A few blocks from my hotel is Gurudas Ram Jalebiwallah. I love jalebis! Tubes of batter are fried crisp and then plunged into a syrup bath.
There’s nothing like hot, fresh jalebis. This is the variety I am familiar with, though the other day Jyoti pointed out a smaller sort I haven’t (yet) eaten.
In spite of the fog of pollution and aroma of litter on the streets of Amritsar I would frequently be caught up in a billow of fragrant guavas being sold from a cart. So powerful was their guavan smell I kept a bag in my hotel room as an air freshener. I’m sorry that they weren’t as sweet as their seductive perfume promised.
Here’s a man frying wheat noodles.
At an open air bird market, a cage full of chicks, with limited shade. (Staying far away from bird markets due to bird flu fear can at times be tricky. Here, I was no closer than any passerby might be.)
A bad photo of a superb treat, one of the famous lassis of Amritsar. Lightly sweet, with rich yogurt and a frothy crown–this was a risk to my stomach which payed off. All pleasure and no repercussions.
A very good dinner, which didn’t hold a candle to breakfast in my humble opinion, was at The Brothers restaurant. Here’s their thali, the best part of which were the crisp-soft parathas oozing ghee.
I missed eating Amritsar’s non-vegetarian food this time. But if I’m lucky enough to make another visit…
I’m sorry to report I had two very unremarkable meals. Both Ranjit’s at the Hotel Ritz Plaza (Punjabi food tasting strongly of their current Chinese food festival) and Bharawan da Dhaba offered mediocre food. I did enjoy Ranjit’s shikanjvi, a sweet and savory lemonade from the Punjab made fragrant with black salt.
I liked the name of this pork shop. It brings to mind an issue which Jyoti talked about a bit, and that is the rapid disappearance of small, local specialty food shops, at least in Delhi. Hypermarkets there are offering LOTS of fast food to great success, and the hypergrocers are doing similarly. Aganst competitive tactics the little guy, often with the higher quality, is disappearing. I wonder if there is an active Slow Food branch in Delhi?
Pleasure Mountain 