Its Highway.......All the way........!!!

National Highways form the economic backbone of the country and have often facilitated development along their routes. Along the countries expansion and development, many new towns have sprung up along major Highways.

Highways- the hot-spot to the increasing numbers of small restaurants and inns (known as dhabas) along their length, offer the ultimate gastronomic experience. They serve a melange of the popular local cuisine generally found at the truck repair shops, tea kiosks or dhabhas in villages, 'bandis' at the railway crossing and many more hidden treasures like these.

I was a cyclist during my school days and usually took to different highways during my practice sessions and competitions. During every Highway visit, I was presented with myriad of culinary treasure, which I would keep recording for my reference. Till date, the rustic charm of Highways and my love for my Royal Enfield has kept me on National Highways long after I stopped cycling.

My vocation as a Chef has complemented my acquired passion for the Highways as now when I taste the food along these highways, I try and transpire its rustic cooking style to the concepts of the refined five star hotels and try to present the novelty to my guest.

During my Highway trips I have experienced some of the best Tea, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner - Well I would definitely not discount my Bike for making any remote destination more easily accessible to me. A peace of advice to all the fellow bikers & Chefs- If you have time try and talk to the locals, try to taste and explore  the traditional food available.

While driving on these Highways I often pick-up lot of new dishes which a Chef would never try in his kitchens. On one of my recent trips while driving back to Hyderabad from Kanyakumari, about 20 kms from Coimbatore (Towards Mysore) in a small village with just some 70 households on the way, our convoy was forced to stop because my friend's bike got punctured. While we were repairing it, we saw a small shack with a broken table, chipped old chairs, few benches and lot of smoke coming out.

We got tempted with the thought of freshly cooked food and decided to have a glass of tea. However the owners (a husband -wife team) courteously offered us some breakfast and we all agreed. The treat started on a banana leaf, where the lady served us steaming Idlys to start with, the Idlys were so hot that we couldn’t touch them with our hands, accompanied by thin slices of coconut and ginger chutney.

The preparation which was so basic yet so mouth-watering and cooked to perfection!!! Trust me it is still very difficult to pen down the complete experience in words, I will definitely not forget the sambhar (Steaming broth of all the seasonal vegetables most outstanding were drumsticks) that complemented the breakfast so well.

We were sore because of riding around continuously and our appetite just increased  with every morsel of the freshly cooked Idly, we ate so much that they ran out of Idlys, and when she realized that we are looking for more she apologized and offered us Uttappams. To our surprise she was making Dosas and Uttappams on wood- fire on an iron sheet!!! (I won’t even call it a Tawa)

For thorough bred Chefs like me Tawa (Hot Plate) and its temperature is so important that we dare not cook anything without the pre-requisite temperature and with such a fearsome notion of right temperature and right ingredients when we saw the lady cooking Dosas without any glitch,I really felt a wave of gratification for her ...agreeing that she is a Real Chef.

Undoubtedly this was one of the best breakfasts which I ate outside my home (Being Chef by nature). Even today when I recall the taste of that hot Idly with thin coconut slices and Dosa cooked over wood-fire on the iron sheet,my craving for simplicity and perfection drives me to discover many more hidden Highway treasures like these.

Though my journey along the highways has made me experience many such unique food concepts and but my hunger to know more (Well I have such travelled 4 Highways and there are approximately 45 more to go) makes me gear up for another trip.

“As after every 100 kilometers the food tends to change, these drives will never end because I can’t live without eating and cooking, learning new things and tasting new and different food all the time”

My search for the undiscovered food will keep encouraging me to kick-start my Royal Enfield and take yet another voyage to gastronomic nirvana!!

Good bye, make merry and set the wheel rolling to a new destination.