Gilawati Kababs For Lucknow Nababs

 I know...I know... I am not the first person to visit Lucknow (Awadh) to test it's most famous delicacy, The Gilawati Kabab but since I have done it, I must share my experience with you.

It was my friend's wedding in Kanpur and we decided to visit Lacknow first, on the way. We started from Kolkata with lots of disappointment as two of our friend cancelled their tickets and we became only three to be on a 16 hrs journey. With the inexperience of Journey to North India during winter, I forgot a blanket or even a shawl and I was literally shivering throughout the night. However we landed well next morning on Lucknow and found a suitable place to spend a night.

After having a hot bath, we left immediately for sight seeing and visited most famous Bade Imam Bara, Chhote Imam Bara and all but most importantly, we went to Aminabad at last. It's the place where you will find Tunday Kababi. You can call it Burrabazar of Lucknow. The busiest place I saw in Lucknow. It's a walking distance from Kesarbag.

The two-storey restaurant is having a floor under ground and one above. The underground one is little more clumsy than the top one and a little suffocating too. I could not find any AC facility anywhere and the get-up was not impressive at all. However several photographs of restaurant owner's family with top class bollywood stars (including Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor and our Big B Mr. Amitabh Bachchan) can be seen on all over the wall. We ordered 3 Paranthas, a plate of Mutton Gilawati Kabab, one plate of Tunday Kabab (beef one), half Mutton Korma, 3 Shiramal and 3 Kheer. The taste of the kababs with paranthas was ecstatic. Specially the beef one. The gilawati supposed to be made of 160 types of spices and may be because of that the mutton got lost somewhere in taste and flavor. But the same could not beat the beef and was real mouth watering. Both were very soft and jucy and you will not find a pinch of meat under your teeth and that is guaranteed. Mutton Korma was really tasty and the mutton was good. The half korma cost us Rs.70/- with two small piece of mutton.

Do not ever try the Kheer and probably the shiramal. The shiramal was described as "Indian bread with lots of Saffron Flavor" on the menu and what we found was a highly colored (obviously saffron colored) parantha with no saffron flavor on the plate :( . Price-wise everything was cheap. The price of the Kababs can make your jaw dropped to your stomach; Mutton Gilawati Kabab costs Rs.55/- and the Beef Kabab was priced Rs.25/- a plate with 4 piece of kababs. Parantha and shiramal was Rs.8/- and Rs.9/- respectively and the filthy Kheer was Rs.10/- only (that was one reason why all of us tried it pretending it to be Firni from Alibaba in Kolkata).

So definitely it's a must visit place and the Tunday Kabab is a must try item, just be there at the right time of the year. In summer you may feel like a Kabab. (forgot to mention that paranthas were fried in very less oil. It was a Ulta Tawa parantha, i.e. it is prepared on the other side of the tawa or pan).

Best Imarti in Kolkata

 Another sweet story! This time a well known Bengali dessert in a North Indian packet.

If you have ever visited Cotton Street, Burrabazar (near Satyanarayan Park A.C. market), you must have noticed the large red glow-sign of Tiwari Brothers. They are famous for many other snacks and desserts like Samosa, Halwa, Ghevar (a special marwari delicacy) etc. Among these an Imarti is always special. Imarti is our beloved "Amriti" or "Omriti", a complex but well designed Jalebi made from Besan; soaked in sugar syrup. Tiwari Bros has added an extra flavour of saffron or Keshar to the syrup for a special flick.

My wife went to buy some Sharees from Burrabazar and I asked her to try Imarti from Tiwari Bros. Not being a dessert-lover, she really enjoyed it.

Amazingly the Imarti stays crunchy for hours and thus a bite will bring a heavenly smile on your face all the time. The size really matters and an Imarti was about the size of your palm. :) last time I had each for Rs.8/- only.

Be patience, because the queue can be of 10 people waiting for Imarti, and do not feel embarrassed if you find people packing 100 pcs!!

Lastly, you can see them making all the Imarti in front of you and truly that's an art!

picture courtesy http://jaswantsweets.com/imarti/

Python Program to Make a Simple Calculator

 # Program make a simple calculator

# This function adds two numbers

def add(x, y):

    return x + y

# This function subtracts two numbers

def subtract(x, y):

    return x - y

# This function multiplies two numbers

def multiply(x, y):

    return x * y

# This function divides two numbers

def divide(x, y):

    return x / y

print("Select operation.")

print("1.Add")

print("2.Subtract")

print("3.Multiply")

print("4.Divide")

while True:

    # Take input from the user

    choice = input("Enter choice(1/2/3/4): ")

    # Check if choice is one of the four options

    if choice in ('1', '2', '3', '4'):

        num1 = float(input("Enter first number: "))

        num2 = float(input("Enter second number: "))

        if choice == '1':

            print(num1, "+", num2, "=", add(num1, num2))

        elif choice == '2':

            print(num1, "-", num2, "=", subtract(num1, num2))

        elif choice == '3':

            print(num1, "*", num2, "=", multiply(num1, num2))

        elif choice == '4':

            print(num1, "/", num2, "=", divide(num1, num2))

        break

    else:

        print("Invalid Input")

Kolkata! Culture and Heritage!

 Many people say that Kolkata was India’s Cultural Center and it is past. Let me tell you it is not true. We are still at the Cultural Center. May be our cultural practice is failing to bring enough success but believe me we are still on it. I used to believe the same too that we have lost the glory but a recent experience opened my eyes wide.

The day I visited Koshe Kosha (mentioned in my previous blog), I had to wait for my friends at Golpark. Since those idiots (we are 5 idiots) were terribly late, I decided to take a walk toward Gariahat. There is a public toilet below the Gariahut Flyover at the Golpark end and the stretch between the toilet and the Gariahat Crossing is well maintained. With seating arrangements that particular area is pretty clean and railed on the both side with wide bars. It’s a place always crowded and obviously more people are on the rails than on the seatings. Such hangout place cannot go on without a tea shop and it is there and that too is really good. Coincidentally I was really feeling to have something hot down my throat.

The moment I sat with the cup of coffee in hand, I was amazed by the view on the side rail bar!! People returning from office, are playing chess in groups, sitting on the rail bars. 4 to 5 groups were there with 3-4 members in each group. I have seen people playing cards here and there but chess!! Never!!

This is something possible for Bengalis only. Playing cards is no big deal. There are simple games of card and people with minimum intelligence can play those. You’ll hardly find people playing Bridge but Chess is really not a matter of joke. Those who are not intelligent enough may know the game but will not enjoy the game. Those people were enjoying the game like anything and it was kind of Rapid Chess. I do not have much idea about chess but I saw a group completing 3 games with a short span of 30 mins.

This is something really appreciable. Those guys are not going to play a grand master but definitely giving a strong message to the citizens how people can carry a good culture. They were spending time but in a creative way. We can be physically lazy but what it takes to spend some time doing something creative.

Got some snaps of the place and the people! Find it here. Also for your information you can join them too. Just visit them and ask to let you play a game. They will not reject you. So test your skill someday!!

Only Alibaba Gold, Park Circus the Royal Feast

I have always been a Alibaba Mutton Biryani fan. Whenever I feel hungry for good mutton biryani, I look for Only Alibaba (the DLF-I Newtown outlet made my life real easy :D ). When I came to know about Only Alibaba Gold, I could instantaneously imagine the royalty and could dream satisfying my savoury with all the Nawabi and Mughal dishes.

Unfortunately Park Circus does not come across any of my way and my dream started fading away until that very afternoon when I was around Park Circus and looking for a place for lunch. When I searched on Zomato, I noticed Only Alibaba Gold top of the list. I made my mind and headed for a ecstatic lunch.

The Empty restaurant was just waiting for me. At first I was bit surprised with the loneliness of the place but recovered quickly with glimpse at my watch. It was 2 pm and Kolkata people can go out for dinner but not lunch. It was a warm welcome for me and all of them were ready to serve me. However the ambience is not so royal except some large pictures. Who cares the Ambience if the food is mouth watering. I was accompanied by one of close friend and we ordered a plate of Mutton Boti Kebab to start with. They took a little extra time for the dish since it was mutton and the dish came with six large piece of boneless mutton well garnished and filled the whole place with a charismatic aroma. Our hunger doubled and we controlled our basic instinct to jump on the food until it was served by the restaurant crew.

We were struck with awesomeness. Aromatic mutton was lucrative with bell peppers. Choice of spices was just excellent. The price was around Rs.300/- which I believe is quite worthy. Then the same Mutton Biryani from Alibaba and we were filled upto our throat leaving no space for a dessert (I had a plan for Baked Rabri with Kulfi).

Overall a very nice experience, 4 out of 5 I would rate. Just avoid to have lunch there if possible. Since they don't expect you at lunch, you may not find the mutton as tender as the same at dinner. ;)

Spice up life with Chili's Grill & Bar, Quest Mall

Do you love Beer?

If you say Yes! Hurrah! Chili's is the best place so far I have found in Kolkata.

They serve Drought Beer!

Yes! You heard me right! I had a chilled pilsner (500 ml) of drought beer along with Smoked Chicken Wings. It was heavenly! Trust me! I love beer and tried many of the bottled one but the fresh beer I had in Chili's was absolutely stunning. It was tasty, it was strong, it was fresh and it was chilled. for past few years I was loosing interest in beer and preferring Rum or Whiskey over it. But if I am in Chili's again I'll have a pitcher for sure. Here is a snap! ;)

Every sip worth it!

Now! if you say you do not like beer, no problemo! Plenty of food choices are there to make (mostly non-veg). A very wide range starting from Dippers, soups, salads and then Mexican, Italian, Steaks, Ribs...I must stop here. Though for the first visit I had smoked wings only as we were running out of time. The wings were fabulous. It made a perfect couple with the pilnser (as you can see peeking wings behind the bubbling beer). I hope the steaks and ribs will be equally tasty and I am eager to visit again with my friends.

Place was nice and cozy. The ambiance was lively, full of cheerful people. Music was good, made a perfect mood to enjoy your food and beverages. Believe me, it is not a costly place. The Pilsner of Drought Beer was Rs.225/- and the bucket of wings was Rs.355/- only and as I said before, every bit of it worth it.

Give it a try, you will love it. Don't go alone! A company would make you enjoy more. Feel free to contact me, if you are running out of a friend! ;)

Hatari, Rashbehari Avenue, Enjoy the Queue!

Hatari is quite a known place in South Calcutta and quite known to me by the address. I have heard a lot about the good quality of food and of course witnessed the surprisingly long queue for table in from of Hatari. For no reason, I could not make it to Hatari till last month.

Finally it was a pleasant Saturday afternoon and I was quite hungry. I was with one of my close friend and after lot of discussion we decided to visit Hatari. We actually thought we would find a table for two easily but to all our surprise there was a queue of around 10 people waiting for table. We registered our name and requested for a table for two. after 30 mins, we were asked to went inside and we got our table.

1000 watt Hatari expectations suddenly dimmed like 25 watt. The ambiance was very old and not up to the mark. A bit of disappointment for both of us and judgment by then was all upon the food. The order was taken quite quickly and we ordered Crispy Chillie Baby Corn as starter, followed by mixed Hakka Noodle and Hunan Chicken. I tried Hunan Chicken before in Bar-b-Que, Park Street and it was Hot and Spicy. I ordered it with the same expectations.

Here comes our food now. First the Crispy Baby Corn. It was okay I can say. I have tasted better snack than this. The noodle was really good. Good in both taste and quantity. We really enjoyed it. What about the Hunan Chicken? What was that? A white, semi-clear, soup-like course with bell-peppers and shredded chicken for a Jaundice Patient? My liver even rejected it after having a little portion. I really do not know, who is right. Is it Hot and Spicy BBQ one or this broth for stomach upset? I have never been to Hunan Province, China however Wiki says BBQ was quite right about Hunan Cuisine. So don't be sure about the food, better ask them than being surprised.

Now if you want me to rate it, there are different components, Ambiance 2.5 out of 5, food 3 out of 5 and for price and service 3.5 out of 5. I must mention about the prolonged queue while leaving the place.

Here are glimpse of food we had...