Surat has overwhelmingly abundant spicy street food.
Let’s explore this beautiful region by touching on it’s both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes:
Surat has overwhelmingly abundant spicy street food.
Let’s explore this beautiful region by touching on it’s both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes:
Rasawala Khaman at Jalaram Rasawala Khaman- Here, they crumble the dhokla and turn it into a salad form by adding crispy ‘Sev’ and tomatoes. One the other side of the plate they put curry which is a mixture of more than five dals to enhance the taste.
It is a good and fulfilling breakfast as an evening snack.
Price- INR 20 per plate.
Lassi adjacent to Jalaram Rasawala- For over 50 years, the visitors at Jalaram have made it a tradition to drink ‘Lassi’ after eating Rasawala Khaman.
The theory behind it is basic, which is, trying something sweet after having something savoury. Lassi is a sweetened yogurt based drink. This one’s special because it is frozen. If you turn the glass upside down, it wouldn’t glide. Gotta eat this one!
It has a hint of cardamom which makes it even better!
Coco at A One Coco Centre- Weather is never a barrier but on a hot day, this drink is a blessing. Its consistency is quite thick but the ingredients are more basic than you think! Just four, namely chocolate powder, milk, sugar and ice. It is a 60 year old shop but the taste of this shake, even though quite simple, hits differently.
Price- INR 50 per glass.
Biscuits at Dotivala Bakers and Confectioners- Come one, Come all to try the platter of freshly baked biscuits! When the Dutch left India in 1805, they left all their ovens and other equipment with their five Parsi employees. Since then, the shop has been running. It is a tremendously old shop.
Here, you can try Khari (a puffed pastry), Nankhatai and Surti Biscuits. The latter biscuits have a very nutty texture which make them amazing companions with a hot cup of chai.
Surti Biscuits and Nankhatai are a must try!
Tomato and Ratalu Bhajiya at Lashkari Bhajiya- This is the most famous Bhajiya shop of Surat. Bhajiya are deep fried snacks, usually the inside of it has potatoes, tomatoes, yam, cabbage, onions etcetera. To mention, these are not mixed, everything is fried separately after coating it. Before coating, they are sprinkled with different spices and chutneys to extract the desirable flavour, mostly tangy but it will not be the same for every bhajiya you will try.
These are served with mustard chutney in a ‘Lota’.
Sitting on a sofa, nothing to do? Try these Bhajiyas for evening, you’ll keep eating and be full till the time night approaches.
Bhajias are Pakoras.
Price- INR 350-400 per kg.
Surti Tapelu at J.J. Tiffin House- Surat’s taste in food is unlike the rest of Gujarat. They prefer more spices and garlic than sweet. One such dish is Surti Tapelu. It is basically a rich onion base with mutton in a gravy. It is cooked slowly and tastes very good. It is cooked so well that it makes it so fragile that it keeps falling off the bone.
It is very chewy and has an amazing flavour profile. They serve it with spongy puris and the combination goes too well!
Brain Curry at J.J. Tiffin House- This one’s a must try at J.J. Tiffin House. Here, Bheju (Brain) is cooked in a gravy of chopped garlic, onion, chutney and spices. There are other ingredients as well.
It has an amazing blend of spices and it does not have loads of oil floating around it. It is a very nutritious and healthy meal to complete your day with.
This too can be tried with puris.
Other things to try here- Prawn Curry and Mamna. Prawns in prawn curry are directly fished from the river Tapi and Mamna are meat balls in delectable gravy. If you are going in a group, you can easily try all this.
Price- INR 100- 210 per plate.
Rose Paan at Ghantawala Paan- On a betel leaf, some tobacco, coriander, a spread of white lime, fennel and what not is put! It is then wrapped in the leaf and topped with a cherry. There is also a coat of silver to make it look more presentable. This has a bitter sweet taste.
A lot of people all over India end their day with a paan in their mouth, especially the North Indian people.
Price- INR 50.
Thankyou for making it so far! I hope we gave you fruitful insights on Surat’s food.
Surat, an old city, stands separate from the rest of Gujarat because it is not so inclined towards the sweet flavour.
It is true, “Surat Nu Jaman Ane Kashi Nu Maran” meaning eat in Surat and die in Banaras (Kashi) for ultimate satisfaction of the soul.
