INTRO: Adhering to its distinctive zing and instant preparation style, Saptami gives a zhakas street fare punch to its guests, writes GITA HARI.
It’s Indian street food time, as your neighbourhood chaat vendor’s unique taste is recreated by Executive Chef Sudhir Pai and his team at Holiday Inn Mumbai Int’l Airport’s (Andheri East) multi-cuisine restaurant Saptami. I am sure even the staunchest gourmet will not be able to resist a bite of Mumbai’s famous street food which is so integral to its food culture. High on taste, easy on pocket with a wide array of zestycreations, Mumbaiya street food truly deserves its rightful place on gourmet food trail.
Saptami sports an interesting decor for ongoing Zhakaas Indian Street Food festival till the 25th of this month, as it did not take long to get transported to the world of Mumbai khau gallis with cutouts of Salman and Bollywood divas welcoming guests, a miniature black and yellow autorichshaw parked on every table, Bollywood and Marathi film posters adorning the walls, Pani puri terracotta matka with the typical red cloth, gola-sherbet wala, hawkers cart dispensing dhokla, khandvi, kulfivala besides street side sweetmeat vendor selling goodies. Even chaas is displayed in a terracotta matki. And all this to the background music of late 70’s.
Pani puris exploded with sweet-sour-tangy bursts on the touch of the roof of the mouth. Dahi puris scrunched their way with flavoursome stuffing, toppings of sev and boondi with puris turning squishy if taken longer to consume. Pav bhaji was a let down as the bhaji was cold and the asides like onion were missing. Service needs to get spruced up because the waiters clear the plates while you are still eating without so much as bothering to find out if you are through. Perk up their training Holiday Inn!
When talking about Mumbai street food, can the popular vada/usal/misal pavs be far away – so don’t skip the food station which entices you with platefuls of usal/misal with slit pavs, farsan on the side, chopped onions and eye-catching green chillies and the yummy Dabeli with tangy insides and nutty toppings can evoke a salivating effect. If it’s regular bread that your heart desires, then Mumbai Toastee Sandwich with crisp vegetables, chutney and loads of butter, comes to the rescue.
Non-vegetarians can whet their appetite with Kheema Pao, Fish Tikka, Seekh Kebab, Tandoori/Chilli Chicken or Bhurji Pav. The desserts served are Kulfi Dandivali, hot syrupy Jalebi, crisp Malpua, creamy Rabdi and to go back to your school days they have a Gola cart too… just ask the golawala for kalakhatta or to pour syrups of your choice and enjoy!
Adhering to its distinctive zing and instant preparation style, be it the various chaats, vada pav, kebab, handi biryani, kheema pao or sweets like jalebis and even the ubiquitous gola, Saptami adapts itself to give a zhakas street fare punch to its guests!
Ratings:
Food: 3.5
Ambiance: 4
Service: 2.5
Pricing: Lunch-Rs.799+ Dinner-Rs.1199+
Overall: 3.5
INGREDIENTS:
A packet of 50 small puffed up puris
3 large mashed potato
½ cup Sprouted boiled mung dal (optional)
100 gms Nylon Sev
100 gms Savoury Boondi
1 cup Thick curd
Meetha chutney as required
Theeka chutney as required
Chaat masala for sprinkling
1 tsp Dhania-jeera powder
Salt to taste
Meetha chutney ingredients & method:
Boil lemon-sized seedless tamarind, 10 seedless dates and ½ cup jaggery together in 2 glasses of water. Cool and grind them into fine paste. Mix in salt and 1tsp dhania-jeera powder. Set aside – the same can be used for all chaats and vada pav.
Theeka Chutney ingredients & method:
Grind together a sprig each of mint and fresh coriander leaves with 2 green chillies, salt and turmeric powder. Set aside – the same can be used for all chaats and vada pav.
METHOD:
Add salt and dhania-jeera powder to mashed potatoes. Take required number of puris in a large plate and make a dent with your thumb on top of each puri. Fill it with potato and/or mung dal stuffing. Spoon little sweet and spicy chutneys into each puri. Pour beaten curd generously on the puris so that curd spills over. Drizzle meetha and theeka chutneys over dahi puris. Garnish with chaat masala, nylon sev and boondi. Serve immediately.
Vada Pav
INGREDIENTS:
½ kg boiled and mashed potatoes
½ tsp rai
A pinch of asafetida
1 string curry leaves
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 chopped green chillies
¼ tsp haldi powder
½ tsp aamchur powder
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
Ingredients for batter:
250 gms Besan
½ tsp red chilli powder
A pinch baking soda
¼ tsp asafetida
Oil for deep frying
Salt to taste
Vada Pav chutney:
Grind together a few pods of garlic, grated dry coconut and chilli powder. Meetha and Theeka chutneys (recipes as mentioned above) for smearing on pav. Chopped onion and seasoned green chillies for serving.
METHOD:
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seed, curry leaves and asafetida. When mustard seeds splutter add green chilli, ginger-garlic paste. Introduce mashed potatoes, salt, lemon juice and haldi powder. Combine the ingredients well and let it sauté for a couple of minutes. Remove from burner and let it cool. Divide the mixture into 10-12 lemon-sized portions. Set aside.
Method for making batter
In a bowl add besan, chilli powder, salt and asafetida. Add water to make a thick batter. Heat oil for frying. Take each potato ball and dip it in the besan mixture till it is covered with batter. Then gently drop the balls into hot oil and fry until golden brown. Drain out excess oil on kitchen tissues.
To serve:
Slit open three sides of each pav. Smear one inner side with theeka chutney and the other inner side with meetha chutney. Place the vada inside the pav and serve with vada pav chutney, seasoned green chillies and onion pieces.
