One of the things I love about Indian food is that there is always more than enough. You will eat, your friend will eat and there will still be enough to carry home to your brother.
We had chicken biriyani and chicken lollipops at the The Great Indian Dhaba! (It’s the type of name you imagine is said with fanfare and trumpeting, the way royals are announced in movies.)
Anyway, what is a Dhaba? I asked so that you don’t have to. It is a restaurant at the roadside. That’s it! It’s supposed to be a restaurant where you can chill, stretch your legs while on a long journey, eat and get back on the road. In as far as relaxing outdoor atmosphere, they’ve got that covered.
On to the food!
Sight
First of all…the food is presented in as if…a dance. Maybe it was just me imagining music.
Brightly coloured sauces
then salad
then the biriyani
And the chicken lollipops
I’ve had biriyani before but I don’t think I’ve seen the rice have different colours. Is this what it should be like? Have I been eating the wrong biriyani? Some grains were yellow, others orange, others whitish. And this explosion of colours sends a signal to your brain that the food just can’t look this good for nothing, it has to taste good too. And it did.
Smell
Very very mild hints of chilli.
Taste
The rice was well done and light with the slightest notes of ginger between bites. For me, the scattered caramelised onions were like nice little surprises in my mouth. Here in one bite, then gone for the next 7 bites, then back. Loved it. The chicken in the biriyani was soft, which allowed the red-tinged chicken lollipops to be all the other things; Crunchy, saucy and airy so that we were surprised to feel stuffed afterwards.
Touch
You will begin with the warm towels to clean your hands, but the cool, firm veges were as far as we went in touching the food.
Sound
A waitress named Eunice who has a phd in the restaurant’s menu! ‘The green one is mint leaves with garlic and a little bit of chilli.’ ‘That is Raita, yoghurt with thinly sliced tomato and onion.’ Thank you Eunice.
PS: You can make raita at home, and you should.
Biriyani and lollipops go for 25k each.
The Great Indian Dhaba also offers Thali or pre-plated food for those days when you just want to eat your meal and go or are craving a great Indian meal on a budget. It has rice, 2 sauces, naan, yogurt and salad and goes for 25k.
Eat here when you want some pampering. And if you don’t believe me, believe this.
I sneaked a photo of the comments in the guest book when no one was looking.
