I have been craving a Gujrati thali for a very long time, so today we headed for a Sunday lunch at Chetana (http://chetana.com/r.htm), something of an institution in Bombay, and greatly located at Kala Ghoda. It's always packed, but we were lucky to get a table quite fast.
The very first time I came here was maybe 10 years ago, when I was working at The Afternoon Despatch & Courier. My then colleague and now Vogue India editor Priya Tanna took me here for a "safe, typically Indian" thali lunch. She also promised minimum spices, but at that stage, when I was still an Indian food novice, even "moderate" meant sniffling into my napkin throughout the meal. I had not returned ever since. This reminds me, I have to thank Priya for many pleasant moments I had while I was doing The Afternoon internship!
So here I was, ten years later...
I grabbed the menu straight from the door, but luckily my confusion and hungry mind were put to rest with a waiter coolly announcing "only thalis today", which is what we came for on the first place! So here was our choice: the classic Gujarati Thali; Multicuisine Thali; Rajasthani Thali; Health Thali (!) consisting of soup, salad, vegetables cooked with no oil and brown rice and a Classic Thali. I felt my mind deviating and considering the healthy version. I asked the waiter what was in the different thalis, and I think after the sixt dish mentioned I lost count. So Gurtaj reminded me to stick to the purpose - a quintessential Gujarati Thali (while he ordered the Multicuisine Thali, which had several Punjabi preparations in it)
From the moment we ordered, service started like a well-orchestrated ballet. This is not your usual restaurant where the meal comes and is laid out in front of you. Here, there were 4-5 different "guys" responsible for 4-5 different "tasks". One brought the samosas and dhoklas (a spongy mustardy cake), another brought the vegetable dishes (one was an unrecognisable mish mash, another was an awesome combination of spinach paste and chickpeas, third was baby potatoes in coconut-based gravy), third brought the sweet dal (which finally brought this typical sweetish Gujarati taste I so craved) and of course the sweet kadhi (OH the sweeet kadhi!!!!!!!!! A very thin white gravy with mustard seeds and curry leaves floating inside); fourth brought breads and papads (and splashed a generous spoonful of clarified butter on top of them - Gurta's horrified expression spoiled the fun of it!!!); fifth brought phulkas (fried breads) and sixt (phew!!!) came around with chaash (yogurt drink with rock salt and other spices). YES, ladies, I had all this on my platter and no, of course I could not finish it! I polished off the kadhi and dal, and just about picked on the other food, plus a try of Gurtaj's aubergine dish which was amazing. And strangely I really enjoyed the dessert - a srikant (thick, yellow and creamy like custard).
To be very honest it was not a culinary experience, but it was definitely a cultural / social one: first, the way the food was served, with all the waiters constantly circulating around and serving seconds and thirds (to whoever miraculously COULD have seconds and thirds), a guy who was obviously the owner, looking on like a hawk. What made things even better was the pleasant attitude and big smiles on the waiter's lips. It was also cool to watch the great Indian joint family indulging in their favourite weekend sport - eating together. Whole Qualis-loads of Patels, Mishras and Shahs came and went. One family had even brought a barely couple of weeks old baby, fast asleep in her candy pink blanket. Everyone was joyously chatting, enjoying each other's company and the calories!
In all, a really different experience in the middle of Bombay - which I think should be put on the compulsory itinerary of each tourist! A big, tasty bite of real India!
The very very generous thalis were priced from Rs 210 to 370.
More information on Gujarati cuisine can be found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarati_cuisine
And here are some curious facts about Gujarat sent to me courtesy Mr Rakshit Gor from VVF. Some of them sound like science fiction, but worth reading:
1. Gujarat is one of the most prosperous states of the country, having a per-capita GDP 3.2 times India's average.
2. If it was a nation it would have been 67th richest nation in the world above many European and Asian economies like China and Ukraine .
3. Gujarat holds many records in India for economic development: · 20% of India's Industrial Output · 9% of India's Mineral Production · 22% of India's exports · 24% of India's textile production · 35% of India's pharmaceutical products · 51% of India's petrochemical production 4. The world's largest ship breaking yard is in Gujarat near Bhavnagar at Alang.
5. Reliance Petroleum Limited, one of the group companies of Reliance Industries Limited founded by Dhirubhai Ambani operates the oil refinery at Jamnagar which is the world's largest grass roots refineries.
6. Gujarat ranks first nationwide in gas-based thermal electricity generation with national market share of over 8% and second nationwide in nuclear electricity generation with national market share of over 1%.
7. Over 20% of the S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Gujarat. 8. Over 35% of the stock market wealth of India is with Gujarati People.
9. Over 60% of Indian Population in North America is Gujarati. 10. An average income of a Gujarati family in North America is three times more than the average income of an American family.
11. Gujarat is having the longest sea shore compared to any other Indian state
12. Gujarat is having the highest no. of operating airports in India (Total 12).
13. India's 16% of Investment are from Gujarat.
14. Gujarat is having highest no. of vegetarian people compared to any other state in India.
15. The first ALL VEG PIZZA-HUT was opened in Ahmedabad
16. Ahmedabad – the commercial capital of Gujarat is the seventh largest city in India.
17. Surat is the fastest growing city in the world.
18. Gandhinagar is the Greenest Capital City in whole Asia.
19. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad(IIMA) is Asia's 1 st and world's 45th ranked management college located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
20. Gujarat is the safest state as the Crime rate of it is 8.2 which is the least in India even after considering 2002 communal riots, stated by India Today 2005 report.
21. Gujarat is having least crime against women among all Indian states (excluding Goa) where AP is 1st, Delhi is 2nd , Bihar is 3rd ,Zarakhand is 4th and UP is 5th.
22. Ahmedabad which is the seventh largest city in India is the lowest in crime rate among all Tier-I and Tier-II cities of India as per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.
23. Ahmedabad is ranked 2nd in Real Estate - Ahead of Bangalore,Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai & Delhi. 3rd in Policy Initiatives - Ahead of Bangalore, Chennai, Calcutta, Mumbai & Delhi. 4th in Manpower - Ahead of Bangalore,Chennai, Mumbai & Delhi
1 comment:
Good words.
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