17 August 2017

No food like home food

          No matter where you eat, from street food to fine dining, nothing beats home food at the end of the day, especially if it's mom's, or even better, grandmother's cooking!
When we travel however, we do tend to yearn for that taste of home food, how the local cuisine actually tastes, something that restaurants can rarely recreate.
         This is the vision behind the endeavour started by Authenticook, to bring diners close to home food. The process is simple, as a diner you:
- choose the city you are in
- select from the cuisines on offer
- choose from the list of home chefs
- check out the dates the pop-ups are going to be hosted, or request for a date of your choice
- pay for the number of diners and you are good to go. Best to go in a small group or a family so the cost gets divided.
           I had an opportunity to try out this arrangement, and what better way to start out in Bengaluru than the taste of typical Karnataka food. The host, Mrs Soumya resides in Old Kanakapura Road, Basavangudi, about 5 minutes away from Lalbagh metro station. When I arrived at the location, I wasn't sure what to be more excited about - the food or the mansion itself which according to the hosts was more than 80-90 years old!

The residence is at the ground level and on the first level they have a superb games cafe called 1980s Games Cafe; which is just that. All board games that any 60s, 70s and 80s kid would identify with, simple pleasures that are sadly losing out to digital counterparts. You will also find the old style Chausar, Pallankuzhi apart from the usual popular board games. Plus you have quick eats available to boot.
 
                        
  
Now back to the traditional food on offer. My menu consisted of:
Millets roti with chutney
Capsicum Vangibath with Alu Raitha
White Rice with Halsande Kalu Sapesru & Palya
Gavale Payasa
Dal Vada
Curds and Pickle
            Millets roti is a total sellout item in my opinion. The older lady of the house, Soumya's mother in law prepared them fresh herself, in fact, most of the cooking is by her. The cherry on the icing is the home made butter and chili chutney. Simply out of this world! The vangibath, raita, palya and dal vada were all just as I expected them, the homemade flavour, just as a grandmother would make it for you!
           Now the Gavale Payasa is an interesting addition. This delicacy is popular in Maharashtra and possibly North Karnataka too. The Gavale is our own version of the pasta, a pure labour of love, which can then be made into bhaat or kheer. It was simply amazing, my first time.
Beyond the food, what stands out in this kind of arrangement is the hospitality, the homeliness and you can have your food fully assured that it will be safe. Kudos to Authenticook for that.
           So go ahead and book your next home meal. Take your family, colleagues and friends with you, because the more the merrier! For now, enjoy these pics...