Tendulkar’s secret love for non-veg ‘haleem’ is out
(EXCLUSIVE)
By Qaiser Mohammad Ali
Colombo, Aug 22, 2006: Another love of Sachin Tendulkar was revealed during his stay in Colombo -- ‘haleem’, a mutton delicacy prepared painstakingly with wheat – while Sreesanth savoured ‘chaat’ and Yuvraj Singh enjoyed ‘saag bhutta’.
It was a pleasant surprise for the Taj Samudra sous chef Pawan Singh Rana, a Tendulkar fan, when he came to know that his hero also relishes ‘haleem’ besides other non-vegetarian dishes.
“I had prepared ‘haleem’ without knowing that Sachin also likes it. But when I served it to Ajay Jadeja, he asked me to quickly send it to Sachin’s room as he simply loves it,” my friend Rana disclosed as I was having food at the Taj Samudra’s Navratna Indian restaurant.
“I immediately called him up and said I am haleem to your room. Although he was about to leave for dinner outside the hotel, he did taste it and relished it,” said Rana, who belongs to Himachal Pradesh in India.
Mutton, wheat, ghee, kesar and salt is used for preparing Haleem, a popular dish in India and Pakistan.
Former India ODI captain Jadeja, who was as an expert for a television channel, should know all about the eating habits of Tendulkar as they once shared the dressing room and are good friends. Also, some years ago Tendulkar had cooked ‘baigan ka bharta’ at Jadeja’s New Delhi residence.
Other Indian players also enjoyed their food as they either frequented Navratna, an Indian restaurant, in Taj Samudra or simply ordered food in their rooms.
“But whenever Sreesanth came down to the restaurant he always had ‘chaat’. He loves gol-gappas, bhel puri and papri chaat,” said Rana, who is with the hotel for over a year now.
Punjab players Yuvraj, Harbhajan Singh and Dinesh Mongia preferred the food that is popular in their state.
“They always ordered for saag-bhutta, baigan bharta, kachche mirch paneer or dal navratna,” said Rana.
He said that the team as a whole liked the vegetarian thali, which comprised assorted dishes, roti and rice.
“When they did not feel like coming down to the restaurant, they would invariably order thali in their rooms. Vice-captain Virender Sehwag and his wife (Aarti) especially liked thali as they would invariably order it.”
Although captain Rahul Dravid rarely visited Navratna restaurant, he also enjoyed the Indian food.
However, Rana, who had served the Indian team when it visited Colombo for the Indian Oil Cup last year, noted a distinct lack of enthusiasm and cheerfulness in the players.
“This time, they looked a bit different from last year, when they would just barge into the restaurant and say ‘Pawanji, just get us anything quickly, we are hungry’,” he said.
“Whether the bomb blast Aug 14 or not playing matches was the reason, but they looked subdued. The day the bomb blast happened, no one came down to the restaurant and ordered food in their rooms.”
Seven people were killed in the blast less then three kilometres from Taj Samudra. South Africa, the third in the Unitech Cup Triangular Series, pulled out because of security reasons, and India and Sri Lanka agreed to play three one-day internationals.
But persistent rains washed out the first two matches, forcing the two cricket boards to scrap the series.
(EXCLUSIVE)
By Qaiser Mohammad Ali
Colombo, Aug 22, 2006: Another love of Sachin Tendulkar was revealed during his stay in Colombo -- ‘haleem’, a mutton delicacy prepared painstakingly with wheat – while Sreesanth savoured ‘chaat’ and Yuvraj Singh enjoyed ‘saag bhutta’.
It was a pleasant surprise for the Taj Samudra sous chef Pawan Singh Rana, a Tendulkar fan, when he came to know that his hero also relishes ‘haleem’ besides other non-vegetarian dishes.
“I had prepared ‘haleem’ without knowing that Sachin also likes it. But when I served it to Ajay Jadeja, he asked me to quickly send it to Sachin’s room as he simply loves it,” my friend Rana disclosed as I was having food at the Taj Samudra’s Navratna Indian restaurant.
“I immediately called him up and said I am haleem to your room. Although he was about to leave for dinner outside the hotel, he did taste it and relished it,” said Rana, who belongs to Himachal Pradesh in India.
Mutton, wheat, ghee, kesar and salt is used for preparing Haleem, a popular dish in India and Pakistan.
Former India ODI captain Jadeja, who was as an expert for a television channel, should know all about the eating habits of Tendulkar as they once shared the dressing room and are good friends. Also, some years ago Tendulkar had cooked ‘baigan ka bharta’ at Jadeja’s New Delhi residence.
Other Indian players also enjoyed their food as they either frequented Navratna, an Indian restaurant, in Taj Samudra or simply ordered food in their rooms.
“But whenever Sreesanth came down to the restaurant he always had ‘chaat’. He loves gol-gappas, bhel puri and papri chaat,” said Rana, who is with the hotel for over a year now.
Punjab players Yuvraj, Harbhajan Singh and Dinesh Mongia preferred the food that is popular in their state.
“They always ordered for saag-bhutta, baigan bharta, kachche mirch paneer or dal navratna,” said Rana.
He said that the team as a whole liked the vegetarian thali, which comprised assorted dishes, roti and rice.
“When they did not feel like coming down to the restaurant, they would invariably order thali in their rooms. Vice-captain Virender Sehwag and his wife (Aarti) especially liked thali as they would invariably order it.”
Although captain Rahul Dravid rarely visited Navratna restaurant, he also enjoyed the Indian food.
However, Rana, who had served the Indian team when it visited Colombo for the Indian Oil Cup last year, noted a distinct lack of enthusiasm and cheerfulness in the players.
“This time, they looked a bit different from last year, when they would just barge into the restaurant and say ‘Pawanji, just get us anything quickly, we are hungry’,” he said.
“Whether the bomb blast Aug 14 or not playing matches was the reason, but they looked subdued. The day the bomb blast happened, no one came down to the restaurant and ordered food in their rooms.”
Seven people were killed in the blast less then three kilometres from Taj Samudra. South Africa, the third in the Unitech Cup Triangular Series, pulled out because of security reasons, and India and Sri Lanka agreed to play three one-day internationals.
But persistent rains washed out the first two matches, forcing the two cricket boards to scrap the series.
