Food Review: RAJDHANI @ PHOENIX MARKET CITY, KURLA

Vinny & Viggy outside Rajdhani @ Phoenix Market City

On the Saturday that we went to see Besharam at PVR Cinemas, Vinny, Viggy and I decided to have lunch at Rajdhani, where they serve Gujarati Thali. Rajdhani is right there at the Food Court at Phoenix Market City in Kurla. They served us a Festival Thali as it was during Navratri.

THUMBS UP 1: The ambience was excellent with well-spaced seating arrangement.

THUMBS UP 2: The service was very good with a number of waiters at one’s beck and call. The best part was that they did not intrude either. They only came up to the table when it was clear we needed something.

THUMBS UP 3: The food was superb. There were 4-5 sabzis. Let me recall them. There was Gatte ki Sabzi; one made with Thuriya (Ribbed Gourd); another with paneer; a dry potato sabzi and Dal Bati Churma. Each one was superb.

The Thalis were oval in shape and looked nice

THUMBS UP 4: They served two types of Dal – one regular and one sweet. Then there was Gujarati Kadhi. Simply yum!

THUMBS UP 5: Two types of rotis were served – one regular and one bajra. They also served bite-sized puran polis with this. Of course, ghee accompanied everything. While the rotis were quite small, everything was unlimited.

I managed to capture some of the items on camera

THUMBS UP 6: White Dhoklas and Stuffed Karanjis were served, unlimited. While the Karanjis were good, the Dhoklas were out of this world. I am not a fan of white dhoklas but these were exceptional.

THUMBS UP 7: They served green chutney, sweet imli chutney and garlic chutney with the farsan. Each one was delicious. There was a kind of pickle-cum-chutney made of green chillies. I just loved it.

THUMBS UP 8: They served plain rice as well as Dal Khichdi. The Khichdi was simply awesome.

THUMBS UP 9: They serve three types of sweets. On that day, it was Jalebi with Rabdi and two others. I don’t know as we all refused them. We just had no place in our tummies.

Yes, the food and service were good

THUMBS UP 10: The chaas they served was the perfect finale to that huge meal.

THUMBS DOWN 1: I felt thoroughly upset on one score. While I had a lot of vegetables, I just managed to have 2 small rotis and 2 tsp of Khichdi. Of course, I had 3 dhoklas (they were not very big) and one karanji. I refused the sweets altogether. Despite this, I felt tremendous discomfort and heaviness in my stomach for the next 5-6 hours. I finally concluded that they must be using cooking soda in the food. This is one major put-off and I don’t think I want to venture into a Thali restaurant ever again.

Quick-fix Meal: DAL KHICHDI

Dal Khichdi

This is totally quick-fix and tastes delicious.

Ingredients:

Rice – 1 cup
Tur Dal – ¾ cup
Water – 3 ½ cups
Onion – 1 (chopped)
Tomato – 1 (chopped)
Garlic – 3-4 cloves (chopped)
Ginger – 1 small piece (grated)
Curry leaves – a few
Green Chillies – 2 (each cut in twos)
Coriander Leaves – 2 tsp (chopped)
Mustard Seeds (Rai) – ½ tsp
Cumin Seeds (Jeera) – ½ tsp
Cloves – 2 (optional)
Cinnamon – 1 teeny-weeny piece (optional)
Turmeric Powder – 1 pinch
Oil – 1 tsp
Ghee – 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

1.       Wash the rice and dal together and keep them in a bowl.

2.       Take a pressure pan and place it on the gas.

3.       Add the oil and once it is hot add the mustard seeds and wait for it to crackle.

4.       Now, add the cumin seeds along with cloves and cinnamon.

5.       Next comes the turn of chillies, curry leaves, ginger, garlic and coriander leaves. Add
them all together to the pan and turn them.

6.       Immediately add the onions and fry till golden in colour.

7.       Add the turmeric powder to the onions and then the tomatoes.

8.       Cook for a couple of minutes before adding salt.

9.       Then pour in the water before adding the dal and rice.

10.   Close the pan and pressure cook the same as you would cook dal – 10 minutes after one whistle and the gas on slow.

The Dal Khichidi is ready to eat when you open the cooker. Add the spoon of ghee to it
before serving it hot with a vegetable raita or just plain curd.