Lunch At Shikaar

It was Saturday and as usual Akhil and I had to find a restaurant for lunch. It was drizzling outside and we had our good friend Footie waiting to join us for lunch. Shikhar Shikaar was the place we zeroed in on which is located near the TDP’s office opposite KBR Park in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.  Shikaar, a 60 seater, serves Indian and Mexican food.

By the time we reached the restaurant wading through the traffic the slight drizzle soaked us up a bit and that added to our hunger. Parking our vehicles outside the three of us rushed in for the lunch. Without wasting anytime we ordered the food starting with the soup.

Soup: Mexican Chicken Soup

There was no second opinion on this. The last time we went to Shikaar we loved the hot and spicy chicken soup. The Mexican Chicken Soup was quite hot and spicy with capsicum, shredded chicken and a good sprinkling of pepper.  Do try the Mexican soups. Both the veg and non-veg soups are good.

Starter: Chicken Afghani

A dry chicken kebab, tasted good and was well prepared. We did not try any Mexican starters.

Main Course: Tandoori Rotis and Ghost Jehanghiri

Rotis were served hot. The curry, Ghost Jehanghiri was made with tender lamb pieces marinated in four different spices, grilled and then tossed into a gravy made of tomatoes and cashewnuts. The curry was not spicy but tasty.

Biryani gone wrong: To finish the lunch we ordered some boneless lamb biryani. What they served was rice mixed with lamb pieces. The biryani did not even look or smell or taste like the regular biryani.

Pricing: The prices are a bit on the higher side but affordable given the locality where it is situated. A meal for two (Soup, Starter, Rice, Rotis, Curry and a Dessert) should cost around Rs. 750.

Ambience and Service: A small place neatly done with good service.

Recommendation: Worth visiting once.

P.S. Hawk-eyed Chittaranjan from My Wierd Wired World rightly points out that the restaurant’s name is Shikaar and not Shikhar as I had earlier mentioned. Thank you Chittaranjan.

Filed under: Food, Hyderabad, Restaurant, Reviews , Barista, Biryani, Chicken Afghani, Coffee, Ghost Jehangiri, Hyderabad Restaurants, Indian Food, Lunch in Hyderabad, Meal for two, Mexican Chicken Soup, Mexican Food, Review, shikaar

Punctuation Problems

Happened to read the post Review of Eats, Shoots and Leaves on Daily Writing Tips and was reminded of my struggle with the usage of punctuation especially with the apostrophe. I was for a considerable time confused with when to use its and it’s until I read the book Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss. It has been two years since I read the book and still remember a few simple examples from the book that clearly illustrated the correct usage of punctuation.

An example about the dangling expectations caused by incorrect pluralisation.

Cyclist’s only (his only what?)

A very well written book and a must read for people having problems with the usage of punctuation.

Filed under: Books, Reviews , Apostrophe, Book, Lynne Truss, Punctuation, Writing Tips

Where Have The Rains Gone?

Where have the rains gone? It is the second week of July and the rains haven’t drenched Hyderabad yet. Pray the rain gods do not deny the city its quota of rains this year. We are already having power cuts in the rainy season and it could get worse in case the state does not receive enough rainfall this year.

Filed under: Blog , City, Gods, Hyderabad, Power Cuts, Rains, Year

Quote For The Day

Don’t look at a thing; Start it.
Don’t put it off a day; Start it.
Don’t pretend you must think over; Start it.
Don’t start half-heartedly; put every thing you can.

Source: Pravsworld

Filed under: Blog, Life , Don't, Pretend, Quote for the day, Quotes, Start

Booked An Apple iPhone 3G With Vodafone

Congratulations! You just booked your new iPhone with Vodafone. We will keep you updated on its price, features and availability in due course. Till then, if you have any further queries feel free to call us on 111(toll free) and we’ll be happy to help.

This was the message I received when I pre-registered with Vodafone for an Apple iPhone 3G. First impressions are the best impressions. That is what a Mac had on me the first time I saw it at our printers office. We have a few iMacs in our office and I use them quite often. This only intensified my urge to buy one for myself. But I couldn’t convince myself to dump my eight year old PC for an iMac considering its price.

Image: Courtesy of Apple

Then I had almost decided to buy an Apple iPod but stopped myself after coming to know that the Apple iPhone 3G will be soon available in India.  I currently use a Nokia 1108 mobile phone that I bought two years ago. Even with its limitations–limited memory, no radio, no music player– it has served me quite well all these days.

I always wanted to go for a phone that was sleek and light weight. iPhone 3G a sleek model with a depth of 12.3 mm and weight of 133 grams fits the bill perfectly for me. Have to see what kind of pricing Vodafone comes up with for the Apple iPhone 3G in India.

Apple iPhones will also be available with Bharti Airtel. Interested people can register their names with Airtel by sending an SMS with the keyword “iPhone” to 54321 (toll free).

Filed under: Blog, India, Life, Reviews, Technology , Apple, Apple iPhone 3G, Apple iPod, Bharti Aritel, Booking iPhone, India, Mobile Phone, Nokia 1108, Register for iPhone, Time, Vodafone

Unusual Sunday

While the family left for Yadagirigutta on Saturday evening to visit to our family deity Lord Narashima Swamy, I stayed back. I spent the Saturday evening preparing myself for an Unusual Sunday that was about to come my way. I was about to get a chance to do all that I have never done on a Sunday. It is not very often that I get a chance to take care of myself at home and also take care of the household chores especially on a Sunday.

Waking up on this Sunday morning, I had a big list of things to do.

• Cleaning the House
  It is a great responsibility for me as I have to take care of the floors which have been cleaned, mopped and washed by mother to an extent that they have come to resemble stone mirrors. With a huge task at hand (the portion we live in is quite big), I cleaned it on Saturday evening itself, to assure myself of some good rest.
• Washing Utensils
  You need to wash some utensils to understand the complexity of washing them at home. Managing the space that is available for keeping the utensils, the washing liquid, cleaning the leftovers and finally using the optimum amount of water to clean the utensils. Did this quite successfully with some previous experience at home coming handy.
• Performing Puja
  Nothing beats this in my home.  A logistical and arrangements nightmare. Very well managed my mother and carefully executed every day without fail. But it was me who had to handle this on a Sunday. And luckily my arrangements from the previous day helped me.
• Washing Clothes
  Always wonder how my mother manages this particular, rather boring, energy sapping work at home all these years. Having to deal with only two pairs of clothes, it was just a matter of the 15 minute workout in the bathroom.
• Buying Vegetables for the Week
  I have been trained for this rather complicated assignment for many years now. It took me close to six months initially to figure out how to pick the right vegetables and the right variety. Luckily this exercise was completed in 30 minutes.
• Preparing Breakfast
  How much I like them? I surprise myself when I gorge on the crispy, wafer thin hot Dosas served with the coconut or groundnut chutney at home. I have never had more than one Dosa at a time in any restaurant till now. Nothing beats home fare.
• Make My Lunch
  Do this very rarely. Again my mom ensured that I was not to be troubled. All that I had to do was to cook the rice and I did it in the rice cooker. That was so easy.

Sundays have always occupied a special place in our family. It is the day when you are supposed to have Dosas with coconut chutney for breakfast. So much so that any thing else on the menu for a Sunday breakfast makes our stomachs wail in pain. Then the visit to the local market to get the vegetables. Lunch at 2:30 p.m, a nap after the lunch. Watching movies in the evening and an early retreat to bed by 10:30 p.m.

Cooking, cleaning the house and helping my mother and sister with their household chores is something I always liked. But you do not mess with the exclusive rights of mothers and sisters (at least in my case). Mothers take it to their heart if their children are handling too much of their household chores.  I am just lucky to have three wonderful ladies all capable of dishing out mouth watering stuff in quick time consistently. I know how proud my mother or sisters feel when someone compliments them on how well I take care of the household chores.

P.S. This is a reworked post. Vinay rightly pointed out that there were many errors in the post. Another reminder to myself to be more careful with the proofing.

Filed under: Blog, Life, People , Breakfast, Cleaning, Dosa, Family, Groceries, Lunch, Mother, Saturday, Sister, Sunday, Temple, Unusal Sunday, Vegetables, Washing, Week