Ahmedabad is a treat during the day time and at night. It has a bustling radiant nightlife. If you ever come here and not try some crazy innovative dishes at the Manek Chowk and the Law Garden night food market, your tour will be incomplete.
Ahmedabad is a treat during the day time and at night. It has a bustling radiant nightlife. If you ever come here and not try some crazy innovative dishes at the Manek Chowk and the Law Garden night food market, your tour will be incomplete.
See, innovation, craziness, street food and nightlife, all this is synonymous with only Gujarat in India that’s why they say, “Kuch din toh gujaro Gujarat mein” (Spend a few days in Gujarat). Of course, for a lot of other reasons but food has to be one of them!
So, let’s head to it!
Place:
Law Garden- This place has dishes from everywhere, from Punjabi cuisine to South Indian cuisine and there’s also extra spicy desi chinese. This goes without saying that these dishes are not so authentic because Gujaratis give their own twist to them!
Things to try at Law Garden:
Bakhri Pizza at Jasuben Pizza Shop- This pizza is very simple to make and lip smacking to eat! First the dough is made into a flat bowl and then all the fillings like pizza sauce, chopped capsicum and onions are put in it.
The twist is that the grated cheese is put after the pizza comes baked from the stove. This is typical Gujarati style, which is, raw shredded cheese in everything. So, you won’t get the molten form here (cry or whatever, hahahaha!).
The pizza in fact is hardly visible, it looks like cheese has snowed on the pizza ground and covered everything. But, the reality is, it tastes delicious. It is a bit spicy but all thumbs up to it!
It is “just the way locals like it”.
There are also Jain versions of pizzas available here.
Price- INR 50- 80 per pizza.
Pulao at Honest Restaurant- This pulao is made on a tawa (flat pan). It has loads of butter in it along with freshly chopped veggies, some masalas, some chutney, dry fruits, garlic etc. In a gravy of all this, boiled rice is added and then mixed thoroughly.
Then it is drizzled with some lemon juice and coriander and you are good to go! This pulao looks like a beautiful garden.
Cheese Chocolate Pineapple Sandwich at Food Cart- This sandwich also has loads of grated cheese. There are five layers basically between two slices of fresh white bread. One is of pineapple jam, the other of chocolate paste, then a pineapple piece and lastly loads of cheese. But wait, this is not enough, there is a dump of cheese after putting another slice which is garnished with some chocolate sauce.
We felt like we were running on a treadmill explaining the entire procedure only to conclude that it is more like a pastry than a sandwich. It looks simple and will definitely take your heart away! It turned out to be more amazing than expected.
Price- INR 150.
Malai Kulfi at Asharfi Kulfi- It looks like a pale yellow round bed cut into pieces. But it tastes good.
It tastes somewhat like milk which has been solidified. There are not a lot of places where you will explore simplicity because of the skyrocketing food innovations but if you get it, then grab it!
Price- INR 50 per piece.
Manek Chowk- This place is a jewellery market during the day time but as the night approaches, it becomes a street food market. It is very lively even by 11 pm. There are shops open till 3 am and people can feel very safe around here.
Things to try:
Gathiya with Jalebi- Gathiyas are crackers made up of ‘Besan’. They are deep fried and taste very different on the tongue. Mostly there is a coriander chutney given with it to dip these gathiyas in! It is like churros in chocolate syrup but the flavour is in the opposite direction.
It is like a ‘give and take’ procedure here. They keep making these gathiyas fresh, they are hot from the pan and you can either eat them there or take them home with you. It gets wiped away with customers pouring in continuously.
After Ghatiyas, you should definitely try Jalebis, a crispy coiled sweet. It is also deep fried and is saffron in colour. You’ll love it!
Ghotala Dosa- ‘Ghotala’ means ‘scam’ in hindi. But this is no Ghotala in any way, in fact, it is a sheer amount of generosity when it comes to butter. Wonder, why the name!
To watch this dosa getting made is a pure one sided love while the health conscious people might have a heart attack.
Initially the entire brick of the butter is kept on the dosa to melt, after say a thick slice of butter gets molten on the dosa, it is removed. Then some veggies, masalas and chutneys are added. Cheese and Paneer (cottage cheese) both are added. The objective here is to make an utterly butterly delicious gravy for the dosa to go with!
Then, some more butter is put and it is transferred to a bowl. Literally it is a ‘Makkhan Maar Ke Dosa’!
Price- INR 250 per dosa.
Chocolate Ice cream Sandwich- It sounds so good, what is there to elaborate?
Between two slices of bread, jam, chocolate ice- cream and cheese (must!) is put. It gets thinned between the two slices and then you can have it.
It tastes amazing actually! It tastes more like a dessert than a sandwich.
With this, we come to an end of our tour at Manek Chowk and Law Garden.
These two are very bubbling places. They pop with happiness and drooling faces. Even to eat in a filled atmosphere like this, feels heavenly, surrounded and secure.
