In today's episode we are taking you on a short evening food tour in Rajkot along with our hosts Anand from Eat and Drive and Chintan. This fascinating gastronomic exploration revolves around some popular snacks and two rustic dishes from this part of the state.
We started with assorted fritters from Mayur bhajiya. They are a very popular with the locals and hence Chintan made us try some of their fried snacks. They have seven varieties and we took one each. the platter was accompanied with sweet dates chutney, lili chutney and spicy garlic red chilli chutney. There was moong dal stuffed samosa, mirchi vada, aalu chips, aalu vada, vati dal bhajiya etc. All of them had a mild taste and fun to try.
From there we joined Anand at Vinu bhai's residence to relish his two of his famous dishes varadiyu and chah dhan khichadi. The first one is a gathiya and chavanu mixture stuffed steamed vegetable dish while the second one is a wholesome porridge like dish made of rice and 5 different lentils. Since we were late, we could witness the making of the varadiyu right from the beginning. Vinu bhai is a passionate chef whose varadiyu is famous all over Gujarat. Varadiyu had a very playful taste as there was sweetness, spiciness and sourness. The khichdi was spicy yet very satisfying.
Next we went to witness a garba dandiya performance at Kansagara College ground. This was followed by a visit to Giriraj Gathiya Rath restaurant for an elaborate farsan treat. It is a spacious eatery with both inside and outside seating arrangement. They also have live kitchen area where your order can be seen being made. Here we tried thepla, bhakri, vanela gathiya, tea, chips and jalebi. These mildly spiced snacks had a homely feel to them.
Finally we once again joined Chintan who first took us to a paan shop and then to his apartment for Navaratri celebrations.