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Fully loaded thali at Aram |
A Bengali enjoying a Gujarati meal with Goans, Marwaris, Odiyas, Maharashtrians and South Indians in the middle of a Maharashtrian dominated area is what Mumbai is all about to me.
I have just returned from a lovely lunch at Aram in Bandra, E, near Guru Nanak Hospital and Hallmark Building. It is next to Sri Krishna Fast Foods which I wrote about here.
I had promised folks at work that we will go there for lunch when I returned from Goa.
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The Karvy gang |
Thankfully the food was light and perfect for my stomach which is recovering from the violent food poisoning caused by a dinner at a newly opened restaurant in Goa on our last night of the trip.
And you thought being a food blogger is fun!
Still, living your dreams after you have entered your 40s beats any age revitalizing cream!
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I survived food poisoning |
I had once eaten at a thali place called Aram, now shut, at Mahim with folks at work during my trainee days in Mumbai.
The contractor who runs the Aram at Bandra E says that there is no connection with the Mahim one. He told me that the family runs it also runs one at Girgaom near Wilson College. He said that the one at Bandra E is older.
‘ Bahut purana’ (very old). 15 to 20 years apparently!
@flirtytango on twitter tells me that they are all run by the same family.
What we liked was that the atmosphere is very relaxed here. They don’t keep hustling you and hurrying you unlike in the bigger Gujarati chain joints. We could eat and chat in peace.
‘Truly aram (relaxed)’ as Dharmesh said.
The food is nice and light. Hot fulka rotis, a flavoursome tendla baji, soupy alu palak curry and the very addictive sweet kadi were the highlights.
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The start of the lunch |
The khichdi could have done with a tad more salt. I also tried the plain rice with dal and ghee. You have to ask for the rice dishes at a Gujarati place as they normally stop with the rotis and puris.
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Khichdi at aram |
The contractor told me that they tone down the sweet notes in the food here as lot of the diners are from the nearby offices and are not Gujarati. The only sweetish dishes, apart from the halva in the dessert, was the mithi (sweet) daal and the kadhi. Nothing, not even the teekhi (spicy) daal, was overtly spicy.
The sort of food that people from all over India would classify as comfort food.
They run a hygienic kitchen, are proud of it and make no attempts to hide it.
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The Aram Kitchen |
This is the place to head to in Bandra E if you are not in the mood for a Malvani fish curry or sukha mutton.
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The entry to Aram |
Aram is not air conditioned but you can look out of big windows. The thalis cost Rs 250. It is shut on Mondays.
31st July 15 Update: I woke up to howls of protests on twitter on my observation/ statement that you have to ask for rice in Gujarati thali places and my lack of knowledge on the same. Well that has been my experience so far though from what I understand, rice is an integral part of Gujarati/ Marwari cuisine as Khushboo tells me and is served at the end
PPS I went back on 27/8/15 and was waiting to see what would happen. This time a waiter did come up to me and asked ‘rice, khichdi dio?”
31st July 15 Update: I woke up to howls of protests on twitter on my observation/ statement that you have to ask for rice in Gujarati thali places and my lack of knowledge on the same. Well that has been my experience so far though from what I understand, rice is an integral part of Gujarati/ Marwari cuisine as Khushboo tells me and is served at the end
PPS I went back on 27/8/15 and was waiting to see what would happen. This time a waiter did come up to me and asked ‘rice, khichdi dio?”
Here are some of the tweets to enlighten us all:
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@Finelychopped @gauravgjain @abzoniac @anaggh @Varsha1901 In my exp,this has been the case at Toran in A’bad.They seem reluctant 2bring rice
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@abzoniac @Finelychopped my mistake! I apologize.
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@illiteratehunk @Finelychopped this discussion is not about what goes into a thali.
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@Finelychopped @abzoniac about what belongs in a quintessential thali must be something like that, but with far more possibility.
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@Finelychopped @abzoniac it’s one of those things you can debate endlessly — what belongs in a ploughman’s lunch. I think the argument…
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@b50 @anaggh @gauravgjain @Finelychopped @abzoniac @Varsha1901 if you have to ask for food , you are not at a gujarati thali restaurant.
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@abzoniac @Finelychopped reading arguments about what’s appropriate in thali reminds me of Englishmen arguing about what’s in a ploughman’s
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@Finelychopped @anaggh colloquially Marathi speakers call Gujjus daal-bhaat ..
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@anaggh always been the case for me. They always ask. @gauravgjain @Finelychopped @abzoniac @Varsha1901
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@Finelychopped my friend that’s because gujjus like their phulkas hot. One at a time. So roti serv frq will always be higher.
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@anaggh yes of course they do. I meant if you’re done after 2. Infact if you say done rice is offered @Finelychopped @abzoniac @Varsha1901
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@gauravgjain mostly after 4-5 roti servings they ask Rice or Roti. Go try it. @Finelychopped @abzoniac @Varsha1901
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@gauravgjain @Finelychopped @anaggh @Varsha1901 will not voluntarily start ‘serving’ rice. Kinda without checking with customer.
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@gauravgjain @Finelychopped @anaggh @Varsha1901 point. They’d usually ask – ‘aur Kya laaon’. If you want to continue roti say so.
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@Finelychopped @abzoniac @anaggh @Varsha1901 you might have to say you’re done with the breads and want rice but they don’t hide it from you
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@Finelychopped guess that would put you in a minority of one or so. @gauravgjain @abzoniac @Varsha1901
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@Finelychopped that’s very odd. A complete Gujju meal is rotli, daal, bhaat, shaakh. Rice not offered is = bad service.
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@abzoniac they don’t serve rice at what Thali place ? Most serve 2-3 types I think @Finelychopped @anaggh
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@Finelychopped that they don’t serve rice at a thali place? @anaggh
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@Finelychopped actually they over indulge you with rice and khichdi. Like they do with everything else. @anaggh
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@Finelychopped @QuirkyLogic then you’ve been to the wrong places is what I can say 🙂
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@Finelychopped @anaggh That’s strange. Usually have to be firm bordering on rude because I hardly eat rice and people keep offering.
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@Finelychopped @anaggh Not unless they’re on a health streak. Rice is always a part of the meal
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make it a monday or a thursday charu
looks so good – am definitely trying this next time I'm in Bombay
Saw u the other day at hallmark business plaza. Work there these days ?
I should try this being Gujarati Kalyan 🙂