Still working on that Biryani post, but till then…here, have some Dal Baati Churma.

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You know that I  don’t have things under control when I start shoving up posts about extracted wisdom teeth followed by fast food monsters hidden in the cute crusty guise of pizza, and then promise you a biryani post and end up having nothing to show for it, other than a link to an article I’ve written a very unbiryaniesque post on Dal Baati Churma in The National.

Forgive me O reader, I will get my sorry act together sooner than you can say…I dunno…’the frying pan burner ran out of gas.’

But contrary to what it may look like (Arva sprawled on beach chair in Honalulu sipping a cocktail and nibbling on whatever someone who’s serving the nibblies can bring to me without my moving an inch), I’m still writing, exploring the teeny places around Dubai, I have TONS of work windows open on my computer (see image above for confirmation) AND there’s positive chit chat on the stuff that I’m trying to do to change the Food World in Dubai – Frying Pan Adventures. Yep, thaaaat thing. Which I’ve been discussing and campaigning for months now. *the world yawns and moves on to more interesting things, like pretending to swat the fly that had flown out of the window of their windowless office five milliseconds ago*

But really, I beg you to go have Dal Baati Churma, or DBC as I’ve seen on some Indian forums where the need to acronymize is akin to a back itch, you gotta do it and do it fast, and when it’s done, there’s a massive sigh of relief over never having to enunciate the long-winded version ever again. And douse your DBC with some extra ghee if you do go try it. Why? Because if I can do cone-crust for you, you can do ghee for me. And ghee is good. Cone-crust is…*shudder*…cone-crust.

And that biryani post? I’m almost done, really. It’s even got a title that says: Biryani. It’s as smooth as butter from there…
[the kind of rock-solid cold butter that you have to jab your butter knife into like a psychotic butter marauder and slash across your bread until there’s nothing but buttery smithereens dying on your plate.]

CategoriesBur Dubai Central Indian Cuisine Dubai KaramaTags,

Author: InaFryingPan

With a family legacy of ingenious cooks, a nutritionist and chef-extraordinaire mother, and a father who introduced me to steak and caviar when I could barely reach the table, I had no choice but to acquire a keen awareness of food during my childhood years in Dubai. But it was only after I found myself on a college campus in Philadelphia – far away from home, too cheap as a student to spend on anything other than pizza, and with dorm rooms that had little rat-holes of kitchens if they even had them at all – when I developed a heightened appreciation of food. An appreciation of food that I once ate every night at the dinner table in Dubai, but that was now an entire ocean away. I lusted for the culinary treasures that lay outside the stale walls of my college dining hall, hijacked friends’ kitchens to try my hand at something, anything , remotely edible, and greedily raided different websites in search of highly-rated restaurants. With my move to New York to work for a consulting firm that secretly harbored self-professed foodies, my appreciation transformed into a passion, an addicition. I felt like everyone around me in New York was talking about food: where to get the best cupcakes, pizza slices, banh mi, kati rolls, pho, fried chicken, and every other food item out there that is just a plain old dish in some part of the world, but that’s become hyped to unforeseen proportions in New York. What fuelled my addiction over time was travel to different cities, both for work and play, which gave me unfettered access to the culinary havens of not only New York, but also of DC, Virginia, Chicago, Houston, Vegas, Austin, Seattle and even a little city called Bentonville (Arkansas!). After 9 years away from home, I’ve finally taken the leap to come back to Dubai – with not just an awareness, but genuine appreciation and passionate addiction for what I’d taken for granted as a child. Mom, I’m back to reclaim my seat at your dinner table, and to rediscover this city with its ever-expanding menu of international flavors.

2 thoughts on “Still working on that Biryani post, but till then…here, have some Dal Baati Churma.”

  1. Mizna Nizar says:

    i love Daal baati…but never made it at home….always tried it from restaurants…been to Manvaar…they serve good stuff….but deal baati is nit for the weak hearted…need to drench it in ghee for the best taste. :) its one of my secret fancies to go to rajasthan n try it from their authentic makers…last time I booked tickets, I got pregnant :( …lol yea…and my hubby went for the trip with his friends…

    Reply
  2. Tet says:

    Glad to hear that the extraction went well. Been there too and the soft diet was pure torture.

    Great write up on The National as always :) I can’t wait to snatch snippets from a biryani savvy foodie like you on your next post.

    Reply

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