BENGALURU: The various stages of unlocking notwithstanding, weekend plans are no longer like what they were before, with no new movie to catch in a theatre, and a meal at a restaurant coming with a serving of fear. Bengalureans, however, can look forward to special menus on weekends to bring in a dash of freshness to their daily lives. Home kitchens and other ventures are now coming up with curated menus, where each weekend’s offering is different from the last.
Take, for instance, Alisha da Lima Leitão’s Whattay Pao. It has a menu that usually consists of a vegetarian and non-vegetarian option, but each week has new variants like pesto paneer, mushroom xacuti, chicken vindaloo and so on. Every two or three weeks, there are special sweet paos too. Home chef and food consultant Sahar Adil’s venture, called Say You Made It - Kitchen, offers heirloom recipes with Mughlai, Burmese, Hyderabadi and Nizami influences every Saturday. Since it began in June, no dish has been repeated. The past offerings have included dishes like ‘Bangalore ki biryani with dahi ki chutney served with traditional kheer’ and khao suey in chicken and vegetarian options.
“Weekends just blur into weekdays during this pandemic and I wanted to give people a chance to spend their Saturday lounging around with takeout. This way, they at least have some new food to look forward to every week,” says Adil, who also finds the weekend-only option comfortable since it also gives her time to spend with her young daughter.
Being able to manage a career and home prompted Leitão to do something similar, while also giving her the option to gauge the demand for her paos. But there was more that went into the idea. “There’s not much physical activity right now so people are strict with their diet through the week. But come weekend and they don’t mind indulging in some paos,” she says.
Menus for the week are put out a couple of days earlier, and orders (takeaway only) are taken till Thursday in some cases and Saturday mornings in others. The Soul Food Menu, which was started as a part of Somanna Muthanna’s guided discovery platform, The Soul Company, offers a new themed menu every fortnight, where different city chefs interpret the concept in their own way. While the theme for the upcoming weekend is Onam, past themes have included brunch, Eid, a pork-special menu, and more. “The weekend option helps maintain exclusivity too. Not only are the chefs busy through the week, these special items can’t be served every day either,” says CEO and co-founder Muthanna.
On the menu this week
Whattay PaoPlain, chicken xacuti and bechamel veggie pao. Place your order by Thursday, 10pm. Contact: 98869-54405
Say You Made It - Kitchen:
Khichda and samosas. Place your order by Friday, 4pm. Check their Instagram or Facebook page for more details.
The Soul Food Menu
Dishes from a traditional sadya. Place your order by Friday. Contact: 88613-95567