Chella's, Take 3

Chella's is fast becoming my current favourite Indian eatery. Little had I expected that for a place that didn't serve meat. Things were still looking pretty good from this third visit in a couple of weeks. What reeled me in were the tasty food, affordable prices and the interesting variety in the menu. Beside a couple of favourites like the kesari bath and the masala teas/milk, I was still finding new things to like.

One of the things that got me excited was the cheese pav bhaji; which was some sort of tangy and spicy mashed vegetable mash with potatoes or lentils. There were a couple of options for this pav bhaji. I picked the one topped with cheese. The bhaji was served with buttered and toasted soft buns and chopped onions on the side which added a very pleasant depth to the spicy dip. I found myself wolfing this stuff down really quickly.

The other notable mention goes to the jeera ghee rice which in spite of its plain appearance, was packed with an amazing fragrance akin to those found in good Chinese fried rice. Was pleasantly surprised by the aroma from this innocuous looking dish. Remember the old Gardenia tune "So good you can even eat it on its own."? That's what they were talking about there.


Over the past few months, I've had a few renditions of gobi manchurians at a few places. I thought the one here would be one of the better tasting ones. Along with the one from Spice Junction. The gobi (cauliflower) was lightly battered and deep fried before being stir fried in the gravy which tasted a little like a garlic-ky kung pao gravy. It would have been perfect if not for the ginger.


These dahi puri are part of what is known as chaat. Snacks by another name. They're spherical taco like shells that were hollow and filled with potato, some chutney and yoghurt before being blanketed by the crispy yellow bits which are known as sev. Each of these balls were a large mouthful to be popped in whole at a time. I liked these.