It has been months since my last visit to Hotel Ginger due to various reasons… So, today I got the chance to visit the place for a meeting and I thought since I’m already there, might as well have lunch… The place seemed to be recently renovated… That old outdoor restaurant they had near the parking lot seems to have been demolished…
Inside the restaurant, its pretty much the same as my last visit but a change this time is that like the newer restaurants, the tables have been prearranged with cutlery and the recent trend of using coloured glass bottles for water…
Usually, whenever I go to this place, I would most likely order from their Chinese selection as I have always found them to be good… But this time, I was in mood for something simple and also something vegetarian… So, as I was browsing the menu, I found my neighbouring table being served the Dal Khichdi… So, thanks to my memories of being a Mumbaikar long time ago, I decided to go for it this time and the pics below shows how it was served for me… 🙂
For those who are unaware, the Dal Khichdi, also known as Dal Chawal in some places is a one pot rice and lentil dish which is quite popular in India, especially towards the North… It is made by cooking Toor/Moong Dal (Split red or green gram) along with Rice (usually Basmati) along with onions, tomatoes, Green Chillies, Ginger and other vegetables like Coriander if needed and flavoured with spices like Turmeric, Chilly Powder, Cumin Asafoetida, and Mustard with minimum amount of oil or ghee… It is also considered as a comfort food thats one of the healthiest options in the Indian cuisine, which is also the preferred meal option for people who are sick too as its known to be lite and easily digested… Its typically served with curd, papad, kachumber salad and pickle… For those who may not be familiar with the Indian Cuisine, think of this as a kind mid way between a Risotto and a Congee… 🙂
The Khichdi that I got here seems to have been done the same way but with just onions, tomatoes, green chillies and of-course the spices thats typically used when making the Dal… It came as shown in the pics below…
As I said before, the Khichdi is usually served with Curd, Kachumber Salad, Pappad and Pickle… In this case, I was informed that they serve it with Curd and Pickle and so, I requested that I be given the Vegetable Raita instead of the Curd like how I used to get in Mumbai… The waiter obliged and so I was given a cup of Raita, a Pappadom and some Lime Pickle to go with it all… Since I am not a fan of the Pappadom, I discarded that and ate the Dal Khichdi with rest… 🙂
First of all, the rice was perfectly cooked… The fragrance of the Basmati was definitely present… The dal seems to have dissolved into the Khichdi… Foods like this are so simple that there is no place to hide as each and every ingredient ends up being very much visible in the flavour profile… That being said, I must say that this is one of the best tasting Dal Khichdi that I have ever had… Undoubtedly perfect combination of the flavours of the Rice, Dal, the Chillies, the ginger, the spices especially the turmeric and seasoned perfectly as well…
The accompanying Raita and Pickle were great too… The yogurt was not too sour and the vegetables (onions, tomatoes and green chillies with Coriander leaves) seemed to be freshly cut… The pickle was perfectly spiced as well… Brine based and hence crunchy, incredibly flavourful and not too hot, ie, exactly as I would usually expect…
Altogether, a really nice meal is what I got have and to be frank, I felt like I was back in Mumbai enjoying the same from what used to be my favourite place in Vikhroli West… 🙂 I am definitely looking forward to having more of this…
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