Street Chicken - Smoking Hot From The Streets

RED HOT.!!

Ahh..This is one of my favorite ones.
 It's deep fried chicken.
 It is called by different names , chicken 65 , chicken pakoda ,etc depending on the person's social conditioning.
It's a bit risky one too..not all shops sell good quality fried chicken.
You can easily identify it.
 First and foremost the shop will ALWAYS have someone eating there , like the shopkeeper will never run out of customers.
Which means he sells good stuff that people eat at regular intervals.
 And the colour of the chiken too speaks volumes.
Perfect fried chicken are deep blood red and NOT BRIGHT RED.
Yes, the bright red ones just "look" good but frankly speaking , they taste like s**t.
Just keep the above two in mind before opting for chicken , plus in the end I'll introduce you to a wonderful shop where the best street chicken is sold.
It's a must try thing for all those "I love spicy stuff'" foodies.

The Recipe That Would Make Your Taste buds Praise You :

                                                                                                       

The marinated uncooked chicken

 Raw ,washed, cleaned, pieces of chicken.
 That's how it starts. Ginger garlic waste along with pinches of turmeric is mixed with the chicken. And then red chillie powder , black peeper powder , whole eggs, lemon juice are added.
 Normally a pinch of red colour powder is added at this stage to attract customers.
 The meat is mixed thoroughly and let to marinate for around one and a half an hour.
The raw meat is ready. It looks like the one in the above picture.
Now all that the shopkeeper does is that , he half cooks around 1 kg at a time by frying it in oil for a short interval of time and sets it in display.
Once you go to the shop and ask for a plate of fried chicken , he takes around 100 grams from the half cooked chicken and fries it deeply in oil until it becomes fully cooked and ready to eat.
The chicken is garnished with onions , lemon slices and served.

The half cooked ones kept in display are the main attraction of this street food , who can resist such a display combined with an amazing spicy aroma.?

The Taste :

The ready to eat finished product.

                    It has a spicy , masala filled taste. It has the notes of ginger and garlic. Lemon is slightly felt. Overall it tastes completely incredible. Trust me it's just incredible. And worth trying.

Combinations :

An inside view of the street shop

                          In Madurai people eat it with onion rings.
I was in Vellore where they ate this with an amazing combo , the "idiyapam" .
I know it sounds a bit weird , "Chicken 65 + Idiyapam" , I felt the same way when I saw peeps eating it in the streets so I just went out and tried it. It was just completely amazing. The soft tasteless idiyapam does wonders with the harder spicy chicken.

Places To get This :
                                 In Madurai there is a shop in Anna nagar , it's near the new branch of arun bakery and is placed in front of an unused park.
 I'm a fan of that guy's chicken. He sells the best.
 But if you're a chickenholic and  simply love chicken , then I suggest you to make a trip to Vellore. That's paradise for any chicken lover.
There are street chicken shops in huge numbers over there like three to four in a single street.
They have a good variety too , chicken pakodas, chicken chops , chicken kebabs , chicken chips...the list goes on.Good luck trying.

Bombay Chaat - The Spiciest Chaat.

BOMBAY CHAAT: 

Yes. This is my blog post after one helluva long time. Health issues.
So had to restrict on street food.
 But it's okay, I've decided to chuck it and start blogging. I'll get active again.
So this is what I've covered today, "Bombay chaat". Just like the name suggests this dish originated in the streets of then Bombay(now Mumbai) .
It is a very less popular chaat item.
But trust me it is a million times tastier than bhel puri , masala puri and stuff. And I highly recommend you to try it.
Besides it's humble appearance , it has the highest number of spices of all the chat items. And it's flavour.!!!
The taste will stay in your mouth for a loong time. Not all would have tasted this.
And that's such a baaad thing.!
 Once you eat it you'll feel addicted to it.
And remember , you only get addicted to things that take away stress and pain from you.
 So it's doing more good than harm. Now let's get into what makes this dish soooo special.

 The Magic Recipe :

At first , crushed papads , chopped tomatoes , onions and mashed potatoes start the dish.

A few papads are crushed in the plate.
That's how this masterpiece starts.
After pappad comes chopped tomato , onions and mashed potatoes ( These three are one killer combo.!!).

These are those spicy chutneys that add the magical flavor to the dish.

And then a few dabs of ginger paste and date chutney(aka, date sauce) .

This channa gravy alone ,has a lot of spices in it , which gives the dish more a more Indian touch. The gravy remains hot with the help of a stove. It tastes incredibly great when cold curd mixes with this hot gravy.

Here comes the best part , a spicy hot channa gravy is poured all over the plate.
Throughout the making of this dish ,no mixing must take place. Ever.
This ain't martini and you ain't James Bond.
Seconds after the channa has been poured a few spoons of curd is poured on top of the dish.
 Over the curd comes mint chutney and chaat masala.

The masalas

 The finishing touch is "sev" sprinkled generously all over the plate and garnished with coriander. And baaaang.!! An edible masterpiece in your hand.!!
 

Places To Get This :
                                  This spicy bomb is available in 98% of the chaat stores out there ( The ones that ain't got this aren't worth visiting) .
In Madurai out of my personal experience I've found "Kolkata chaat" (They spell it in a weird way though) as the best place to have this dish.
The shop is found opposite to reliance fresh in Anna Nagar.
 It has another branch in M mall.

The Wallet Factor :

                                Okay I agree. This is costly compared to the other chaat items and street foods.
It costs around 40 Rupees a plate. But it is worth the money.
 You can take my word for it. Why.? Because it more spicier.
 It has more of "Indian spices" in it. And It's stomach filling too. I've given you my opinion.
The choice is yours to take or not.

The finished piece :

Finished piece. Irresistible. Both it's looks and It's taste.  

 
So that's it peeps. Feel free to leave your comments below.

                                                                                                                                                                            

   

One Fruity Flirty Evening

                                                          The Fruit store :

In my last post I stressed a lot around the non-vegetarian stuff.
The vegetarians felt like hitting me with a brick , as if there is no good street food from their side. The thing is there are tons.
 So now I have come up with an exclusive vegetarian Fruit stall.
They sell up to fifteen varieties of fruits each costing around rupees 10 per plate.
 But there are two things this stall stand out for.
The fruit salad. The watermelon juice. Let's see in detail about both the dishes.

                                             
                                                                  Fruit Salad :

This is the fruit salad . A perfect evening snack

The fruit salad is actually too healthy to be called street food.
It's prepared in a hygienic way too. Notice the gloves the man is wearing in the first pic.
 The recipe is the same as what your kinder garden cookery teacher taught you , to familiarize you with the names of fruits.
This salad consists of ten fresh fruits neatly cut and mixed.
They are papaya , pineapple , watermelon , grapes, guava, cucumber , carrot , apple , dates and banana. It is served in a disposable plate.
If you are seriously into the sweet dishes then you can eat it as such. But if you are like me , in love with the magical taste that comes out when sweet and spicy taste mixes.
Then you can tell him to top it with some black pepper powder.
You will be given a toothpick to eat it with. You needn't limit yourself , this is completely healthy and safe.


                                              Water Melon Juice :

This is the juice concentrate , consisting of sliced watermelons and ice cubes.

Ahhan . Drinks.My favourite part.
 I'm not an expert in mixology Nor have I been a cocktail mixer.
But I know what tastes good with what. This is tastes good.
It is the best thing you would have ever drunk in a hot summer afternoon ( after beer though :P ) .
The juice concentrate is mixed with a little amount of red sherbet.
The concentrate is actually, watermelons and ice cubes.
Preserved in a closed vessel.
So yes this drink is just a mix of sherbet and watermelon slices along with ice cubes.

The red sherbet. Taste enhancer.

This juice costs around 15 to 20 rupees depending on your bargaining skills.

Mixing.!

So you have come to the end of the blog. Hope you enjoyed. Leave your comments below.

An inside view of the fruit stall

The Madurai Street Dinner : A picture essay

Okay..now I've done so far the best thing I've ever thought of , A complete picture essay of all the typical Madurai food that are eaten as dinner dishes.
The spicy non-vegetarian type
Madurai is one of the best places to have a dinner , the best part is you can get food at any time , even at 3 am. YES , any time..! Provided you are patient enough to search for a shop.
If you are a lazy reader , then this is especially for you.
If you have a slow mobile data , I pity you the most. This blog is full of pictures.
So let's go ahead for the stuff.

                               


                     Egg Parotas (popularly called as  "mutta parota") :

Stage 1 :
                                                                               

This is how it begins , hand chopped parotas , onions and tomatoes with a sea of egg in the centre.
Look at the heart shaped egg , these guys are romantic too. :P 

Stage 2 :

This is the so called "secret ingredient" , some amount of local gravy is poured into the sea of egg in the centre. The gravy is called as "chalna" or "kuruma" by the locals.

Stage 3 :

I swear you would love to see this , this is the best part of this dish , the man vigorously chops the mix with that chisel like instrument in his hands. The sound could be hear from miles..!


  

Stage 4:

After a few minutes of the vigorous chopping , the egg parotas are finally ready .

Stage 5:

This is the amount of egg parota you get when you order for one plate of it , it is garnished with  black pepper powder before serving.

                                                           



                                  Tandoori Chicken :

Okay..this is not that much of a "Madurai" dish , it originated in the street dhabas of Punjab. But still it has become dead famous in Madurai in the past few years.

Stage 1 :

Raw chicken , mixed with masala. It marinates for around 6 hours.

Stage 2 :

And now , the marinated chicken is inserted in a sharp metal rod and  put inside a tandoor oven and it stays there for some minutes till it gets fully cooked.

Stage 3:

A few of the tandoori chicken prepared in the previous stage are hanged outside in hooks to attract the customers , how tactical.!!

Stage 4:

This is how it is served , with onion rings, cabbage , lemon and mint chutney!!

Stage 5 :

What else left.? Just start eating.
P.S: THIS IS NOT ME

                                                               

                             Mutton Dosai :

This is "The" Madurai food. This has got history with Madurai. And is popularly called as "Kari dosai"

Stage 1 :

How it begins.? Eggs are first beaten in a vessel like this.

Stage 2 :

After the eggs are beaten , it is mixed with "mutton chukka" and is beaten even more.

Stage 3 :

The mixture of mutton chukka and eggs are poured into an "yet to be cooked" dosai.

Stage 4 :

It is left as such for a few minutes, till the bottom of the dosai is cooked.

Stage 5 :

The dosai is flipped to the other side , left as such for a few minutes and there you have the spicy mutton dosai.!! 

                                  



                          An additional combo- Parotas with butter chicken :

If you haven't tried this combo before , I highly suggest you that you try it , this is like drugs for your taste buds .

So here comes the end of this picture essay , hope you enjoyed , leave your comments below :) 

Pani puri..!!

                                                                 Pani Puri :

Pani puris..!!
They are the main reason I go to school , there are tonnz of pani puri shops nearby.
This addictive chaat originated in the South Bihar region. I hope that much of knowledge is enough , I don't want to bore anyone with history.
Pani puri stalls are famous and have widely spread all over India , yes outside India too.
The best part of pani puri is that you could never be in a state when you can tell these off.
Even if you're hungry , thirsty , frustrated , exhausted , or even if you've just had your meal you will always have some space for a plate of pani puri by the street.!!

The Making :

It has the least complicated recipe of all the chaat items.
The puris , pani and the stuffing are the important part. Once these three are properly handled anyone can make mouth watering pani puris.!!
When it comes to the puris only one thing define the perfect puri , it has to be crispy..yes CRISPY so at all cost avoid the roadside pani puris during the rain.
The pani(pani is a hindi word for water) is made of mint and tamarind water.
This is what differentiates a healthy pani puri from a disease causing one.
The water used needn't be mineral water but it must be drinking water and definitely not tap water. Most of the pani puri vendors in those carts use these type of water.
So think twice before you eat pani puri at their place.
Always opt for specialized chat shops.
And then the last part the stuffing , this one is pretty simple. It is  made up of mashed potatoes along with some onions and chaat masala, chilli powder , black salt.
The puris are taken and a hole is made in it's top.
Through that hole the stuffing and the pani is being poured and there you have, my boy, the famous , tasty, addictive, cool PANI PURIS..!!
See to it you gobble them up as soon as possible the pani won't be lasting in your hands for a long time.

The Sweet Pani :

Some shops give a red coloured sweet pani along with the traditional green coloured pani.
Actually there are shops in the North India where they give up to seven different panis.!!
Any ways let's get back to the easily available red coloured pani. It is just sugar syrup with added colours. It amplifies the taste of the pani puri a hundred times. The mix of the sweet and the sour minty taste is not at all matchable. Your taste buds will bless you for doing that.! Good luck trying, champ.!

The Ill Pani Puris :
                              Let me talk about the pani puris that really don't taste that good. As I have mentioned above never buy puris that are not crispy it's just a waste of money. And the first in the list comes to those pani puris which come with a ketchup in it.!!
Seriously I know shops that sell horrible pani puris with ketchups and sauces in it , mint chutneys and etc are okay.
But ketchups aren't..!
Please stop westernising INDIAN STREET FOOD..!
PLEASE..!!

The Presentation :

                               In 90% of the place you go one plate of pani puri consist of six pani puris arranged in order along with the pani in a separate small cup. The stuffing have already been stuffed inside , all you got to do is pour the pani into the puri and gobble it up as fast as possible.!

The Pani Puri Cart:

Pani puris are also sold in carts.
Here the guy does the job of pouring the pani and stuffing for you and all you have to do is gobble it up.!!
It is cheaper than the chaat shops.
But the downside is they are not that healthy so see to it you don't eat them often.
The best part of these shops is you can eat as much as you want and pay for it at the end , there is no fixed amount, the guy will be filling up the puris and giving it to you as long you tell him to stop, provided he will keep you informed every time one plate is over.
Try this---> Take a friend with you and you can play this game with him. You both go to a pani puri cart and start a pani puri battle and see who eats the most number of pani puris.
The one who looses pays. It's a really fun thing to do..!!
Do try.!!

So that's it about pani puris , guys.!!
Leave your comments below ;)

The HOT Greens - Keera vadai

KEERA VADAI :

Welcome people!!
In my last post I blogged about jigarthanda , a sweet drink from Madurai.
This time I've come up with the exact opposite , "keera vadai" it is a spicy hot bite.
It is made from a variety of leaves called "mullumurungai" (Prickly amaranth).
As a kid I was never able to pronounce that complicated word , I always used to call it "green vada" (My sister still does that) .
It is far tastier than the tradition medhu vada , no offence medhu vada fans , that's just my opinion.
So let's go for the recipe.

This man makes up to 3,500 vadas a day.!!

Expert's recipe :
                          It's quite simple , just four ingredients that make up the batter , The greens I mentioned above , black pepper , rice flour and a few local herbs (optional) .
All the ingredients are ground together and mixed.
It is patted in a flat surface and deep fired.It is then seasoned with , ground gram dhal and spices.
And there you have the spicy , hot , tasty vadai..!

Just fry this batter , that's all.!!

What's so special about it :
                                      This dish is one of a kind , You wouldn't have tasted before.
Seriously people, trust me you do have to taste it , there is simply no other food that tastes like this. It ain't got a twin.
Plus , the guy who made those said me it's ingredients have a very positive effect on your health. It has been said to cure cold , dry cough , etc . You can now give that excuse to yourself to go eat dozens of this thing.!!

The fully ready vadas.!!

The wallet saver :
                        God..!! This dish tastes waaay tooo good and it is waay tooo cheap too. It is just three rupees per vada..!! Yeah you read that right just three rupees..!
This seems to be the best bite from every angle doesn't it.??

The places they are available :
                                                 In Madurai it is available in the Anna nagar region , on the 80 feet road.
 And if you want to go a bit deep inside , in the interior regions you can find tonnz and tonnz of such shops , specially in the Thirumalai nayakar mahal region..!!

They are hot and spicy.! Hotter than Ian and Russel together

Jigarthanda---A Non Alcoholic Booze Of Madurai :P

JIGARTHANDA:

PARADISE..!!

Today , I've covered up one of the best drinks available in the streets of Madurai city.

It's called "Jigarthanda".  

It's no wonder why people love it the most.

It is simply proof that god exists and he wants us live life tastefully..!! 

For those people who have not tasted Jigarthanda before , listen up, it tastes more or less like falooda, actually far better than that. 

Now enough of the intro let's dive into the real stuff.

The expert's recipe :

CHINA GRASS

                          

        In a empty glass , not-so-condensed  milk is first poured till the glass is quarter filled. Then comes the interesting part , this is what makes Jigarthanda a hundred times tastier than falooda plus this is the secret ingredient too..It is china grass..! 

It is popularly called "kadal-pasi" by the local folks and the shop keepers.

It is the amount of china grass that is very important. 

Normally somewhere around one scoop is added. 

After that comes a scoop of ice-cream and all these are topped with milk cream and  red sherbet. Most importantly it must not be shaken nor stirred..! 

And that's it BINGO...right in front of you lies the drink that is going to give you wings..!

A Fully prepared Jigarthanda

What if you are not in Madurai and want good quality Jigarthanda :

                                                                              

                There are only two ways to deal with this situation , you either collect all those ingredients make it yourself , let yourself fail and keep learning and in a few weeks or months you will be gifted with a skill set to start your own shop. 

Well, I know It's not a good idea for busy people and lazy people. 

For those people , there are lots of jigarthanda brands , they sell good quality jigarthanda in bottled packages. 

You can get it in most of the shops. 

You can buy crates of those from Madurai and drink it in your city whenever you wanted to.

Still sounds like a bad idea.? Well, think about it, it all comes down to priorities. If people can buy crates of beer from Pondichery and drink it at their pleasure in their place then why not this..?!

Trust me, it's worth every pint of effort that you take into getting this drink!!

What is the cost of jigarthanda :

                                                    

A lot of foreigners and tourists have been cheated by the local shop owners by selling them food stuff at a really high rate , and that is a reeaally baaadd thing. Listen the price of Jigarthanda starts at 25 rupees and ends at 50 rupees depending on the quantity.The price ends at 50 rupees..! Drill that into your head , never pay more than that for a glass of Jigarthanda..! Unless and until you are parcelling it.

Two best places for jigarthanda in Madurai:

If you are a more civilized person , you can try a spoon.

                                                                       

  Actually, there are tonnzz..! 

Literally tonnzz and tonzzzz of places that sell mouth watering Jigarthanda in the city, I have short-listed the best two which I feel is a good place based on the taste, hygiene, quality, etc. 

I repeat this's just my opinion..! 

• Murugan idli kadai 
• Famous Jigarthanda

Both the shops have lots of branches around the city , you can get there from any part of the city.

Additional Info : If you wanted to get supplies of Madurai Jigarthanda at any part of Tamil Nadu contact this agent , he is a distributor for bottled Jigarthandas  , It belongs to firm called RUBY..
Mr.Parthiban- 9843051161. 

So that's it guys..! This is all about Jigarthanda , leave your comments below :)