beXnlog

When in Doubt, Eat Mango

Happy Birthday to ZZdX!

Tonight, in celebration of entering into "my thirties," be took me to Vatan. It's a delicious all you can eat vegetarian Indian restaurant, which definitely is in my top 5 of all time favorite places. I say this purely based on the quality of the food, although their decor, service and atmosphere are nice too.

You're essentially served 2 big platters of food and you can ask for more of any dish. The first platter is appetizers, and is comprised of (i starred my favorite things):

Mirchi Bhajiya: Fried hot peppers with desi garam masala
Muthia: Steamed flour with spinach delicacy
Chana Masala: Chick peas (garbanzo beans) with onion and coriander*
Khaman: Puffed cream of wheat flour cakes*
Sev puri: Potatoes, garbanzo beans, yogurt and chutney filled in fried bread*
Samosa: Triangular savory pastries filled w/spicy potatoes & green peas*
Batakavada: Deep-fried potato balls in a chickpea flour batter

In addition to the platter there are 3 different chutneys, fried garlic, hot peppers and sesame carrots. The platter comes with a "medium" amount of heat (spiciness) and although be thought it was really hot, he finished everything except his fried batter-dipped hot pepper. I love hot peppers but i'm not a fan of the "bell pepper" taste so i usually end up passing the battered pepper to someone else. Since it was only the two of us tonight, i decided to give it a try. The smaller of the two battered peppers wasn't really hot at all, and tasted more like the fried batter than yucky bell peppers. The second one however, killed me! I think it had about 50 deadly seeds, all of which i chewed up. At first i was fine but in about a minute, i was like, "Shit, i just ate a fuckin huge hot pepper!" and my whole mouth was on fire. After 3 minutes i was back to normal and my sinuses were magically cleared up; it must've been the hottest thing i've eaten in a long time!

Next, you get the main platter in your choice of "mild, medium or hot." be chose mild and i wanted hot, but nothing else even came close to that insane hot pepper! It's so much food:

Toor Dal: Boiled lentils cooked with spices
Ful –Cobi: Cauliflower and green peas cooked with mild sauce
Batakanu Sak: Potatoes cooked with mild sauce*
Bhaji: Sauteed spinach & chick peas cooked with onion and spices*
Aam Rus: Mango pulp*
Kheer: Rice pudding with saffron and dry fruits in milk*
Puri: Puffed whole wheat bread
Papdam: Thin bean lentil wafers
Pulao: Boiled rice with peas
Khichdi: Lentils mixed with rice and assorted vegetables*
Khadhi: Soup with yogurt and chickpea flour in authentic spices

The actual amount of each dish is quite small, but when combined with everything else, it's just an insane amount. You get 4 puri breads alone - and they are the best i've had anywhere! Even the papadam wafer is light and crisp, and unlike what's served at other restaurants. Of note is the Aam Rus, a large bowl of sweet pureed mango, which was amazing! As be and i were force-feeding ourselves, spoonfuls of the mango magically made us able to keep eating more.

Finally, for dessert you get (plus some fennel seeds, but i only like the candy-coated ones):

Mango Ice Cream: Home made Indian ice cream
Masala Chai: Indian tea cooked with cardamom, ginger and milk

Right now i'm so full and very satisfied with the yummy meal. If anyone wants to go again, let me know! Although i doubt i'll be hungry for a few days.

posted by beXn @ 11:59 PM