make it up. They definitely have to improve their raitha !

Mutton Biriyani on banana leaf

My wife went for their famous non vegetarian mini meals. It came with an assortment of dishes including mutton biriyani, ghee rice, curd rice, parota, chicken 65 and payasam. For the sides we ordered mutton chukka, meat balls and karandi omelette. We were very happy with all our menu choices and hoped to come again to try some more of their authentic dishes next time!

the non -veg mini meals

Mutton chukka and meat balls

Chicken 65

Karandi omelette

We had nannari sharbet drink and Madurai's famous jigarthanda for dessert. Overall a very spicy hot and satisfactory experience. As on date this restaurant to me is the closest to the taste of Madurai that you can find in Bengaluru!

Sharbet and jigarthanda

Selecting the dishes

Colors of Bengaluru

 

Earthen Delicacies - a taste of nature

 This weekend we were wondering if we could explore a new eating joint without venturing too far and getting hassled by our Bengaluru Traffic. So when we searched on the web for good restaurants close to our house, Earthen Delicacies popped up. We have always driven past this one and never bothered to check it out till date. The rating and reviews seemed good. So we said let's try it for our dinner out today..

The restaurant's interior is an enthusiastic attempt to create an earthy concept ambience. By using a collage of exposed bricks, terracotta jallis , murals and yellow lighting a somewhat earthy ambience is achieved. Maybe a little mature handling of materials and the space could have done wonders for the concept restaurant. But for the general public this still works!

The cusine on menu was quite exhaustive with Mughal, Punjabi, Chinese and many more north Indian dishes to choose from. The menu card itself was very tastefully done. 

Crispy chilli chicken 

Babycorn starter served over leaf on a wooden plate

We ordered crispy chilli chicken and babycorn Manchurian for starters. They were served in interesting wooden plates that looked like sections of a log. The starters were good. We followed them with egg fried rice, butter Naan and butter chicken. The quantity and rates were reasonable and so was the taste. The service was also surprisingly quick for a weekend and the waiter was very courteous. We ended with a chill lemonade. Happy to have discovered a reasonably good restaurant nearby.

Fried rice and Naan

Butter Chicken 

Lemonade

A temple..

 Colors of Bengaluru 

The Thinnai

 My painting in progress shots

The Thinnai is a covered platform or verandah in front of traditional houses. Most people spend their day at the thinnai. Cooking , sleeping, chitchatting with neighbors and relatives also happen in this verandah...

I was inspired by a photograph in a local newspaper. The grandma is cooking at the background while her granddaughter is studying with her laptop (given to government school kids by the Tamil Nadu chief minister's education program). 

The lighted balloons

 My painting in progress shots

Clicked on the way

 A lay worshipping by a small temple under a peepal tree... Clicked on the way in Mumbai 

Jailer

Yesterday (August 15th) was India's 77th Independence day. It was a holiday and we ended the day by watching the much awaited Super star Rajinikanth block buster action movie " Jailer" 

This was my 2nd Rajini movie in theatres in the last 10 years. The previous one was 'Pettai'. 

The movie is only about Rajini-ism..If you leave your brain at home and go watch only with your heart, you will not complain. Rajini at 73 has given what his fans want.. his swag and style are mesmerizing! Beyond Rajini there's nothing great in the film. Anirudh 's music is loud and his bgms do justice to the "mass" genre. Director Nelson had impressed me with his black comedy and comic timing in his debut movie 'kolamavu kokila'. But here in jailer the comedy clicks in very few places. 

The short and forced cameos by Mohanlal and especially Shivarajkumar are cool with lots of goosebump moments. Their screen presence keeps you craving for more from them. 

Overall an entertainer if you come mentally prepared for the Rajini show!

 

Shivanna and Laletta at their stylish best...

 

The Parotta Master

 My painting in progress shots

The Paniyaram paati

 The granny who sells kuzi Paniyaram..

My painting in progress shots

Dinner at Taawoon

Taawoon is a multi cuisine restaurant at Kothanur, about 3kms from my house. We had tried the food here a couple of times in the past but were not too impressed. But that was before the covid lockdown  years. We again decided to give it a try this week as it was close by (and I did not wish to drive far in the evening Bangalore traffic). We found the ambience plesant and slightly quite as it was a weekday and even the menu card looked rebranded. The food turned out to be lovely too. 

Taawoon is basically focused on Kerala cuisine (owners seem to be gulf mallus) and more specifically Sea food. But you also get an array of Arabic , Chinese, north Indian and continental dishes. 

For starters we tried Beijing Chicken and Squid fry. Beijing chicken was crispy and well made with the right touch of spiciness! The Squid was also very crispy and soft and went very well with the mayo sauce. For the main course my daughter went for her usual butter Naan and butter chicken masala. While me and my wife decided to share a mutton Biriyani. The Biriyani was in typical Kerala style with very mild flavors. For someone like me who prefers the strong Madurai/Dindigul type of Biriyanis , this style was quite timid and light. The butter chicken was one of the best we have tried in a few years.

I finished with a lemon juice while my wife had a mango Lassi. Nithila had her favorite chocolate milk shake. We decided to come back and try few more dishes next time :) 

Beijing chicken starter

Squid fry

 

Main course 

Chocolate milk shake and lime juice

Colors of Bengaluru

 Clicked  on the way 

Big fun Diary 1989

Following the big success of their puzzle series, the bubble gum brand Big Fun came up with a great idea in 1987 as India hosted the Cricket world Cup. Their campaign with pictures of cricketers inside the wrapper with runs and wickets to collect became an instant hit with school kids. I was probably in my 7th or 8th standard and like most of my classmates was mad about the wrappers. The bubble gum was just hard and awfully sugary but we didn't care. It was the Cricketers who mattered. 100 runs and 10 wickets got us a Dairy. 300 runs and 30 wickets could get other collectibles like Cricket poster, Cricket mini bat, etc.

My Bigfun Diary

I have still got my bigfun diary , a very nostalgic possession! The diary had very interesting titbits on Olympics and Cricket. 

The Indian cricket team