Having grown up in the city of Indore, my daily breakfast for years was Sev and Poha and I never got bored of it. A little nook called Chhappan is, even today, my go to place to fulfil all my food cravings — be it for a sweet dish or a spicy one. Indore offers a huge variety of street food that will entice its visitors and today i’m going to give a local’s guide to experience it just right. If biting into that Bhutte ki Kees or Jaleba doesn’t hit all the right notes, then none of the restaurants can save you! Just kidding, moving on. The Chhappan Dukaan (referring to the 56-odd shops) and Sarrafa Bazaar are the places one must go to, to enjoy Indore’s speciality food. You must see it to believe how a jewellers’ market by day magically turns to a gastronome paradise by night.
Completely skip eating at 5-star hotels and head straight to snack at Anoop Nagar’s Uncle ji ke Moong Bhajiye; a street food stall which serves soft, light moong dal fritters. In winter, visit a roadside vendor selling Garadu, an Indori speciality of small cubes of yam-variant. It is diced, fried to golden brown and then sprinkled with a generous load of their special masala and lots of lemon juice–the perfect recipe for yumminess in a platter.
Wherever you are in Indore, you’d be at a walking distance from a kiosk serving steaming hot Poha from the wee hours of the morning until late in the afternoon. This tasty and healthy street food is the best way to start your day when visiting this food-crazy city. Steamed to perfection and topped with the Indori sev, a sprinkle of coriander and a dash of lemon you wouldn’t be able to stop at one helping. Ideally teamed with spicy Kachori, adding a cup of hot chai from a nearby stall will call for a whole new dimension to this immersive experience.
Next up, skip the typical suspects of Pav Bhaji, Indianised Pizza and Halwa and head straight for neighbourhood luxuries. The sweet and juicy Jaleba is basically a big jalebi. Get yours from any of the street stalls selling other fried items. In the unusual event that you manage to finish an entire Jaleba by yourself, it will be impossible to look at food for the next 12 hours. So, do yourself a favour and save this for the very end of your Sarafa Bazaar journey!
Another gem in the authentic Indori food experience is this variant of the corn called Bhutte ki Khees. Corn is boiled and grated after being further tempered with heeng, cumin, green chillies and fennel seeds, topped with some spices, a pinch of lemon and garnished with grated coconut. Shikanji in Indore is not a typical usual lemonade. This thick milky form is a mini-meal. Rich in texture, somewhere between a rabdi and lassi in taste, the Shikanji glass is garnished with heaps of dry-fruit making it even more potent.
Finally, the Khopra Patties are one of Indore’s own inventions. Fried to perfection, these potato patties encapsulate a coconut filing and good helping of tangy chutney to give it that oomph. This dish is enjoyed at the iconic Vijay Chat house that serves these and many more yummy delights at both their Sarrafa and Chappan dukan outlets.
One would think that you would end up with upset stomachs at the end of all that feasting, but I promise you, you will return satiated, full-filled and well, just happy!
Written by Mahima Mehta
Week 5, January 2021
