So far our Bikaner food journey has been super exciting and enriching. We met some amazing people and got introduced to the unique foodscape over here. Both the local cuisine and street food had some fascinating food stories behind them that left us yearning for more.
Contrary to our day long food episodes, today's presentation covers the experiences from the last two days of this trip. On the first day we for an evening food walk across Station Road, a busy eating spot, with the young and enthusiastic Amiit who is a food blogger and a theatre artist. And on the last day we visited the Karni Mata Temple, then attended a poetry event and relished some chilled desserts.
During the Station Road food exploration Amiit took us to some popular eateries mostly sweet and snack shops. We started the journey with a cup of strong tea from Narpat tea stall that had some humorous poetic lines written on the facade.
From there we went to Chotu Motu Joshi sweet shop for their fabled rasgullas. These pristine white cheena balls came two forms one soft and spongy and the other slightly firm and dense. It is a very establishment that serves traditional sweets and snacks.
The next destination was Chhappan Bhog sweet and snacks shop. We were here for their lucious ghewar. The crunchy and porus rabri smeared sweet with the perfect balance of taste and texture was so gratifying. Here we also tried the malai mawa kofta. It was another saffron flavoured sweet surprise.
The following stop was another iconic sweet and snack shop named Lalji Restaurant. They had a huge variety of sweets, dried snacks and snacks platter. We decided to try the tempting malai paan. This triangular shaped sweet with soft and crunchy texture and balanced sweetness was a revelation.
Finally we headed to our last destination for the day that i.e Bhairu Bhelpuri wala. His Bhelpuri is a sensation among the locals. We loved its light and playful taste.
The next day we paid a visit to the Karni Mata temple which is renowned for the flourishing population of rats that inhabits the complex. They are revered by the devotees.
Then we reached Indra's restaurant for a soulful poetry event organised by Alfaaz Foundation in the memory of the great poet and lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi. We are grateful for being invited to this event as a special guest. After the felicitation ceremony we enjoyed the poetry session. Here we also met the amazing team of young and dynamic food bloggers from the city. It was truly an enriching encounter.
Post this event we headed towards the station as our departure was due in a couple of hours. We made a brief stop at Sangam Juice shop whose owner, whom we had met at Matool Shah's milk shop, had invited us for a treat. Their Gabagab, rabri falooda and papita shake was super fun.
Finally it was time to return back to Delhi with a bag full of sweet memories about people, food and culture.
Heartfelt thanks to Amiit, the brilliant food bloggers team and Alfaaz foundation for so much warmth, enthusiasm and love.