OMR Food Street: February 2018

21/02/18

Food Focus – Chole Bhature from Chandni Chowk

Food reflects our culture, resources, tastes and affordability. Hence when you have any food, you’re literally taking a bite of the food’s journey from its home. Punjab is easily the biggest influencer when it comes to unique flavors and recipes in the long list of North Indian cuisine. It is home to the famed Chole Bhature, also popularly known in Chennai as Chola Poori. Chandni Chowk in Delhi is the place that has adopted Chole Bhature as its own and has since become synonymous with the dish.

Chandni Chowk to Chennai

Suman, our in-house Chole Bhature expert, who runs the ‘Chandni Chowk To OMR’ food joint at OMR Food Street, in Injambakkam, ECR, says that the magic of Chole Bhature is in its earthy flavors.

What’s in it?

The Chole a.k.a. Chick Peas a.k.a Channa is cooked to well but not till it gets mushy, with wholly native spices like cumin, turmeric, cloves, pepper, chilli, cardamom, garlic and asafoetida. Then it’s topped off with tangy lemon, tomato and butter garnish. While the Bhature a.k.a Poori a.k.a Indian Bread is made of maida and whole wheat flour with a pinch of salt, finely kneaded, rolled, pressed and eventually fried in oil until it’s puffy, golden brown.

While Chole Bhature gives you a taste of Punjab, it also tells you a lot about how great food can have non-descript ingredients, easy recipes and humble origins. The appeal though is across classes. People throng the Chole Bhature outlets in Chandni Chowk almost on a daily basis to relish this food of the masses, from the heart of India.

That’s what good food can do to you. It’ll bring you to where it is. Get your Chole Bhature fix at the Chandni Chowk To OMR outlet, in the ECR stretch and you’re sure to taste the authentic Punjabi-ness of this amazing dish, right here in Chennai.

About Author:

OMR Food Street is the best street food in Chennai. And it is best drive-in cum drive-thru hub for foodies, with a speciality of serving up street food recipes from around India making it the best street food joint in Chennai. Omr food street is the home of the best street food outlets in chennai.

Footnotes : Chennai Street Food | Street Food Restaurants in Chennai | Food Court in Chennai

4 Reasons Why We Love Street Food

For foodies everywhere, food is more than just the taste. It’s about what goes into the making of the dish, the story behind it, where it’s available, the people who make it and much more. Food should be that because it completes the experience and makes it memorable. You remember how amma makes laddu or kozhukattai more than how it tastes. It’s because watching someone make something as delectable as a laddu, at home, rolling each laddu by hand from a bunch of boondhis, while you keep stealing the cashews, are all memorable experiences. Those are again the reasons why street food fascinates us in a huge way. It’s made in front of us, it doesn’t burn a hole in our pockets, it’s fast and its genius!

1. It’s made in front of us

2. It’s not expensive!

3. It’s fast!

4. It’s genius!

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Footnotes : Chennai Street Food | Street Food Restaurants in Chennai | Food Court in Chennai

Kari Dosai, Parotta Platter – A Chettinadu Style Taste Riot

For a person revisiting OMR Food Street, the Injambakkam Food Street is chock full of mini surprises. A row of new food outlets dot a couple of already recognizable ones like Tibbs Frankie and the anchor outlet, Ajanabi. Being one of those work visits isn’t the easiest to handle at a place like Chennai Street Food. It was exactly that until our job was done and we decided to head into Namma Chettinad, to get over two hours of nibbling at our temptations.

Tucked away and invisible from out front, one has to get to the end of the OMR Food Street to visit Namma Chettinad. The interiors of the outlet are quite plain, with only the wooden tables serving to catch your eye.

We ordered three dishes in total; a chicken kari dosa, a prawn parottizza and an egg veechu parotta. The element that was common and fit the bill for all three dishes was the spicy chicken gravy or kuruma that came with the dosa and parotta.

The Chicken Kari Dosa is essentially a kal dosa (like an oothapam) with cooked chicken layered atop in an almost seamless manner. By the looks of it, one would assume there isn’t any meat to chew on, which isn’t the case. The little chunks of spicy cooked chicken keep your taste buds rooting for more, along with the magic that is the kuruma.

The Prawn Parotizza is exactly what it sounds like… prawns, parotta and pizza, with the only exception that the prawns taste unlike any other preparation I’ve tried, although in small quantity. They were cooked with masalas or spices to an extent it looses its signature, seafood taste. Topped with cheese and cut into four slices to put the pizza in parotizza, Namma Chettinad brings an interesting note to a food item that’s most common to Chennai.

The Egg Veechu Parotta is a simpler variety, which isn’t as layered, but spread out and cooked with eggs, to form a thinner version of the parotta. Served with raita and chicken kuruma, the egg veechu definitely packs more of a punch than its counterpart. We walked out of Namma Chettinad having eaten our fill, content as ever and hoping to return back sometime to savor and experience food, the Chettinad style.

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Footnotes : Chennai Street Food | Street Food Restaurants in Chennai | Food Court in Chennai

Navratri Special

Everyone has fond memories of celebrating Vijayadashami or Dusshera holidays with pomp and splendor. It’s one of those festivals that is widely celebrated across India and in a different manner from region to region.

Vijayadashami or Dusshera marks the end of Durga Puja, denoting Goddess Durga’s victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura; the end of Ramlila, denoting Lord Rama’s victory over Ravana; or paying

reverence to Saraswathi, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music and the arts. Activities during the Navaratri festival culminating in Vijayadashami or Dusshera range from dandiya and garba dances during the evenings, enactments of Ramleela, decorative arrangements of bommai kolu dolls and so on.

Food is an important part of the Navaratri festival depending on where you happen to live. Down south, the food item that tops every other is the chickpeas sundal, a stir-fired dish made with white chickpeas and various spices and condiments. Another that is a staple of every South Indian’s pooja holiday snack would be a readymade mixture

of puffed rice, groundnuts and split roasted gram (pottukadalai), and is normally consumed in no small quantity.

Sweet pongal or sarkarai pongal is prepared on the day of Vijayadashami, and also for Ayudha Pooja, when all the implements and tools of one’s trade are cleaned and set aside for performing a pooja.

Jalebis are the ‘hot cakes’ of Navratri season as you go up North, with the delectable twirls of fried, sugary goodness being sold and consumed in quantities that are never seen all year long. The savory equivalent to the jalebis are called fafdas, an authentic and crunchy (Gujarati) snack made from chickpea flour and served with fried chillies or a special chutney of sorts. Some of the sweet treats for Dusshera in other parts of India include besan laddoos or fried boondi drenched in sugar syrup, rasgullas, gulab jamuns and a variety of kheers.

Although the Navaratri season is celebrated under varied names with different kinds of rituals carried across India, among the most famous is the Mysore Dasara, a 10-day festival starting with Navratri (nine nights) and culminating in Vijayadashami on the 10th day. The city of Mysuru is known to have celebrated Dasara with pomp and grandeur, for centuries together, with the Mysore Palace to this day being extensively lit up for 10

days of religious and cultural activities. The sweet of choice for Dasara, the ’mysore pak’ aptly derives its name from this great city, having been first prepared in the Mysore Palace kitchens during the regime of Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, by a palace cook named Kakasura Madappa.

Along with the festival of Diwali, the varied rituals and traditions of Navaratri, Dusshera and Vijayadashami take place during two of the most eagerly awaited months of the year in the Indian calendar. And rightly so, because they also happen to be the most anticipated months of the year, for those who enjoy food in all its festive forms.

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Footnotes : Chennai Street Food | Street Food Restaurants in Chennai | Food Court in Chennai

Diwali Delicacies!

Diwali is that time of the year when people of all ages are really excited about the festival of lights, for reasons of their own. For the kids and youngsters, its the prospect of putting on new clothes after an early morning oil bath, followed by the incessant lighting of crackers and fancy fireworks all day long; for those middle aged and elderly folks, its more about making those yearly house visits and spending quality time with their loved ones.

The only aspect that ties all age groups together during Diwali is the food, consisting of sweets and savories that are easily prepared at home (or bought) and distributed among family, friends and relatives. Following are the most common sweets and savories relished during the Diwali season.

Adhirasams are sweets that top the list when it comes down to Diwali preparations at home. Similar in shape to a vadai, albeit a little flatter, the doughnut like pastry is made using rice flour, jaggery and ghee, and is known to have a long, popular history in Tamil culture.

Prepared using chickpea or gram flour and ingredients such as cashews, raisins, saffron and cardamom, Boondi Laddoos are the staple, Diwali sweet treats that are sure to be enjoyed in every home.

Originally known as ‘Mysuru Paaka’ denoting the city of its origin, the Mysore Pak is yet another Diwali staple, prepared with generous amounts of ghee, sugar, gram flour and cardamom. Taking a bite of this sweet treat is so good that it quite literally melts away in your mouth.

A traditional South Indian (Iyengar) savory, Mullu Murukku or Maghizhampoo Murukku is a deep fried, rice-based snack, prepared with flour, moong dal and channa dal. It is a common snack usually served with evening tea or coffee, but also prepared during special occasions like Diwali.

A delicious variation of the traditional murukku, the Ribbon Pakoda is also known by the names Ribbon Murukku or Ola Pakoda. This crispy snack is made using rice flour, besan, fried gram and mild spices like chili powder and cumin, remaining as one of the most prepared and consumed savory snacks during the Diwali season.

Diwali is the most colorful festival of lights and crackers. The only thing that connects us this Diwali is food! Have a colorful and safe Diwali everyone!

About Author:

OMR Food Street is the best street food in Chennai. And it is best drive-in cum drive-thru hub for foodies, with a speciality of serving up street food recipes from around India making it the best street food joint in Chennai. Omr food street is the home of the best street food outlets in chennai.

Footnotes : Chennai Street Food | Street Food Restaurants in Chennai | Food Court in Chennai

Food Street Culture

Street food has always been an integral part of Chennai’s culture over the years. The term ’kaiyendhi bhavan’ was coined for the umpteen street food joints that served right-out-of-the-pan delicacies across Chennai. If the city is known for something the most, it has got to be the street food; get out of your home or workplace and you’ll find one right outside or in the vicinity.

OMR Food Street popularized it further by giving the city folk a hub to converge, purely for street food. It has gone to the extent that a new culture — the food street culture — is emerging off late. Unique to Chennai Street Food, this culture is slowly beginning to shape the mindsets of Chennaites, one outlet at a time. Following are the ways ‘food street culture’ is shaping the minds and hearts of city folk:

A Casual Outing: Families and friends now have a go-to place, where they can experience a variety of different cuisines, without fussing over the choice of restaurants. OMR Food Street has become a spot where kids, youngsters and adults can spend quality time over a meal.

A Treaty Affair: What are school and college days without the customary ‘treats’. It’s a known fact that friends don’t require a lot of reasons to give their friends a satisfactory, belly-rubbing treat. It just sort of happens. Chennai Street Food is chock full of such sweet treats

An Occasion Magnet: People have various occasions to celebrate in life (with food on the sidelines), be it birthdays, get togethers, weddings and anniversaries or the first salary, the first vehicle, and a lot of other firsts, OMR Food Street is a one-stop-shop for all those wonderful moments in life.

An Infusion of Variety: Feel like trying out some new food? OMR Food Street has got your back. With street food outlets on one side and restaurants on the other, there are a lot of cuisines to choose from, in order to satisfy your cravings.

A Culture Like None: With four fully functioning outlets and three outlets on the way, Chennai Street Food has captured the mind-space of a whole generation, like no other establishment has, in the history of this illustrious city.

What are you waiting for? Come and experience the ultimate ‘food street culture’ only at Chennai’s (yearlong) food carnival, and don’t forget to bring your family or friends along for an even better time.

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Footnotes : Chennai Street Food | Street Food Restaurants in Chennai | Food Court in Chennai

The variety of the varieties

From ancient times, people have always been fascinated by varieties. Psychologically, people always feel happy to have choices and the privilege to choose. That Variety is the unique selling point of OMR Food Street. But then, the variety of what? Variety of food? variety of cuisines or variety of experiences? The answer in its simplicity and elegance is that it is “the variety of varieties”. It is like a child getting lost in the overwhelming choices and his/her mind blown away in the sheer amount of variety. In this blog series, I will try to explain about the variety of varieties. The first time that I visited the Chennai Street Food, it was for a treat. I was mesmerised by such an establishment in Chennai where we can eat all cuisines in all price range in a single place. I was genuinely lost in the variety of choices (which is a variety for next week), hence I didn’t realise many aspects in my first visit. It was when I went to hang out there alone, I noticed simple things which wooed me.

In a single evening, if we order a cup of tea and sit in a chair and observe, we can see that there are people from every age group, come in and experience and enjoy their evenings. Starting from a grandfather and his grandchildren learning things and experiencing various food together, a father enjoying with his kids and his family, college or school friends eating treats teasing each other to the employees from various companies hang out with colleagues relaxing and destressing, OMR Food Street acts as a place where people from all the age groups hang out and spend the evening and eat the food. What is the reason that attracts people from all age groups? The reason is another variety. I know it sounds quirky, but hang on and read forward. the reason is variety of choices. Since there are plenty of food dishes and cuisines available in Street Food Restaurants in chennai, everyone’s favourite is available in a single premise, may it be a pizza for a kid or a pastry for a teenage girl or idly sambhar for a grandfather.

In short, in my experience, OMR Food street is a place that caters to people of all ages. A place which woos people in its own way, the food street way.

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Footnotes : Chennai Street Food | Street Food Restaurants in Chennai | Food Court in Chennai

The Variety of Choices - OMR Food Street

Choices are an integral part of our lives. We make choices every day, in fact ever minute of our lives. Some choices are trivial like what channel to watch on television and some choices are much more critical and important like taking a job or switching a career. No matter the impact of the choices, there is a happiness or satisfaction attached to it, which is the privilege to make choices.

When we have same option of choices in the food, we’ll feel delighted inside, may it be our home or a restaurant. What if we go to a restaurant and get the options of choices not just in having different cuisines of food but also in terms of different types of restaurant? What if we go to a restaurant and get an option of choices in terms of the budget? That’s what we get at OMR Food Street. We get the option of choices in terms of cuisines, types of restaurants, restaurants of different budgets etc. These choices that we get in OMR Food Street sometimes overwhelms us with its sheer numbers.

What makes Chennai Street Food an ideal place for friends hangouts or Treats? One of the main reason for this question is the option of choices. Last time when I visited OMR food street at Thoraipakkam, I saw a group of around ten friends who came together for one of the guy’s treat. they were talking amongst themselves for a few minutes and went on to different restaurants in smaller groups, got the food and regrouped outside at the common adjacent tables. They had the food together, shared the food and had fun making fun of each other and went for another round. The smaller groups were shuffled and went to different restaurants and got desserts and snacks and regrouped again, had fun and went on their merry way. Will this be possible on any normal restaurant? No. I agree the experience will be a different kind of fun at a traditional restaurant. But the experience as explained above has the choices and the experience is more fun. At least in my perception, it is more fun to hangout with friends in a place which has more choices than at a traditional restaurant. This is just one example. What will intrigue a kid more? Sitting at a restaurant with a menu at hand or a place where he/she can run around choosing what to eat? All the kids that I know would choose the latter. I can explain many such examples here.

In a nutshell, the sheer number of choices has always fascinated me and my buddies. Visit OMR Food Street once to experience the abundance of choices.

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Footnotes : Chennai Street Food | Street Food Restaurants in Chennai | Food Court in Chennai

Malabar Biriyani at ‘Aromas of Thalassery’

Where does one head to if he/she wishes to have a heartwarming and fulfilling plate of Kerala-style biriyani. Look no further than ‘Aromas of Thalassery’ located at a couple of the OMR Food Street (Thoraipakkam, Medavakkam, Perumbakkam). What can you find here? Simply put, the holy grail of Malabar biryanis. The region is known for its three distinct styles of biriyani, namely the Kozhikodan biriyani (Calicut), Kannur biriyani (Cannanore) and the Thalassery biriyani. When you find yourself here, look no further, delay no further. Keep calm and order a plate of the Thalassery biriyani. You should also go for a variety of authentic Malabar style meat bites, like the Kerala-style chicken fry; a succulent treat marinated in a concoction of rich, zingy spices and fried to perfection.

Chef’s Expert Tip: Make sure you don’t dig into the biryani, right off the plate. Malabar biryanis are plated in a peculiar manner, which requires you to mix the biryani well before indulging in it. The masala used in the biryani is concentrated at the centre of the plate with the rice being heaped on top with the use of a bowl. So unless you mix the two well, you’ll be gobbling down either the less tasty rice or the spice-rich masala. One can’t help but notice the distinct taste of crispy, ghee-fried onions; usually garnished on top of the rice. A staple in each one of the three styles of Malabar biriyani, they tend to linger in your palate, long after you are done with your meal. To put it plainly, it’s the masala that lends much of the taste and aroma to the Thalassery biriyani, more than anything. The chicken in the biryani is cooked along with this concoction to give it a signature taste that melds with the taste of the equally concentrated, masala-infused rice. It’s so good you can literally lick the excess ‘masala goodness’ off your fingers after downing an entire ‘heaven-on-a-plate’.

About Author:

OMR Food Street is the best street food in Chennai. And it is best drive-in cum drive-thru hub for foodies, with a speciality of serving up street food recipes from around India making it the best street food joint in Chennai. Omr food street is the home of the best street food outlets in chennai.

Footnotes : Chennai Street Food | Street Food Restaurants in Chennai | Food Court in Chennai

Why is OMR Food Street the favourite destination for Children?

In all my blogs about the OMR Food street, I would have mentioned the word “variety” at least once. It can be called as the USP of the OMR Food street. Variety is something that is abundant at OMR Food street. What attracts kids and children more? As soon as they enter the OMR Food street, they get to see options open for them in all fronts. To be honest, it can be a bit of a nightmare for the parents to satisfy children in a place like OMR Food street. Although, not a nightmare that wakes you up night, but the ones that we’d want to have often cause of the fun and experience.

Children get to enjoy the experience so much because, they get to eat at various restaurants in a single visit. For instance, they can start off with a starter form an outlet like Star Burma, then go on to finish the main course at restaurant like Thalassery Camboose and finish their desserts at an outlet like Curtney’s with a cupcake. Since most of the options are also pocket friendly, even the parents enjoy with the children. This is just one example that I had observed that a family followed during one of my visit to the OMR Food Street. There are many options available at Chennai Street Food like Curtney’s, which is famous for their phenomenal Cupcakes, the Madurai famous Original Jigarthanda shop which is famous for the jigarthanda that has now become a Signature feature of Madurai etc, which are very much attractive to kids. Not just variety or pocket friendly, but also it is a family friendly campus. Right from the securities of the campus to friendly natured stall owners and servers, the OMR Food street campus is not just family friendly, but also children friendly.

About Author:

OMR Food Street is the best street food in Chennai. And it is best drive-in cum drive-thru hub for foodies, with a speciality of serving up street food recipes from around India making it the best street food joint in Chennai. Omr food street is the home of the best street food outlets in chennai.

Footnotes : Chennai Street Food | Street Food Restaurants in Chennai | Food Court in Chennai

Interior Decor of Street Food Outlets

If you’ve ever been to any of the OMR Food Streets, we would label you a good observer if you had noticed the fact that when you stand at the entrance, all the outlets to the left are typically outdoor, street food stalls and the ones to the right are restaurants or indoor spaces. This was a conscious design choice made while building the ﬁrst OMR Food Street at Thoraipakkam and has been a constant ever since
The restaurants on to the right are almost always decked up spaces that serve patrons and customers great food in an ambient environment. Let’s take a sneak peek of a few of these restaurants, right here!

What the Fork!

As creative as the name gets, What the Fork is an American style restaurant that has a hardcore inﬂuence from the west. Furnished with wooden tables and benches, and serving everything from soups & starters to an all American main course

, hot dogs, wraps, desserts and drinks, the interiors of the restaurant are wrapped in posters, images and signages that are typical of an American diner or cafe; a minimalistic Sin City poster serves as the highlight of the restaurant.

Cheesy Juicy Burgers

What stands out the most when you’re about to enter Cheesy Juicy Burgers is the logo signage up front. Furnished with wooden tables, colorful chairs and yellow couches, the walls are done up with a gritty poster of the comic characters, Batman and Joker. The ceiling has a colorful sticker bearing the logos of comic heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and a few more, laid out like the patties on a burger. The wall at the far end is plastered with random food related words and adjectives.

Long Live Pizza:

The interiors of Long Live Pizza are elegant, orderly and furnished with wooden desks and chairs of a darker tone. The walls are predominantly a speciﬁc tone of red and green, which is directly borrowed from their logo mark. Neatly framed artworks of pizzas, artistic quotes and motivational lines adorn the walls of the outlet, giving visitors ample time to get inspired while waiting for their orders.

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Footnotes : Chennai Street Food | Street Food Restaurants in Chennai | Food Court in Chennai

Chennai Special Jigarthanda

I still couldn’t believe I visited the Madurai Famous Jigarthanda at OMR Food Street, Thoraipakkam and had my first ever Jigarthanda. Jigarthanda is a super yummy beverage packed with badam pisin (almond gum), nannari sarbath, ice cream and milk. The team at the outlet refers to Jigarthanda as “a drink that cools the heat.”

I had my first Jigarthanda very recently at OMR Food Street, Thoraipakkam and then twice at OMR Food Street, Guduvanchery. Last year when my fellow bloggers shared a Jigarthanda recipe, I got tempted to try it. So I decided to find the best place to give this a shot. I learnt from other acquaintances that Madurai Famous Jigarthanda is the most authentic place to have Jigarthanda.

I figured out the recipe to an extent and bought some badam pisin/almond gum and nannari sarbath. An easy method of making Jigarthanda ice cream is by using store bought vanilla ice cream and adding some food coloring to it. Soak badam pisin in reduced milk and voila, Jigarthanda ready!!!

One thing I should admit here. I added a little caramelized sugar in reduced milk and a pinch of orange food color in the ice cream. I’m not sure whether food color is added in the authentic recipe, but I was very happy and satisfied when my Jigarthanda looked and tasted very similar to the ones I had. What do you say friends, isn’t it looking similar to the Madurai Famous Jigarthanda

About Author:

OMR Food Street is the best street food in Chennai. And it is best drive-in cum drive-thru hub for foodies, with a speciality of serving up street food recipes from around India making it the best street food joint in Chennai. Omr food street is the home of the best street food outlets in chennai.

Footnotes : Chennai Street Food | Street Food Restaurants in Chennai | Food Court in Chennai