In today's episode from the ongoing Jharkhand Food Series, we have embarked on an exciting gastronomic tour along with our hosts Afsha, Ankush, and Aabir that introduces you to some iconic eateries from the city that you can't afford to miss out on. We have termed it as Ranchi classics.
Our first stop was Haji Fast Food near Karbala Chowk. Evidently, the star dish of their eclectic non-veg menu is Chicken Biryani and so we had to try it. It was a Kolkata-style biryani that was mildly fragrant and had big chunks of potatoes. The flavors were quite balanced and satisfying.
From there we went to Nigar at Rayeen Market. It is another bustling old eatery that has now been revamped into a spacious eatery. They serve a huge range of non-veg snacks, breads and curries. At Afsha's recommendation, we tried chicken korma with laccha paratha and firni. Its gravy was rich, mildly spicy, and aromatic and the chicken pieces were soft and infused with spices. We really liked the combination but the firni was just decent.
Next, we went to Punjab Sweet House on Mahatma Gandhi Main Road. This sweet and snacks shop is a landmark in the city. The entrance was lined with cooking counters churning out snacks like pakora, litti and samosa. Our order included litti chokha, ganga jamuna chaat, and imarti. Among these three items, our favorite was the ganga jamuna chaat for it was loaded with numerous treats that resulted in an intensely zesty taste.
After this, we visited Kaveri, a popular family restaurant for their veg thali. With four kinds of breads, three kinds of curries, dahi bhalle, salad, papad, and pickles it was a worthy try. Since we were quite full, we couldn't enjoy it the way we had expected to.
From there we went to our final stop for the evening, which was Rathod Kulfi. We opted for the fancy-sounding pizza kulfi. It was basically brownie topped with rabri and chocolate syrup. Perhaps it's named so because it faintly resembled a pizza slice. The thin rabri was sort of a disappointment because it didn't have the feel of a usual one.
The following day we joined Aabir to explore a couple of more eateries. The first stop on this day was Bhola litti. This old stall is a favorite with the locals. Currently, it is being run by Rahul who has taken over his family business. The litti here was truly irresistible and surprisingly soft in spite of being grilled over a charcoal fire.
The second and final stop of this day’s exploration was not an iconic or old place but a very fascinating chai stall named B.Com Chaiwala. We visited the place because we were completely intrigued by the story of the young founder who is pursuing his masters along with this business. His tale was no less than an inspiration. The chai too was nice.
We really had a fun time exploring the food over here with our gracious hosts.