In this super special food tour, Anubhav Sapra will take you on a nostalgic gastronomic journey across the bustling lanes of his hometown Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Apart from being an important trade center of the state, Muzaffarpur is known as the 'Land Of Shahi Litchi' as it is a leading producer of this deliciously succulent fruit. Brace yourself for some heartwarming moments and a huge array of mouthwatering street food that Anubhav has grown up eating. It was an overwhelming experience for him to reconnect with his favorite vendors and their dishes. Let's get started.
We began with a nashta platter from Makhan Shah Halwai that consisted of puris, no onion-garlic aloo curry, malpua, and jalebi. Overall it was simple and hearty and the freshly made malpuas were pure bliss.
The next destination was one of Anubhav's childhood favorite stop. Ram Bharan Aloo Kachalu wale was the place that he frequented with his friends while returning from school. It was a ritual to relish the ghugni muri and aloo Kachalu from here. So during this visit, we refreshed the memories of these two dishes. Everything from the taste to the arrangement of things on the cart and the warmth of Ram Bharan uncle was all the same. It felt so good to be able to express our gratitude to him for the good times.
After that super nostalgic encounter we relished several biniya and freshly made lavang lata from Hotel Bahadur. Both these traditional sweet treats were fresh and luscious. The next dish that impressed us was a well-assembled Dahi puri from Chintu Dahi puri wale. It was simply lip-smacking.
We then came across a popular pav bhaji wale at Safi Saudi market. Along with the usual assortment of veggies, their version of this iconic street-side dish had spinach and a distinct handmade spice mix, both of which lent it a unique flavor.
From there we headed to Hari Ji Kachori Ghugni Stall. It was a delightful place full of yummy fried snacks. Our pick was a plate of Choti Kachori that was a combination of sattu stuffed Kachori and Ghugni. It was super delicious and the flavor of besan fried in mustard oil was a treat for the taste buds.
It is soon time for another round of sweets at two consecutive places - Bharat Jalpan and Maharaj Dugdh Bhandar. At the former one we tried rasmadhuri, balushahi, and chena khajoor while at the later we tried rasgulla, lal mohan and raskadam. In terms of taste, the second place garners an extra edge for serving optimally sweet treats in comparison to the first one. Anubhav has lots of yummy memories at Bharat Jalpan which he frequented with his parents while being out shopping or so.
It was soon time to punctuate the gluttony with a paan and some jamun flavoured digestive drink both of which are known to speed up the digestive process and cleanse the palate. The next destination was Sundar Maharaj Pede wala. This Rajasthani sweet and snack shop is popular for its pedas and different varieties of namkeen. We tried some dalmoth and peda. The rich texture and the soothing sweet fragrance of cardamom made the pedas irresistible.
This was followed by a playful helping of aloo tikki ghugni chaat from Ma Bhawani Chaat Bhandar.
Our penultimate destination was a Bindeswar Ji ki dukan at Purani Bazar Chowk. Anubhav who grew up in the lane just next to this pakoda and chup stall was overwhelmed meeting Bindeswar ji. He recounted some heartwarming memories of the fried treats that he used to binge on from this place. A morsel of the crisp beguni stirred up more memories.
The final destination of this close to heart food tour was Sindhi Sweet Shop. Here we tried the topi khaja which is a delicious multi-layered, firm, and glazed sweet treat. Hope you enjoy this recollection of culinary memories.