Day Two of my trip to Delhi to meet my best friend’s adorable one-year old. As Tanvi rounded up her morning chores, I babysat her little one. We played fetch with her toys- she’d throw them out of her cradle and I’d fetch! I was still marvelling at my new-found ability to do baby talk in Hindi when Tanvi came in with breakfast- Sabudana Khichdi and samosas!

Sabudana khichdi and samosas

I have had Sabudana before, as Sabudana (or sago) Vada at Goli Vada Pav outlets in Bangalore. They’re little white pearls that become translucent on cooking. And I’d realized that it was the same “javvarisi” that they’d make a payasam out of in my college hostel in Tamil Nadu. The translucence got me curious and I looked them up online to see what it really is. So, sago/sabudana is the starch of cassava or tapioca that they extract and put through a gelatinization process. Essentially, the stuff breaks down in water and heat and reassembles as those beautiful pearls of starch.

Here’s a picture:

It was simple and tasty. I got the basic procedure from her, ‘cz i was eager to try it out at home. Soak the sago, cook with mustard and curry leaf tempering and add peanut sauce and salt. I am yet to try my hand at it but maybe I will one of these days, and then share it with you guys in my ‘Simple Fare’ posts.

Now this was good breakfast but my lovely hostess wanted to treat me to homemade samosas and we didn’t have many more days to go. I’d never actually watched someone make samosas and she surely made it look easy. 

She also made a few ‘pinwheel samosas’. I don’t have pictures of them but  they’re an interesting party variation you can try.

Food is not an object, it is an experience

We decided to meet Tanvi’s mum for lunch at a fine dine restaurant called PaPaYa. The ambience was bright and it felt spacious because of the high dome. The menu claimed that they were all about innovation and experimenting with molecular gastronomy. That certainly explained all the curious dishes in which the food was being served!

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Her mum and I were just catching up when the ‘beer-battered tacos’ and the ‘edamame sliders’ arrived (Sliders = mini-burgers). I was equally impressed with the three-mushroom sauce served with puffed rice. I had never thought of puffed rice as a substitute for actual rice and it just made the whole mix crunchy!

If you were still not sure if the restaurant took food seriously enough, the ‘palate cleansers’ served between courses would prove it to you. Palate cleansers are neutral flavoured foods that clean up the taste buds so that you can enjoy your next dish afresh. Like when they give you coffee beans to smell between fragrances while you test perfumes. So, back to the Litchi sorbet served as the palate cleanser. Served in shells on this beaded mat on a lightweight rock, white fumes for a few seconds longer when they set it on your table. Such drama for a mere filler, these guys were good!

Speaking of drama, their signature dessert was what Tanvi had me all excited about- Chocolate ball on Fire! They bring you a ball of chocolate with some pretty fruits, nuts and berries on the side. And then they pour on the ball really hot chocolate and oh, how the ball melts and finally caves in to reveal scoops of vanilla ice cream inside! Watch this video, t’s a thing of beauty that you simply must see!

There is actually a variation to this where they pour alcohol and then literally set the ball on fire to melt it. And that’s where the name comes from.

Overall, I’d say the food was good but the presentation was just mind-blowing. PaPaYa really showed me how to take food from a meal to an experience!

Ghar ka khaana

After all that excitement and some shopping (we were in a mall, so, obviously), we returned home. Dinner was North Indian- lachha paratha with palak paneer and rajma. I watched how the parathas were made. I’m pretty sure it would make no sense if I tried to explain it without pictures but I did try making it once. When you’re feeling bored of plain rotis someday, you should look it up and try it too!