Street smart in Surat
A food trail across the
city's streets exposes gastronomic gems -the green garlic locho, tomato
bhajiya, fruit beer, cold coco and Surti ghari
If you thought only
diamonds could make a Surti's eyes spar kle and heart beat faster, think again.
A walk through Surat's many alleys proves that when it comes to food, they are
as innovative and entrepreneurial as they are in their businesses. Gujarati
food is much more than just khaman and dhoklas -from the traditional undhiyu,
green garlic locho, tomato bhajiya and gotala omelette to A-1's cold coco and
Surti ghari, Surat is a foodie's paradise. The locals we speak to estimate that
70 per cent of Surtis step out to eat at least twice a week. A majority of
them, they add, relish street food. All it takes is a day trip around the city,
built along the Tapi River, to prove this theory -the streets overflow with
food.
DISCOVER THE LOCHO
While khaman is easily
available in Surat, its lesser known cousin, locho, is a bit more elusive. The
food is a variation of Khaman and a Surti specialty. Locho literally means
gadbad or error in Gujarati, but it's the one mistake you wouldn't mind
committing.
Right outside the Surat
railway station on Macharpura Kharadi Sheri is Gopal Khaman and Locho house.
Here, we learn that locho was invented by accident. When the eatery was still a
handcart around 25 years ago, the owner inadvertently added butter and oil to
the half-steamed khaman only to discover that he's created what would later come
to be called locho.
Khaman is made by soaking
gram dal for four hours, grinding it coarsely and then leaving it to ferment
for eight hours. Ginger-chilli paste, soda bi-carbonate, turmeric and salt are
added before the batter is steamed. The trick lies in steaming it right, as
unlike khaman, locho is more of a `collapsed cake'.
The eatery, which is packed
from dawn to dusk, sells close to a dozen varieties of locho every day.While
the green garlic locho is a hot favourite (in spite of its pungent taste), the
Italian (with a topping of macaroni that is sautéed with capsicum and onion),
Chinese, Cream and Onion, Lemon Spice, Cheese Tandoor and Kasatta Locho are
popular too. Served with a special chilli pickle and chopped onions, the dish
is a must try and the best all-day breakfast option the city has to offer. At
the eatery, the food item is priced at only Rs 50.
MEET THE TOMATO BHAJIYA
With so much to eat and
explore, there's no time for a break. But we do manage to squeeze one in by
heading to the Dumas beach, around 20 km off Surat. Although the quaint beach
with tiny stalls dotting the shoreline makes for a pleasant sight, its main
attraction is the Lashkari bhajiya stall. Lashkari serves the rare and
delicious ratalu bhajiya -huge, oval slices of skinned purple yam, dipped in
thick bat ter and deep fried. But the kiosk is known for its toma to bhajiyas
-layered with green chutney, the bhajiyas can give our regular onion and potato
bhajiyas a serious com plex. Sprinkled with coarsely ground black pepper and
served hot with green garlic chutney, you simply can't stop at one. The
bhajiyas taste best when paired with `sosyo' -a local fruit-flavoured soft
drink that tastes a bit like ice cream soda.The drink was first made by the
company Hajoori and Sons.Established in 1923, they started out by taking
refilling orders for a British soft drink. Later, they switched to
manufacturing a swadesi brand which, influenced by the concept of socialism,
they christened `Socio', in the late 30s. Later, the name was tweaked further
to `Sosyo'. Sold at Rs 30 per 200 gms, this is one Surti delicacy you can't
find anywhere else in the country.
OF FRUIT BEER, COCO DRINKS AND THAALIS
While taking a walk along
the beach, don't be amazed by the many stalls selling beer in the dry state.
“It's non-alcoholic,“ the shopkeepers quip if you stare too long.We look
closely at the bottles and sure enough, they read `non-alcoholic fruit beer'.
With winter having drawn to
an end, the popular ponk market Adajan wears a deserted look.During the
winters, green winter millet (jowar) is sold here by the quintals. The most
popular jowar dish is the ponk vada, where coarsely ground green millet is deep
dried in batter and eaten with green chilli and garlic chutney.
But cut to the present and
it's hot. The sun's overhead and it's time to cool down. At the busy Chowk
Bazaar in central Surat, people queue up to taste a glass of A One's cold coco.
“Come and try the world famous cold coco. How many glasses?“ asks Imran
Sherbetwala, a third generation owner of A One Juice & Cold Drink Center.
Cold coco is a thick, rich and silky choco late milkshake with smoothie-like
consistency. At just Rs 50 per glass, it's one of Surat's best cold beverages.
“We sell 1,000 glasses of cold coco a day. On weekends if you have one glass
and want to have another one, you'll have to wait for at least 20 minutes for
your turn.The recipe is a trade secret.“
Sherbetwala takes a pause
before conceding, “It's all pure milk, chocolate and ice. But enjoy the drink
and don't think too much.“ The shop has no branches, he continues, and
milkshake outlets that `claim' to make cold coco are just poor imitations.
If you want to experience
Surti food in its entirety, dig into the Surti thaali. A few blocks away is
Kansaar Gujarati thaali on LP Sawani Road which is the city's oldest and most
popular thaali place.The huge thaali is capable of serving three people -it
comes with 12 bowls of Gujarati delicacies, jostling for space on the huge
thaali.
Matho, a dessert dish, is a
local specialty. People mistake it for shrikhand, explains owner Aadil Noorani.
“But it's not shrikhand.It's liquefied shrikhand and a Surti delicacy. It's
much easier to serve and eat unlike shrikhand which is sticky. We have many
flavours of matho but the one with chocolate chips is the best.“ Noorani's
father started the restaurant in 2003.“Kansaar means good beginning.And we
thought, `What better than to serve what people like the most -the Surti
thaali'. This way, we serve everything that Surtis love in one plate. We sell
over 800 thaalis on the weekends,“ Noorani says.
EGGS AND SOME GHARI
While most restaurants in
Surat serve vegetarian food, eggetarians are never ignored. Egg carts in the
city serve over 65 cracking preparations of eggs, prepared with green garlic,
pungent green chillies, and lots of butter.
The most popular egg-based
dish in Surat is gotala -a combination of boiled egg, scrambled egg and
omelette, bound together by a secret masala. It's the most popular dish at
Ganesh Omlette center near Moti Cinema in Begumpura. For the bravehearted,
there's the Australian Fry and Afghani Fry. The former is made with boiled
eggs, crisp and half fried omlette cooked in tomato puree, ginger garlic paste.
The gravy and the omlette are served with sliced boiled eggs, topped with
cheese and spring onions. This is then wolfed down with slices of toasted bread
and lots of butter. The latter, I am told, is made with boiled and half-fried
eggs cooked in a similar red gravy garnished with curd.
There is also the Surti ghari,
Surat's signature kesar-badampista ghari, smothered with ghee. Chaman Patel,
the owner of Mohan Mithai points out that a drink can't qualify as a ghari
unless it has a layer of ghee that is at least 5mm thick.Here, the ghari
retails at Rs 500 per kg and can stay fresh for a week. Legend has it that
ghari was first prepared by the cooks of Tatya Tope in 1857 to energise and
strengthen his troops .Strength is what we lack too -to finish a ghari. So we
pack one for the road.
Before we embarked on our
food trail, our guide and rickshaw driver for the day, Naveen Patel, had
remarked, “Surat nu jaman ni Kaashi nu maran (Dine in Surat and die in
Kaashi)“. As we unwrap the ghari on our way back to Mumbai, we realise that
Patel was right -truer words were never spoken.
Chaitanya Marpakwar
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MM14MAR16
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