In today's episode, we have embarked on a fun street food tour across the bustling streets of Upper Bazaar in Ranchi with our spirited host Shreyoshe Sarkar. She is a food blogger and food stylist from the city who just like us nurtures a special place for street food in her heart. It was a morning to day exploration.
We started with the regular breakfast fare at the city's most famous sweet and snack shop Churiwala that was started by a family from Rajasthan. Here we tried belwa kachori with aalu ki sabzi, mint and rose-flavored rasgulla, and malai ghewar. The sattu stuffed thin kachori was fun while the rasgullas were luscious and interesting.
After this, we moved on to the Jharkhand Dhuska stall adjacent to Churuwala. It is a cheerful makeshift eatery located under a tree. Owner Vinod Ji and his son run this popular snack stall. They sell a variety of fritters at an unbelievably affordable rate. We tried dhuska, the quintessential Jharkhandi snack, barra, aalu chop, and piyaji. Dhuska is a deep-fried rice and lentil cake that is mildly spicy, crisp on the outside, and soft inside.
Next, we wanted to try the littis from the adjacent shop but since it was just being set up, we decided to walk some distance and grab a refreshing beverage. Shreyoshe took us to Sarju Juice stall for some mocktails. We tried its signature non-alcoholic drink named Cocktail.
Then we came back to Baba litti stall whose litti and chutney are hugely famous. Apart from the great taste the interesting part is watching the whole action of cooking and plating live in front of you.
After this we moved to Ranchi Chaat Stall for fuchka and kachori chaat. This place is a hit with chaat lovers, especially women from college-goers to old ones. The fuchka were quite mouthwatering while the kachori chaat was spicy and flavourful.
While moving to our next destination, we made a pit stop at a sweet and snacks stall and a tilkut stall. At the former place, we tried kale til ke ladoo and lai ke ladoo and at the second we tried some fresh tilkut.
Then we moved to Jharkhand Famous Food cart run by genial Mahesh ji for chaat. On his recommendation, we tried dahi vada. Unlike the heavily loaded ones found in Delhi, it was a simple treat sans any chutney.
The last stop was the Garden paan shop. Although we had come here for the paan, after a hearty conversation with the owner we indulged in a cup of lassi. Owing to the amazing yogurt, the thick beverage was just brilliant.
Finally, we ended the food tour with a fragrant paan.