Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork

It was my mom's idea that we spend a long weekend at Dapoli in the summer.I have been to other parts of Konkan earlier...Tarkarli,Malvan,Amboli,Vengurla,Ratnagiri,Ganapatipule,Chiplun and Murud Janjira. Each had its own flavor,unique stories and landmarks.Take for instance the Marleshwar temple which is housed in a cave and has snakes.Then was the Diveagar Temple which had a Ganpati made of solid gold which a farmer found in a field.This was kept for public viewing and unfortunately stolen recently and the gold melted. Our first stop was ahead of Panvel,just before Karnala sanctuary....Kshanbhar Vishranti.Ordered Misal and Poha for breakfast.Misal is available in Mumbai and is a spicy sprouts dish served with dahi at times.It was different in taste from the city version.Must be the Agri version.Agri food is the local food in the area.The Agri are people whose occupations include farming and fishing.The red masala is distinctive. After a long drive we reached Mangao...

Remember those days we went on picnics with our parents? Well,it felt the same when we headed to Velkar Farms yesterday.Located on the Western Expressway,this is ahead of the Dahisar Check Naka.We reached in an hour and a half.The place was lit up beautifully by glimmering lights.There was music playing.We were ushered to the lounge upstairs that had wooden interiors where we met our host and friend Rahul Velkar,Kunal Vijayakar's cousin,who runs Mr Chow's,the popular Chinese delivery chain.He is a staunch London fan...has been visiting it for the past 40 years! Affable and meticulous,he saw to it that each guest was comfortable and taken care of. The evening unfolded with some self introductions as most people knew each other.We were about twenty of us...Kunal Vijayakar who you all know( and hope that he returns on television as The Foodie)  is Rahul's cousin.Kalyan Karmakar who blogs as Finely Chopped . Kurush and Rhea Dalal who blog too and run Katy's Kit...

I love books....as much as food.I don't care much for jewels but give me a good book and I am happy.If that book is about food then I am more than happy!  Last month I attended my first book launch.That of "Made In India" by Kunal Vijayakar.It was hosted  by the Trident,Nariman Point in one of their prettiest rooms with a view of the sea and the sun setting.When you have Boman Irani,Cyrus Broacha and Kunal in one place,you can well imagine the laughter that ensued.Apparently our Mr Vijayakar hasn't yet met any woman who is better than Butter Chicken.Boman Irani called him "Kunal Vijayakar Irani" referring to their close bond.He narrated stories of how Kunal once confessed emotionally that he loved Boman's family and then gave the "reason":that no one else in the family cared for his favorite chicken legs. Cyrus's daughter Maya tugged at him endearingly all evening.If there was anything cuter,it was the picture of her bein...