The Lore & Lure of Khidkiwada



With this post, my husband joins me on this blog.

 

If you are a Mumbaikar, you would definitely have your trysts with wada-paav. It’s an integral part of the city’s DNA, inseparable from its ethos.

I grew up in a city called Kalyan, about 45 km outside Mumbai. Now a bustling satellite city of Mumbai, Kalyan used to be a sleepy town, cut off from the Mumbai metropolis, socially and culturally. In fact, Kalyan used to be culturally more like Pune than Mumbai, though geographically it was one-thirds the distance from Mumbai to Pune by rail. The Kalyan culture was defined by the middle-class mindset; Maharashtrian ethos; mixed populace of Maharashtrians, South Indians, and few others; and presence of distinctly small-town amenities.

But one thing of repute in Kalyan was a local brand of vada-paav called as Khidkivada (meaning window vada). I am calling it a brand, because it satisfies all the conditions of the definition of a brand, which I learnt much later from business literature. A brand stands for a promise and is played out through its attributes that consistently deliver the promise of the brand.

 

Undoubtedly, Khidkivada is a shining example of a brand created in 1968, when it opened as a household venture with the wada being sold out of a window. Hence, the name.

Here’s the website: http://www.khidkivada.com/home.html

 
I can bet my last shirt and vouch that Khidkivada represents the top benchmark in all vadapaavdom. Its mixture is still a trade secret and is patent-pending and the name is trademarked since 1991. It now has outlets in Kalyan, Dombivli, and Pune. The secret mixture is available for sale and you can attempt a do-it-yourself (DIY) on the vada or make many other things out of it. The unique mixture reportedly lasts for 6 months without a change in flavor.

You will never get a Khidkivada that is cold because it turns around so fast that a lot of 25-30 vadas won’t last longer than 10 minutes. Served in a piece of newspaper with dry garlic chutney, the hallowed combination would give you a gustatory sensation that would transport you to stratospheric heights of gastronomic bliss.

 

The lore and lure of Khidkivada is reason enough to make a trip alone to Kalyan. You just need to hail an auto outside the station and ask to be taken straight to Khidkivada.

 

(pictures source: www.khidkivada.com)
- ed

Little Italy, Bund Garden Road, Pune

I went to Little Italy La Pizzeria for lunch on a weekday expecting the restaurant to be near empty, instead there was only one table free. The crowd was a mix of office goers, friends and a group of ladies on a kitty party and no one seemed to be in any hurry to finish and leave!

This restaurant is in the ground floor of Hotel Shriman just at the beginning of a lane, off Bund Garden Road. My rickshaw driver did not know this hotel so you want to keep an eye out for it yourself when you do go there.

 

On entering Little Italy, the captain was immediately there to seat me and was a tad surprised to learn that I was eating alone. Anyway, I was seated immediately and the menus were brought over. The restaurant interiors were done well although the seating is a little too close to have a private conversation. Since I was alone the conversations around kept me entertained.

 

The menus brought over quickly, the additional one for their wine selection. I ordered the Cannelloni Florentine and it came piping hot straight from the oven. There were 3 cannelloni pieces with the cheese topping in golden hues. There was a good amount of sauce covering the cannelloni and around it. The spinach and ricotta cheese filling was nice and moist and spoonful of the sauce, cheese and cannelloni was Yum. For dessert, I ordered the Panna cotta and it came topped with a green syrup and a slice of kiwi. It was the first time I had a Panna cotta so I cannot compare it with any place else. The Panna cotta was soft and firm with a pudding like consistency. It was mildly sweet and when combined with a little of the syrup it tasted good. I completed the meal with a black tea although maybe a coffee was the right pairing for an Italian meal!

Overall, a very good lunch.

My only grouse was the proximity of the other tables. I could hear complete conversations and know the per head contribution of that ladies kitty group!