Biryani @ Vanaz Corner, Paud Road

This Biryani is not from any restaurant or an eatery.  A family brings home made Biryani for sale outside Venkey’s chicken shop at Vanaz corner, Paud road. You can find a fruit juice stall next to it. Place could be hard to find as it is nothing more than couple of containers on a small table. Only available in evening 6pm to 7:30pm or so! I had heard about this from one of my friend & tried to find it earlier without any success. But today when I was walking past it, I casually located it & the confirmed with the crowd standing around small table. Yes – being a street foodie, I do keep my eyes and nose open while strolling around.

So – the Biryani – amazing! In my opinion one of the best I have had so far & probably the best I have had in Pune. (I really loved one from a famous outlet near Chaar Minar Hydrabaad, forgot the name). I tried Chicken and Veg from this place. Chicken is awesome, nicely layered, chicken cooked to the perfection (don’t need a knife to separate it out from bones) with all aroma rich rice. Veg one was little oily, mainly the vegetables. But test was good - after all fat tests good.

The shopkeeper lady told me – they don’t get Biryani on Monday & Thursday! Don’t go there looking for one on those days. They also seem to bring other kinds, like mutton, etc. For sure, Saturday is Chicken + Veg!

Pesara Pappu @ SouthIndies

My lunch today was full of authentic south Indian spices @ SouthIndies, university road, next to Pune Central mall. Claim is all the 4 south Indian states have representation on your plate. With whatever little knowledge I have about south Indian food, my guess is, inclination is more towards Andhra food , like Briyani, Hydarabadi Paratha, Gongura pickle & few Pappus!  (Daal cum Curry cum Soup? - pardon my insanity) All those Pappus had very different and delicious taste. My favorite today was Pesara Pappu.

It was served as a soup. Made up of green moong (Split lentils), thin but very smooth & rich taste, one can easily gulp, 2-3 bowl full. I did two & half.  Overall excellent buffet experience at very reasonable cost! One more item worth mentioning was starters - mouth watering small wada (balls), boiled & garnished potatos and onion bajji with coconut chutney. Highly recommended - looking to visit again!

Shri-Krishna Misal

Sunday morning Misal again! This time Shri Krishna Misal @ Tulsi Baug corner towards Mandai. Have heard about this in past from couple of friends. Very small place, easy to miss unless you are determined eater. One way to find it is look for some crowd outside the small shop.
As you can see, base dish is mixture of fried rice flakes (too much translation of Pohyacha Chiwada!), potato subzi, sev, onions. Could not find any trace of Pulses (Usal). The other red bowl is called "sample" (Tarri or Rassa). It is not as hot as as it looks. Has some amount of Tomato in that & gives dash of curry flavour to the whole Misal. I would recommend you to ask for another half 'hot' sample and mix a spoon or two full  in your Misal - result is fantastic! I heard some people go for just "sample" with bread slices - without the base dish. After enjoying the spicy stuff - go for a glass of buttermilk  - its a necessary ritual.