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A taste of dhaba food

Photo: Vino John

Scrumptious and soft There is variety in vegetarian fare too

True to its name, 9th Mile Dhaba is situated off the busy Bangalore-Hyderabad highway and is en route to the international airport.

As you enter, you feel like you have been transported to a traditional dhaba in North India, complete with old Hindi songs, mat beds and the omnipresent lanterns. The 9th Mile Dhaba does score as far as ambience is concerned.

Moving on the important part, the food, we start with regular portions of the murg nizami shorba, which is surprisingly light, though flavoured well and tastes heavenly. The chicken pieces are soft and cooked well, and brings out the taste of the soup. For starters, we dig into the moongwali kukkad and sheekh kebab. Both the preparations are high on flavours and spices, and the chef manages to maintain an amazing balance and delivers a magical taste. The chicken pieces and the minced mutton pieces go well in the sheekh kebab, reminding one of the succulent kebabs dished out in the by-lanes of old Delhi.

However, the clear winner is the paneer aur dahi ki tikki. The curd brings a slight-sour taste to the preparation, and lends itself to create a virtual marriage of varied flavours and spices.

It easily compensates for the lack of variety that many North Indian restaurants face in vegetarian section.

The tandoori babycorn has a smoky flavour and the taste reminds one of the traditional “bhuttas”.

We start the main course with a bread basket that gives us the option of trying out naans, oily parathas and the like.

We try the naans and an assortment of parathas that go well with the murg reshami and pudina gosht, a simple and well-cooked preparation. The taste of the pudina lingers on and the gosht is soft and tender.

Vegetarians can dig into paneer beliram and khumb hara pyaz, which bring the authentic north Indian tastes and flavours. Another must-try item with the parathas is the set curd.

Cold and refreshing, and equipped with an intriguing sweet-sour combination, it is a superb accompaniment that is light on the stomach and leaves you wanting more. The mutton biryani is less spicy than its South Indian counterpart, but does not score any less on taste and flavours. We finish the meal with liberal helpings of cold rasamalai and hot gulab jamuns. 9th Mile Dhaba is located at Royal Orchid Resort, Allalasandra, Bellary Road, Yelahanka, Near Jakkur Flying Club.

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