It is an old-fashioned, nondescript narrow street in Indore, just like any other
in several towns and cities across India. But what sets it apart from
the rest is the extraordinary culinary experience that is on offer
here. The less-than-one- kilometre stretch that starts from behind the
Rajwada--a stunningly beautiful mansion belonging to the Holkar dynasty,
survived only by its facade today--exists in the densely packed, old
part of the city; characterized by little lanes criss-crossing each
other. These lanes are home to a variety of bazaars, where both sides of
the lane are lined with shops selling pots and pans, fabrics and
sarees, stationery and jewellery. So there is a
Bartan bazaar, a Cloth Market, a
Khajuri bazaar and a
Sarafa.
Sarafa was originally meant to be a jewellery market. When the
jewellers shut shop for the day, the savoury and sweet makers took over
and set their wares up on the platforms outside the closed shops. Well,
that must have been how the present
Sarafa came into being. Now the
jewellery shops and eateries sit side by side, all vying for the
customers' attention through the day (and night in case of the
eateries). The food outlets are open during the day, but
they really come alive in the evening.
My earliest memories of visiting the
Sarafa are with a dear
uncle (Shantaram Kaka) on his bicycle. I remember going there as a
little girl with him and being treated to my favourite
samosa
from the Samosa Corner, along with other things. We did this routine
very often and it is still fresh in my memory four decades
later. The shop exists at the same place and is in the same condition
even today. I make it a point to go there at least once whenever I am in
Indore. The crispy triangles stuffed with spicy potato filling are
served piping hot, fresh from the pan, with two chutneys--a green one
made with coriander leaves and chillies and a brown one made with
tamarind. You stand on the street outside the tiny stall, place your
order and the guy places a hot
samosa on a piece of newspaper,
makes a dent in it, fills the depression caused by the dent with the
hot and tangy chutneys and hands the concoction to you. When you bite
into this offering, all your taste buds come alive and the
samosa disappears leaving a zesty aftertaste in your mouth.
Just across the street is another establishment, Vijay Chaat House.
Their USP is something called patties. The credit for introducing this
delicacy goes to the owners of this eatery. Most people in Indore refer
to it as 'paytis' and are most probably unaware that patties is the
plural form of a patty. These are balls where the stuffing is made of
coconut along with some spices, and the coating is made of potato. They
are then deep fried and served hot with chutneys. The owners seem to be a
big family of several brothers, all of them having a fair complexion
and dressed in spotless white kurtas. When I went to this place last
month, I saw a fair-skinned young lad in his early twenties, sporting
the familiar white kurta, busy frying a big batch of
matar patties,
a variant where the coconut is replaced by peas. Ah, the next
generation has joined the family business! As he takes the fresh batch
out of the frying pan, it is lapped up by eager customers waiting on the
street. No stale or refried food anywhere in the
sarafa. The big
kadahis are out there for everyone to see, along with platters full of freshly moulded balls, ready to be fried.
Further down the street is an outlet of repute specializing in
dahivada and
bhutte ka kees. It is simply known by the last name of the owner--Joshi. People flock here for the giant
dahivada that is large enough for a mini-meal. Deep fried
vadas have been softened by dipping them in water and then squeezing
them. They are heaped in a big container. When you
place an order, the person serving them tosses a
vada high up in the air, catches it with great elan, puts it in a bowl, douses it with delectable
dahi, tops it with some spices and
chutneys, and presents this absolutely irresistible, melt-in-the-mouth dish to you. The
dahi in the
vada soothes you while the spices tease you, making the
vada-eating a roller-coaster-like experience.
My other favourite here is
bhutte ka kees which can be loosely
translated as corn-upma, though I must admit that it is a very tame term
and does not convey the attributes of this preparation with the respect it deserves. It is served with a topping of freshly squeezed lemon juice, a
very special Rajasthani spice called
jeeravan and fresh green
coriander leaves. The moment you take a spoonful of this delightful
stuff into your mouth, a melange of slightly sweet, sour, hot and salty
tastes hits you, turning it into an 'Aha' moment.
Then there is spicy
sabudane kee khichadi,
kachoris stuffed with
daal or potato or peas or corn, each variety having its own fan club,
aloo tikiyas fried in
ghee, served with only
chutneys or
chhole, fried
garadu ( a type of yam) in winters,
daal-baafla (a Marwari speciality), and a whole lot more.
Foodies with a sweet tooth can indulge too. There are several delicacies to choose from. But sweets are not my priority when I go to the
sarafa. Among the popular sweets are
gulab jamuns, jalebis served with hot milk,
rabdi (thick evaporated milk),
gajar ka halwa (in winters),
kulfi and shikanji ( a very rich preparation with evaporated milk and dry fruits) along with a host of
barfis and
laddoos. People are seen relishing these until late into the night. I have not been to these shops early in the morning, but I am told that
jalebis with hot milk are favoured by many for breakfast too!
Most of the eating in the
sarafa takes place while standing in
the congested street, with vehicles and pedestrians passing by, and hot
fumes from the frying making the air even hotter. For those who cannot
stand the heat and the dust, an alternative exists in the newer part of
the city. Called
Chhappan Dukaan, it is a market with 56 shops, where many of the
sarafa eateries have opened an outlet. One can enjoy the
sarafa specialities in a cleaner environment there. It is a fine place and I have gone there several times, but once a
sarafa loyalist, always a
sarafa loyalist! For me, a trip to Indore is not complete without a visit to my dear old
sarafa.
