Dishing out a traditional fare

The Vrindavan Restaurant has been serving an array of delightful vegetarian delicacies for authentic Indian cuisine lovers across the island for 14 mouth-watering years.

Offering a 'taste of back home' the Manama establishment has become a firm favourite with the expat Indian community living in Bahrain.

John B Menezes, 51, the restaurant's managing director said: "When we first opened Vrindavan, the island didn't have too many Indian restaurants.

"Our main purpose was to bring to the kingdom the famous 'Bombay' cuisine and the demand soon grew."

The restaurant also claims to be the first to introduce the popular Indian snack of paav bhaji or also known as 'bun and curry'.

Mr Menezes said: "We were the first to have a live station where the chef prepared paav bhaji right in front of the diner."

Aside from traditional dishes from the western Indian city of Mumbai, the restaurant also serves impeccable south Indian snack varieties such as idli, vada, dosa, masala dosa, ghee dosa, upma, uttappam, rava dosa, puri bhaji and more.

The thali or 'a platter of food' offers diners the chance to have a meal that comes with an assorted range of curries, pickles, bread, rice and dessert.

The menu also offers a selection of north Indian and Chinese dishes.

The outlet has eight chefs boasting different specialist areas. The south Indian dishes are prepared by chefs hailing from the Indian cities of Mangalore and Chennai, the Chinese cuisine is prepared by West Bengal chefs and the North Indian and tandoori dishes are prepared by chefs flown in from the hilly regions of Gharwal.

As the full flavour of Indian cuisine has taken off across the globe (curries long ago overtook fish'n'chips as a favourite fast food in the UK), the outlet too has grown in popularity with European expats as well as Bahrainis.

Mr Menezes said: "Since the restaurant is very close to the Sacred Heart Church we get many customers coming in after service especially on Fridays, Sundays and Wednesdays."

A former employer with the Gulf Hotel in Bahrain, Mr Menezes, from Hoora, has had 34 years of experience in the hospitality sector.

For the GulfWeekly readers, the restaurant's chef Sudhakar G Kotian, above, shares the secrets ingredients and recipe of one of India's all-time favourite dishes and Vrindavan specials - the paav bhaji.

Paav bhaji

Ingredients

Kashmiri red chili paste 1tbsp

Ginger garlic paste 1tbsp

Capsicum 1 piece

Tomato 1 piece

Potato 1 piece

Green peas 1/2 cup

Paav bhaji masala 1tbsp

(available at all leading stores)

Butter 1tbsp

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves

Lemon 1 piece

Chopped onions

Cumin seeds

Buns

Procedure:

Parboil the potatoes, capsicum and green peas. On a pan, add butter and fry onions, chili paste, ginger garlic paste, salt and cumin seeds.

Add the capsicum, tomato along with the parboiled green peas and potatoes. Mix and smash the ingredients.

Continue until it becomes a thick paste. Sprinkle coriander leaves to garnish. Separately partially fry the buns in some butter.

Serve hot with some chopped onions and lemon slices.