Popularly known as the “Diamond City”, Surat is also famous for its enchanting street food. The huge variety of street food available here never ceases to impress. Both the locals and the hawkers or vendors take great pride in the food available here. Few months back we had undertaken a quick snack tour over here with our star foodie friend Rohan Bhatt. Let's take you through all the things that we tried.
The first stop was the Althan outlet of Jani Farsan House. They are a popular name in Gujarati snacks in Surat. The young owner walked us through his swanky shop full of a huge range of traditional and fusion snacks. Finally it was time to relish some of them. They had laid out a generous spread for us that included small portions of wagharela khaman, khandvi, idada, dhokla, tomato bhajia, fried patra, dal vada, sabudana vada, batata vada, khamni, locho, pizza locho, patakha samosa, patties, bread roll and pizza samosa. Everything was quite good but the butter locho was just phenomenal. It is like a one stop place for different Gujarati snacks. In due course of this experience we also got to discover a lot of things about these dishes.
The second stop was Jai Jalaram Rasawala Khaman. As the name suggests, they are known for their special rasawala khaman which is basically crumbled khaman topped with a spicy lentil gravy, kachumber and sev. People are extremely fond of this unique ensemble as it's tasty, filling and pocket friendly. The rate at which the plates flew off the counter was quite stunning to witness. Though it was a little spicy for our palate, still we loved it.
The third stop was Jai Shankar Lassi which is a part of the previous shop itself and is located adjacent to it. They are renowned for their lassi and coco. It is one of the most recommended places in Surat. On Rohan's recommendation we tried their rose lassi, mango lassi and coco. All of them were absolutely luscious and brilliant. The creamy and thick texture was a matter of expertise.
Finally we ended this short food tour at Anokhi tea stall which has lately been in limelight for its fruits loaded milk tea that has been despised by many. Because of all the negative publicity and ridicule that a viral video of his fruit tea preparation has garnered, the owner was at first reluctant to speak to us on camera. He was really disheartened by the fact that his unusual take on the chai, that he never imposes on any of his customers, has led to so much ridicule and disgust, thus hugely impacting his small time business. He only got convinced when we voluntarily apologized to him on everyone's behalf and told him that we were there to enjoy his regular tea. This incident calls for some responsible behaviour and introspection from us content creators as any reckless move from our side may build or break the hard earned reputation of these small time vendors and negatively impact their business.
Overall we had a lovely time here in Surat with some great food and company.