Police flavours

Policemen accustomed to eating vada and missal doused in copious quantities of oil while jostling for space on rickety benches,now find themselves enjoying the ambiance of a corporate-style cafeteria. Fully air-conditioned,and with flat screen TVs mounted on the walls,the new canteen —Flavours—has become an oasis where policemen take a break from their daily rigours and from the heat.

And what good would a swanky canteen be if not for good food being served up! Fortunately,Flavours delivers on this count. It boasts of a wide range of south Indian,Punjabi ,Mughlai and Chinese food. Besides the staple items on the menu — such as idli,vada,various dosas and sandwiches,vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis and biryani — policemen and other visitors to the headquarters can be seen tucking into chicken and mutton kebabs with naan or kulcha served up from a shiny new tandoor in the kitchen. The more adventurous guests can also order a plate of mutton rogan josh or chicken kolhapuri .

“Our men used to eat unhealthy food without having much of a choice. The idea was to have a modern canteen which would serve a wide choice of hygienically prepared healthy food for them at subsidised rates. The thought was to provide our men with a canteen that would be like a good-quality restaurant,where both IPS officers and the lower rung could enjoy food side by side. It is also open to guests who enter the headquarters for some work. The new canteen is also open round-the-clock so that policemen posted at the headquarters or nearby on night-duty can also have a place where they can get good food to eat,“ says Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik.

A generous portion of chicken biryani that comes with two pieces of chicken,for instance,costs Rs 40 and is easy on spices and oil while managing to score on taste. While it takes a while for tandoor dishes to be prepared,a plate of six chicken tikka kebabs for Rs 40 or mutton seekh kebabs for Rs 50 are a steal. In the afternoons,guests usually order vegetarian thali — comprising four chapatis,rice,daal ,two sabjis,pickle and other condiments — for Rs 30, chicken thali for Rs 40,mutton thali for Rs 60 or fish thali for Rs 40.

“The food here is really good,and at the back our mind it is reassuring to know that eating here is cutting down on our oil intake. I have tried the biryani here,and was very happy with it. It was not overly spicy,and the rice was not sticky. Moreover,the chicken pieces were tender. It is as good,if not better than the food you get at other restaurants in the area,” says constable S Kadam from the Local Arms department.

“The hottest selling item on the menu currently is the pineapple sheera for Rs 12. Snacks and thalis are also very popular. We have been instructed by the police top brass to cook with less oil. All the dishes are washed with hot water first and then with cold water again. Several top IPS officers posted at the headquarters eat our food daily,as do officers cutting across ranks,and visitors who have come for some work or to meet policemen here,” says Ashwin Shetty,who along with his partner Krishna Murthy in Shri Krupa Caterers,has been awarded the contract for running Flavours. They are also the caterers for the Police Gymkhana at Marine Lines.

As was the practice in the earlier canteen,widows of deceased policemen have also been employed as kitchen staff at Flavours.