Ahmedabad is like a huge crayon box because it bustles with colours from Chaniya Cholis to Khakhras, Fafdas, Dhoklas and what not! Ahmedabad is just Ahemdabad. It is irreplaceable!
Ahmedabad is like a huge crayon box because it bustles with colours from Chaniya Cholis to Khakhras, Fafdas, Dhoklas and what not! Ahmedabad is just Ahemdabad. It is irreplaceable!
This place is the literal definition of everything! It grows because it is preserved and yet open to so many new things. It is a storyteller of how a place could be both traditional and modern! This is where you see the progressive India.
A very safe and secure place for women, well preserved monuments of Islamic, Hindu and Jain cultures, a hustling nightlife, strong senses of running businesses (Gujaritis means business!), sweetness in dishes, warmth of people, it is just too beautiful of a place to absorb (a big heart for Ahemadabadis).
Did I mention ‘Big Fat Stomachs’?
Oh, you got to be here and you’ll know why people are such ‘Khaate Peete Ghar Ke Log’.
Let’s get into their crazy love for food:
Cheese Puff at Mahaveer Food Point- No food is ever complete without Cheese in Gujarat! This one’s the same. It is a mashed potato patty which is cut open and layered with a mixture of mayonnaise, chopped capsicum and onions and tomato ketchup. Then, comes the master blaster, which is, loads and loads of shredded cheese.
The patty is flaky and crispy and you can taste each of the ingredients in it. The amalgamation is super delicious!
Price- INR 30 per patty.
Sev Khamani at Shreeji Khamani House- Usually people crumble the Dhoklas to make Sev Khamani but here this snack is made in the most authentic style!
This snack looks like a small yellow world on the plate. It is made from soaked and crushed ‘chana ki dal’ and served with a unique chutney of blended dal and ‘kadhi’.
Gujaratis don’t eat bland stuff (generalized), so, obviously there’s a ‘tadka’ of masalas, mustard seeds, turmeric powder, garlic etc! It is then topped with lots of Sev and beautiful pomegranate pearls. Since it also has a little sugar, the chutney balances out the flavour making it tangy-sweet in taste.
Fun Fact- It takes around 10-12 hours to cook Sev Khamani. Not as easy to make as it looks!
Price- INR 30 per plate.
Navtad Samosa at Maharaja Samosa Centre- Filing an official petition to change the name from Navtad Samosa to ‘Killer Chutney Samosa’! Like absolutely! Not even kidding, there’s a magic that this chutney does to the taste buds! It is made up of churned coriander, dal, tamarind and green chillies. The samosa, a deep fried triangular patty has a very goldenish brown colour to it. It has pops of crisps on its covering and it is a very good combination to try!
It has three fillings: peas, mashed potatoes and flakes of dal. It is definitely a must try and a take away!
Price- INR 66 per dozen.
Chutney and Aloo Matar Sandwich at Charbhuja Sandwich- Imagine putting Aloo Matar’s pasty sabji between two slices of bread, it is somewhat going to taste like that! There’s a generous spread of butter on the inside of the other slice of bread and then they serve it to you with chutney. This sandwich is a little on the sweeter side.
To moderate the flavour, you could try a cheese chutney sandwich. This one is a little on the spicy side because it has coriander and chilli chutney lathered over one slice of bread. But it doesn’t stay that spicy for long because a huge mountain of grated cheese is put on and in it.
If you are ever travelling to some place and want to have something light yet fulfilling, then these should be your go to!
Price- INR 70 each
Dalwada at Ambika Dalwada- People of Ahmedabad love Ambika’s dalwada in monsoon. Infact, to be specific, dalwadas and first showers of the monsoon share love! These are pakoras made up of dal and some masalas mixed in the batter. Then, the batter’s drops are carefully slided in a pan full of hot oil. They are soft, crispy and not so spicy. With some fried chillies, a lemon and some onion rings, this combination hits another level!
If there’s ginger tea nearby, then, oh, what better!
Tip- Please practice patience. This shop has a huge fanbase, eventually, not so surprising long queues.
Price- INR 240 per kg.
Surti Ghotala at R.K. Egg Eatery- Surti Egg Ghotala is like a layered egg curry. It looks and tastes delicious. At the bottom, a gravy of grated egg, chopped onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, masalas etc is put, then a half fried egg is put, and finally at the top, again, the gravy is poured but it is without egg this time. It is a three layered concept.
To eat it, you have to tear a morsel from the fried buns, put some chopped onions and tomatoes (yes, more!) on it and then squeeze some lemon. We’ll leave you with your food moment, enjoy.
It is like a dramatic bollywood film. Instead of getting flying kicks from people, you’ll get them from red chilly powder and garam masala in Surti Ghotala (It rhymed! hahaha!).
Fun Fact- Students of NID (National Institute of Design) have made this spot really popular.
Price- INR 200.
Khakhra at Induben Khakhrawala- Khakhra is basically a roti which is cooked until it becomes as crisp as a cracker. It is a paper-thin round sheet generally made up of gram flour. Just like before entering any Gujarati household, one is supposed to remove slippers, similarly, to enter this shop one has to do the same. Be prepared!
There are a wide variety of flavours available here from Diet Khakhra to Kurkure flavour, beat that! People love khakhras of this place so much that they carry several packets of it with themselves abroad. For this reason, these come in vacuum packaging.
You will love it so much, you probably will take tonnes of packets with yourself!
Price- Variable.
Variali at Devrani- Jethani Ice cream- This shop doesn’t look like a shop. It is a house in a residential area selling amazing innovative flavours of ice cream. Here, they don't use anything artificial, everything is fresh and organic!
The flavours you could try are Variali (fennel), Almond, Rose and Mausami.
You will love being here in a peaceful environment cherishing your ice cream.
Fun Fact- Ahmedabad is known as the Ice cream capital of India because of its high consumption rate.
Price- INR 50-100 per scoop.
Bun Maska Chai at Lucky Tea Stall- Welcome to a very interesting place. You will officially feel proud of yourself about drinking tea amidst graves. Yes, graves! This shop has graves, benches, tables and a huge tree breaking through the roof. Never has this sounded to us so casual before.
But it is a very pure and a pious place to be in. If you come here once, there’s no stopping after that! The tea served here is sweet (just like Gujarati’s taste) and you get bun lined with white butter or maska. It tastes very good, there’s no more description beyond!
Fun Fact- This was M.F. Husain’s (a world renowned artist) favourite place to have tea. He has even painted a picture for this shop and it is hung there.
Price- INR 100 for 2 people.
We hope you enjoyed this food trail and there’s tonnes for Ahmedabad to offer to foodies like you! We even got inspired by the two women entrepreneurs of this place. Induben and Devrani Jethani’s story of coming from modest backgrounds and creating vast businesses encourages a lot of women worldwide.
