Good news for train travelers – KFC to supply meals on trains

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation IRCTC system has tied up with KFC, the fast food giants, to supply meals to passengers on board trains. The system will takeoff from July 20 on trains that pass through New Delhi and will subsequently be extended to other trains.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 22 July 2015.

The service would be expanded to Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad (Kacheguda) and Bangalore (Yeshwantpur) stations within the next 10 days as indicated by a statement.
It would be available only on 12 trains passing through New Delhi railway station. These would be trains that do not have any pantry car and would, at a later date, be extended to trains like Rajdhani and Duronto. Price list of KFC items as on 27/7/14.
Under the scheme, a person travelling on the train can order KFC meal at the time of booking ticket through IRCTC from July 20 onwards. Once booked, the passenger would get a password on his mobile phone which he would have to reveal when he takes delivery of his food packet.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Indian fast foods and the North-South divide

During my first visit to Bangalore in the seventies, I was compelled to have curd rice packed in paper bags at the roadside eateries. In those days, non-vegetarian dishes were taboo in Bangalore and its surroundings. Today, it is not so - practically all hotels and restaurants in the Garden City cater to non-vegetarian customers.
One reason is believed to be the Karnataka Express train that started in 1987 and runs from New Delhi to Bangalore – by virtue of this northern connection, the entry of north Indian business and its cuisine into the garden city was a smooth and, practically, a silent un-noticed makeover.
Then came the IT industry and with it came hordes of young people from all corners of the country, some of them had come from the USA. Thus, Bangalore became known as the Silicon Valley of India and, once a pure vegetarian city, gradually transformed itself into a multi cuisine one with outlets of KFC, McDonald’s, and Dominos springing up overnight.
The southern versions of fast foods are idli, dosa, uthappam, urid wada and upma – these are just a few names that have become popular in practically every corner of India, Bengalis relish them as much as the Punjabis do. Cutting into a three inch diameter rawa idli with a generous topping of cashew nuts and a spoonful of pure ghee gradually vanishing into its innumerable pores is an experience by itself.
The urid wada (spongy, like the soya bean doughnuts I had once tasted in an American exhibition in Calcutta in the fifties) comes in two versions – one, the dry type and the other with an accompanying concoction called sambhar in which tiny bits of pumpkin, onion, tomato, drumstick and brinjal float in a gravy of pulse and tamarind juice garnished with ground coconut.
In the north, the vote invariably goes to chats, golguppas, moong-ki-halwa and different types of pakoras. I specially remember the pakoras made of cauliflower. Large chunks of cauliflower would be dipped in a batter of besan and deep fried in a really large container.
If you tasted one, you would certainly long for another – kya kare, control nehi hota!
Moong-ki-halwa is another favorite of the north – if prepared with an abundance of ghee and garnished with cashew nuts and kish-mish, it converts into a dish fit only for the Kings. I had the pleasure of tasting the delicacy in a roadside stall in Delhi in the seventies and the taste still lingers on in my palate. Similar is the case with the chana-batura – this is dish patronized by the north and I was pleasantly surprised to discover it on the menu-card of Kamat Hotel in Bangalore!
Unfortunately, when I was there in Bangalore in 2010, I discovered that the Kamat Hotel in the Majestic area has vanished and made way for an outlet of KFC.

Indians love American pizzas – the most popular fast food

The world of today is fast paced and one can get connected to chat with anyone thousands of miles away at the click of the mouse. Advances in modern day technology have eliminated distances and, likewise, have given rise to a new trend in food – namely, fast foods.
There are any number of TV channels like TLC, Khana Khazana and Food-Food that showcase the wide varsity of fast foods on offer all around the world and one can sit for hours in front of the screen as his mind wanders off to America or Turkey or Australia to observe their fast foods and food habits.
Incidentally, several fast food giants like KFC, McDonalds, and Dominos of America have already arrived in India and some more like Burger King, the world's second larger hamburger chain, has already stepped in while Wendy’s is waiting at the doorstep – these are also of American origin.
Moreover, TV programs on food and cooking are very popular and these are available in every channel – language is no barrier because it is all about innumerable combinations of well-known items that abound in the kitchen. The attraction is, basically, in the packaging as the contestants do in MasterChef who have to think out of the box to come up with novel ideas.
A favorite question that used to be put to would be brides of yore in Bengal was aimed at trying to ascertain the extent of creativeness the girl was endowed with.
The question would usually be a simple one – ‘suppose some elderly relatives suddenly descended upon you and plan to stay over for the night, what would you serve for dinner?’
It has to be remembered that the scene is a remote village where bullock carts are the only means of transport, where kerosene lanterns provide the only source of light after sunset, where shops are absent hence, getting something off the shelf is also absent and where no one would venture out in the darkness to pluck vegetables from the field or throw a net in the pond to land some fish!
The girl had to, perforce, rely only on what was physically available in the kitchen at that moment and, naturally, her options were extremely limited. In some cases, the girl would be told what ingredients were to be used, in other cases, the choice would be left to her. If she was able to conjure up some good recipes and managed to obtain pass marks, she would be assured of favorable placement in her new house – after marriage.
In order to pass such examinations, these girls were taught how to make umpteen plus one preparations out of a simple vegetable like potato. It can be fried. It can be boiled, mashed and converted into quite a number of mouthwatering dishes. Small freshly removed potatoes can be boiled and cooked with green peas to present a fantastic dish called ‘aloor dum’.
Girls today do not have to face such critical examinations and undergo humiliation because they usually choose their life partners themselves –thanks to coeducation, interaction at workplaces apart from friendships at social networking websites.
However, in case such a situation does arise, the questions asked of them would probably be like – ‘do you know where pizzas originated from?’ or ‘how many brands of pizzas have you tasted? Which is your favorite?’ or ‘how many pizza outlets are there in your locality?’