A bunny chow-inspired preparation packed with veggie fillings is the ultimate monsoon comfort food that will make you forget all about the calories
Chilli cheese paneer explosion sandwich, all pictures: Nimesh Dave
On a Friday afternoon that could well be mistaken for dusk, what with the downpour and grey skies, the gloomy ennui at work gives way to spirited discussions about the contents of two boxes of food a colleague brings in from Kandivali. It's time for chai, and even a pack of chaklis will do, but with two warm loaves of bread — resembling plump focaccias, but not quite — before us, the curiosity levels tip the scales in favour of the latter.
A collective "Ah!" is let out when the lid, carved out of the same loaf, is lifted to reveal a creamy filling sitting pretty in the hollowed out bread. The "explosion sandwiches" from Quisyn, a quick-service restaurant in the suburb's Mahavir Nagar, have survived an hour-long ride to Bandra East, but the bread manages to encase the filling without having gone limp. The two variants in the boxes are exotic veg (Rs 200) and chilli cheese paneer (Rs 220), and each already has its set of takers.
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A loaf of bread is first hollowed out
The first thing that strikes us when we dig in is the freshness of the bread. We break it from a corner to mop up the paneer, a rich preparation oozing with cream and cheese. This one's strictly for those who love their dairy, and don't mind turning a blind eye to the calories each delicious bite is laden with. The exotic veg variant is drizzled with cream, and topped with olives and bell pepper juliennes. True to its name, the stuffing has broccoli, zucchini, corn, olives and capsicum, all held together with Southwest sauce. We prefer this to the paneer sandwich, and let the veggies fool the mind into believing that we are eating something healthier.
The paneer filling is a rich gravy with oodles of cheese and cream
A filling meal for two, this dish is everything a young patron wants — tasty, innovative, pocket- and Instagram-friendly — something owner Gaurang Majethia was aiming for when he started the QSR, with this signature preparation. "Even a pizza these days costs Rs 400; I didn't want my dishes to go beyond Rs 200 to 250," he says.
The hollow loaf is the perfect vessel for the filling
The idea for the explosion sandwich, he reveals, emerged from a bread preparation called bunny chow he tried at a friend's place. After several trials and procuring bread from a local baker, he launched the dish in paneer makhanwala, and mac and cheese flavours. In the course of a year, he has added Maggi, schezwan paneer and basil pesto variants among others.
Some more cheese before it's popped into the oven
Interestingly, bunny chow is a South African fast food dish with deep Indian roots. Believed to have its origins in Durban, it was born out of the Indian migrant workers' need to carry a one-dish meal to sugarcane plantations. Locally available white bread made for a good substitute for roti, which they hollowed out and filled with curry — a meal that would take them as close to home as they possibly could. A century later, we no longer crave desi food while dining out in India. But our appetite for eating "something new" remains insatiable. And so the bunny chow is back, the humble curry in it having quietly taken a back seat for its more hip, decadent cousin.
Time 6 am to 11.55 pm
At Quisyn, Shree Yamuna CHS, opposite Poisar Gymkhana, Mahavir Nagar, Kandivali West.
Call 9833299596
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