Restaurant Review: The Laughing Buddha, Saki Naka

I was in the vicinity the other day with a friend when the two of us decided to try the place. By name, colors and decor, the place gives an impression of being a south-east-asian eatery. There is ample use of red hues and the walls are adorned with large statues of the Laughing Buddha savoring delicacies with the aid of chopsticks. The place, however, serves a medley of Mughlai and Sino-Ludhianavi (this is such an amazing word describing the Indianization of Chinese food). That they were also showing sports on a big screen was a big plus.

But what lacks in the ambience is more than made up for by the food. Cubes of buttery, soft paneer, marinated with just the right amount  of spices and cooked to perfection in tandoor with onions and capsicum, served with a side of salad - one of the better paneer tikkas available here. Authentic Avadhi style dum biryani served in a clay pot - the server removed the sealant  in front of us. Beer served in classy pilsner glasses and not mugs. Soft baby potatoes were served floating in a bucket of spicy home style gravy.The food at the Laughing Buddha is many notches above other places with similar pricing.

Yet another thing that makes one want to go back to this place is the servers - knowledgeable about the menu, adept at making suggestions, attentive and always smiling - hard to find such levels of service even in some so-called high-end places.

The Laughing Buddha

Sagar Palazio, Saki Naka

Rating: 4/5

Must haves: Dum biryani

Skip: Spring rolls

Multigrain Bread Upma

An easy and quick snack using multi-grain bread for that health factor.

Serves 2
Ingredients:
6 slices multi-grain bread (it is best to use bread that is a couple of days old for the perfect texture)

1/4 cup groundnuts (peanuts / moongfali / shengdana)

Click Here to see my earlier post on preparing the groundnuts right
1 onion (finely chopped)
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
cooking oil
salt to taste



Cut the bread slices into small cubes. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan. Add chillies, turmeric and cumin. After a minute add the onions and saute. Add garam masala. Add multi-grain bread and groundnuts and cook for 2 minutes. Mix tomato ketchup and serve.

Improvised Poha

This is an improvised version of pohe using marination to give added flavor to the poha.

Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 cup poha / chura (the flat variety)
1/4 cup groundnuts (peanuts / moongfali / shengdana)
2 lemons (juiced)
1 onion (finely chopped)
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
2 nos green chillies (finely chopped)
2-3 nos. cloves
2-3 nos. cardamom
salt to taste

Take poha in a vessel and wash it twice by filling the vessel with water and then draining the water out. Fill the vessel again with water and leave the poha soaked for 2 minutes. Strain and squeeze the poha a bit to drain the water out (care should be taken not to squeeze out too much water else poha will be hard, on the other hand too much water remains will lead to loss of texture and sogginess). Sprinkle garam masala powder and add lemon juice to the poha. Mix well and set aside for 10 minutes. (1/4 teaspoon of crushed peppercorns can be added for a spicier preparation).

For the groundnuts, the ideal thing is if one can get ones that have been roasted with their shells on and break the shells to collect roasted seeds. If this not possible then raw groundnut seeds with shells removed could be roasted in a frying pan. No oil is needed for this but care should be taken to stir occasionally so as to avoid blackening.

For the main preparation, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan. Add cloves, cardamom, chillies, turmeric and cumin. After a minute add the onions and saute. Add the marinated poha and salt to the pan and mix everything up. Cook for 2 minutes.