OUR DINING EXPERIENCE : BUNGALOW, NEW YORK

 OUR DINING EXPERIENCE : BUNGALOW, NEW YORK 

On May 13, 2026, I was thrilled to tick off one of the top items in my bucket list. My husband, Prem and I were dining at Bungalow, 24, First Avenue, New York! This is a renowned restaurant in which Chef Vikas Khanna - often described as an global ambassador of Indian gastronomy - is a Partner. 

Besides being excited at dining here, we were thankful that we had got a reservation in the first place! Trust me, it is very, very difficult to make a reservation. You have to book 20 days in advance of the day you wish to dine. Guess what? All the slots get grabbed in some insane time like 10 seconds!! The good news is that once you have a reservation and reach Bungalow, you can be assured of a memorable experience. 

We had the privilege of meeting Chef Vikas Khanna, who was recently named in Time mag's 100 Most Influential People of 2026! He makes it a point to greet diners as often as he can. Much to my delight, we spoke of my blog and he remembered my picture. He penned a gracious message in my copy of his book, " Flavours First: An Indian Chef's Journey ".

I reminded him of his praise for the food from our Mangaluru area, where he studied, which he warmly acknowledged. For me, this was the highlight of our conversation. Coming from a Master Chef like him, our Konkani cuisine has got a richly deserved boost in the eyes of the culinary world!! 

We began the dinner with Nilgiri Tandoori Prawns as starters. These jumbo prawns were huge in size  and absolutely delicious! 

For drinks, we went through the list of innovative offerings. I had the Lucky Cheng: clarified green curry infused Gin, Lime, Kewar, and Crispy Green Curry Leaf. Prem chose to have Paan Sour: vodka, Paan chutney, kewar, and dehydrated rose petal dust. 

For the entree, we had the Chicken Amritsari eaten with Butter Tandoori Rotis. The succulent pieces of chicken were richly marinated and served in a thick, creamy sauce made of charred tomato, fenugreek, tandoori spice mix and cashews. 

We decided to have The Mango Three Way for dessert. This was crafted with homemade Mango ice cream, rasberry coulis and candied fruits.

Bungalow has a lovely Indian style decor in keeping with Chef Vikas Khanna's love for his homeland. 

The dinner finally came to an end! We thoroughly enjoyed our dining experience at Bungalow. This memory will stay with us forever. 

"BOLLYWOOD STREET BEATS" COOKING EXPERIENCE WITH CRIMSON KITCHEN

"BOLLYWOOD STREET BEATS" COOKING EXPERIENCE WITH CRIMSON KITCHEN 

Living in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area, would you like to have some famous Indian snacks such as Vada Pav, Ragda Patties, Frankies, and Mango Lassi? Would you like to have them home cooked rather than having them at a restaurant? If the answer to the two questions is a resounding, "Yes", here comes the third. Would you like to learn how to make these yummy dishes yourself? 

If you wish to do so, I would recommend you to sign up for Bollywood Street Beats: A Bollywood Cooking Experience by Meghna Agarwal of Crimson Kitchen. 

For readers outside of India, who are not familiar with the context, Mumbai, the financial capital of India, was earlier known as Bombay. It is home to the famous Hindi film industry known the world over as Bollywood. Mumbai is equally famous for the plethora of street food loved by millions across a wide spectrum of society. These are available almost everywhere, all through the year, in Mumbai.  

Recently, my husband and I signed up for Meghna's class on making popular street food. This was conducted in her elegant place in the Noe Valley of San Fransisco. It is one of the many classes she offers. Ours was a small group of 5. We first enjoyed a talk on the history of these foods. We then got down to business- making these dishes. 

For those who may not know about these dishes, here's a brief description: 

Vada Pav : one of the most popular street foods, this is made with a deep fried potato dumpling placed in the middle of special kind of bun called 'Pav". Relished with accompanying dips such as Sweet and Spicy Chutney and Green Coriander Chutney.

Ragda patties:- potato pattis/pattice covered with a layer of cooked white peas- eaten with spicy and sweet chutneys

Frankies : a speciality of Mumbai. They are like a wrap with a filling of chicken or assorted veggies. We made ours with chicken. 

Mango Lassi: a delicious smoothie made with mango pulp and curds.

We were delighted to find that Meghna's class was highly participative. She got everyone involved. In our class, instead of assigning a few to make a particular dish, she got us to make all the dishes together. That was really a good team effort! 

Our group identifies different types of Indian spices- many of which we used in today's cooking class. 

Expert and novice work together ! 

Vada Pav, Frankie, and Mango Lassi - which we made- are seen in this picture.  

Our thanks go out to Meghna for making this a fun learning event.  The recipes were given to us in a neatly formatted way which made for easy understanding. We will remember her whenever we make these dishes at home! 

OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: MYLAPORE AT SAN RAMON, CA.

 OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: MYLAPORE AT SAN RAMON, CA. 

When you mention "Mylapore" to someone like my husband who knows Chennai ( Madras in the old days) so well, they will speak of the famous locality in that city. Mylapore is one of the oldest localities of Chennai. It is typically traditional and conservative - famous for the  Kapaleeshwarar  Temple built in the 7th century.  

In our current trip to the United States, we were naturally interested to hear that there was a chain of "Mylapore" restaurants in the Bay Area of California. We drove down to the one at San Ramon, the latest in the chain. There are Mylapore restaurants in Fremont, San Jose, Pleasanton, Folsom and Sunnyvale as well.

The one in the San Ramon Valley Boulevard of San Ramon is open from 8.00 am to 10 pm on all days of the week. The food is exclusively vegetarian and is focussed more on South Indian cuisine. 

We were really hungry and opted for their Thali. This was a complete meal in itself. It had a generous portion of hot steamed rice ( with ghee to be sprinkled on it). To go with the rice, we had mulangi (radish) sambar and Udupi Rasam. The side dishes were Keerai Masiyal ( a side dish made with greens- usually spinach), Beetroot Poriyal, Karamani ( black-eyed beans) Sundal. We also had a bowl of the inevitable curd rice.

The usual accompaniments served were papadam, pickle, and two types of chutneys. The sweet at the end of the meal was Kesari Bath. 

We also had on the table button idlis  with two types of chutney and sambar and masala dosa again served with sambar and chutney. 

Over all the food was very good., the thali being really sumptuous! 

Typical of a restaurant of it's type in the US, self-service is the name of the game. You place your order, collect your food, and at the end of the meal, you need to clear up after you. Judging from the number of people at the restaurant that day, it appeared to us that Mylapore is a popular eating place. 

Many people eat here while others order food using the Take Away option -where the food is parceled to be taken home. Orders can be placed online as well. The rates were very reasonable for the quality of the dishes. 

Overall, it was an enjoyable dining experience for us. If you are in that area and crave for South Indian food, you can try out one of the Mylapore restaurants! 

SPROUTED KALA CHANA SALAD

 SPROUTED KALA CHANA SALAD

Today's recipe is for a sprout salad made with sprouted Black Chickpeas called Kala Chana in Hindi. These sprouted chickpeas are highly nutritious being rich in protein and fibre while being of low calorie.

Since Sprouted Kala Chana is an integral ingredient in this salad, here's how you would sprout the Kala Chana. Wash and soak the Kala Chana  overnight or for 8-10 hours. Next morning, drain the water from the Kala Chana, tie the chana in a wet muslin cloth and keep it to sprout. You will find them fully sprouted after a day or so.

These days we are fortunate to get sprouted Kala Chana ready for use in online platforms or departmental stores. This saves us a lot of time and effort. I only use the store-bought Sprouted Kala Chana these days. 

I prefer to steam cook the sprouted Kala Chana as they become more easy to digest. 

This healthy salad can be served as a protein boosting supplement to your main meal. 

Ingredients:

• Sprouted Kala Chana (Black Chickpeas), 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups
• Onion, 1
• Tomato, 1
• Cucumber, 1/2 
• Green Chillies, 2
• Coriander Leaves, 2 tbsp
• Lemon Juice, 2 tsp 
• Chaat Masala, 1 tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Chilli Powder, 1/4 tsp
• Roasted Peanuts, 2 tbsp 

Method:

Wash and soak the Kala Chana  overnight or for 8-10 hours. Next morning, drain the water from the Kala Chana, tie the chana in a wet muslin cloth and keep it to sprout. You will find them fully sprouted after a day or so.

Steam cook the sprouted Kala Chana for about 10 minutes. Allow this to cool

Peel and finely chop the onion

Wash and chop the tomato and cucumber 

Finely chop the green chillies and coriander leaves

In a salad bowl, mix together the cooled sprouted Kala Chana, chopped onion, tomato, cucumber, green chillies and roasted peanuts

To this add the salt, chaat masala, chilli powder and lemon juice

Mix everything well and garnish with coriander leaves

Serve immediately

CELEBRATING 13 YEARS OF BLOGGING !

 CELEBRATING 13 YEARS OF BLOGGING ! 

March 21 will always be a special day for me! It was on this day 13 years ago that I started my food blog, "Cooking With Shobana".  As they say, " Another Year! Another Great Reason to Celebrate! " 

Since our start in 2013, we have come a long, long way.  When I started this blog, encouraged by my husband and partner in this venture, I never imagined that it would still be going strong beyond a decade. I am happy to say it now has close to 1100 posts- mostly recipes. Over time it has had over 5.3 million page views. 

Nothing escapes AI these days- not even cooking blogs! A friend shared with me an AI overview that she had come across. It said, '(the blog) focusses on home style Indian cuisine, providing detailed steps, tips and personal culinary experiences.It is known for its extensive collection of traditional vegetarian dishes and curated recipes."  It concluded with : " The blog is highly regarded for it's authentic, simple approach to daily Indian cooking! " 

That, for me, is really gratifying! 

My sincere thanks go out to my family, friends and followers who have always been a source of encouragement and support. 

If you are a new follower of "Cooking With Shobana", I would like to remind you that you can also catch us on Instagram  or on our Facebook Page .

Thanks once again! I look forward to your feedback and comments. 

RECIPES YOU HAVE LIKED FROM COOKING WITH SHOBANA

 RECIPES YOU HAVE LIKED FROM COOKING WITH SHOBANA

This post is more for the benefit of newer followers of my blog "Cooking With Shobana". Those who have been following the blog for long will know that from time to time, I feature dishes from my blog tried out by friends. These are featured in two albums of " Recipes You Have Liked From CWS"  and "More Recipes You Have Liked From CWS" in the Facebook Page of the blog. 

It may interest you to know that Shobha Shenoy was the first to send in her picture of a dish tried out from my blog. This was way back on May 22, 2014! She had liked my post for "Khaman Dhokla", tried it out and sent me the picture commenting how much she liked it!

Since than, I am happy to say that I have received and posted 430 pictures of dishes tried out by friends. I take this opportunity to thank them, too many to name individually ! 

Today, I received two more pictures of dishes from Cooking With Shobana, tried out by a friend who prefers to remain unnamed. 

The first was for Thondekayi (Ivy Gourd) Palya- a side dish made with ivy gourd from my Home State of Karnataka. Thondekayi being the Kannada word for ivy gourd. The link to the recipe is below. 

https://www.cookingwithshobana.com/2021/07/thondekayi-ivy-gourd-palya.html

The second was for Double Beans Saung - made with double beans/Lima beans - from our Konkani GSB cuisine. 

The link to this recipe is below. 

https://www.cookingwithshobana.com/2021/01/double-beans-saung.html

If you like any recipe from Cooking With Shobana blog and would like to share the picture of your dish, I would love to add that to the relevant album! So, please feel free to reach out and share your picture and comments. 

CHETTINAD SEER FISH FRY

 CHETTINAD SEER FISH FRY

Amongst the fish available in India, in my house we like the Seer Fish more than most others. Also called King Fish, it is known as Surmai in Hindi and Marathi, Anjal in Kannada, Vanjaram in Tamil and Visonu, in my mother tongue, Konkani. 

We like seer fish because it is fleshy and flavourful. Besides, it is easy to handle as it has one single central bone. 

Seer Fish are strong in Omega 3 fatty acids and are considered very good for overall health. This article in InvestoHealth speaks of the 10 Astonishing Benefits Of Consuming Seer Fish. 

Being fond of seafood, from time to time I use fish to make some yummy dishes. Elsewhere in this blog you will find recipes for dishes such as:-

• Mangalorean Fish Curry 
• Goan Fish Curry 
• Maanji Pulimunchi

Today's recipe is for an easy to make fish fry done in the Chettinad style. Chettinad cuisine, famous for its use of spices, is from the South Indian state of Tamilnadu. I have adapted this from the YouTube video by Kannamma Cooks.

I made this for lunch yesterday, serving the Chettinad Seer Fish Fry with Peas Pulao - and

it tasted just great! 

Ingredients:-

• Seer Fish, 500 gms
• Garlic Cloves, 10-12 
• Chilli Powder, 2 heaped tbsp
• Pepper Powder, 1 tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Corn Starch, 2 tbsp
• Oil, for shallow frying
• Lime wedges + Onion rings

Method:

Wash and clean the fish fillets. Place them on a paper towel to remove the excess water

Peel the garlic cloves

In a small mixer jar, grind the garlic cloves adding very little water to get a smooth paste

Apply this paste evenly on both sides of the fish fillets. Keep aside for 5 minutes

In a plate, mix together chilli powder, pepper powder, salt and corn flour 

This mixture forms the marinade for the fish fillets

Dust the fish fillets individually in the marinade making sure they are evenly coated on both sides

Let the marinated fish fillets rest for about 20 minutes

Heat oil in a shallow frying pan  and when it gets hot, gently slide in the marinated fish fillets- 1 or 2 at a time

Shallow fry them for about 2 minutes then flip them over carefully and fry the other side for 2 more minutes

Remove each fried fish to a paper towel for the extra oil to be absorbed

Transfer to a serving plate

Serve the Chettinad Seer Fish Fry with lemon wedges and onion rings  

Tip: Don't squeeze the lime as soon as the fish is fried as it will make it soggy. It's best to squeeze the lime on the fried fish just before you eat them!