Ezine

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Reaching out to Indians

How many of you watch the show Zayka India ka on NDTV India. Vinod Dua takes us all around the country and introduces us to the local flavours of India. I watch even the re-runs of the show. I love the little local flovours of the show. He does not focus on the five star hotels rather always eats at the roadside restaurants, it could be the local dhaba or the chai ki dukaan( tea vendor) or in Chennai he had hot sambhar and wada and hot sambhar and idli (yummy!) the best part was it was raining outside.
These are Indian flavours. Does anybody recall having those special concoctions like Horlicks biryani, fried Maggi noodles, hot masala dosa etc. I recall having masala dosa in my college canteen and though it was oily, it was cheap and those of us who were from families where our needs were fulfilled but our wants were not catered to, can very easily undersatnd that eating at such places was fun. At a time when you have more choices and less money to pick one, these kind of eating joints provided their own unique flavour.
I recall once I was travelling with my brother, he stopped the car at a roadside chinese stall where we had Hakka noodles and Chinese Fried Rice, it was one of the tastiest Chinese meals I  had ever had.
If you travel to India then you may stay at a five star hotel but try checking out these local flavours because often they are unique, the cook is not trained to cook low fat food but manages to impart a unique flavour to the food.
Bon Appetit!

5 comments:

  1. How come each and every recipe vinod dua tries is so so delicious and yummy. Come on ...be realistic . We need critics as well

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  2. even i like this programme n alws try to not to miss a single episode of Zzayaka....... i really luv this prograame atleast ghar baithe koi hume saare India ki sair karata hai!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  3. Thanks for the interesting remark Shweta, I totally agree with you. Besides, I like the fact that Vinod Dua is a foodie and foodie's when they do a show manage to add their love for food to the program. I particularly love the fact that he sticks to the local flavors of India.

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  4. Yes!!! I agree with you all ...the way he presents the programme you feel as if you are with Vinod Dua waiting the goodies or at least have the longing to visit the place...Its more in the presentation than in the food

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  5. True Shefali, I think Vinod Dua should be made the food ambassador of India and take the local flavor to all parts of the world, though many have done it before him but nobody has done it with as much authenticity as him.

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