Friday, January 29, 2016

'Tasting food in Indore' by K.J.S.Chatrath



I recently visited Indore. With a population of around 3.2 million, Indore is the largest city in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. The city traces its roots to its 16th century founding as a trading hub between the Deccan and Delhi. The city and its surroundings came under the Maratha Empire in 1724 after Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao I took control of Malwa. Indore served as the capital of  Madhya Bharat from 1950 until 1956.


While visiting Indore and its environs I tasted some of its welknown dishes and found those to be excellent.

The Sarafa Bazar, the area which houses shops selling jewelry gets transformed into an amazing food street at night.  The gulab jamuns & rabri that I tried in Sarafa Bazar were really good.
Doodh- Jalebi (Milk & Jalebis)
Fafadas prepared with besan (ground gram)
Khasta (crisp) Kachoris

Khasta kachori & my favourite samosa
Samosas on the roll...

Chop-chop, chop-chop, chopping the onions....

A Punjabi style restaurant


And it's 'Thali ' food. Just O.K.- O.K.
 
Salted Lassi (buttermilk) or chaach is very popular in Indore. 
 
The popular eating area of Indore shown above is called Chappan Dukan (56 shops).

Priced at Rs. 50/-, this bowl of rasmalai with a dash of kesar (saffron) on it at Madhuram, which is perhaps the most popular of the 56 shops.

One cant but take a second look at the shop with the self-proclaimed name of 'Ghamandi Lassi'. Incidentally Ghamandi means arrogant or vain. I asked the young owner manning the desk at the shop about the origin of the name. He couldn't say much except that it was chosen as a different sort of name when the shop was opened about 54 years back.


I decided to give it a try. Priced at Rs. 40/- this glass of  sweet lassi with half a centimeter thick malai on top really justified its claim of superiority. I would not recommend it to the weak of heart or those who are perpetually in fear of their cholesterol level shooting up. At my age, I couldn't care less and enjoyed it fully.

Another popular snack, which I could not try is 'poha'. Maybe there will be a next time! 
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