Culinary Delights of the Walled City of Ahmedabad

The aroma of species and masalas, the wonderful smell of meat roasting on the spit, the colors, the forms, the shapes; an absolute non vegetarian’s delight! These images are never alluded to Ahmedabad. This city’s official stance of non alcoholic, staid vegetarian has generated a lot of misconceptions amongst visitors and residents alike.

Contrary to expectations, Ahmedabad is like a magician pulling out surprises out of its hat. The non vegetarian cuisine of Ahmedabad is not only strikingly ex citing but varied. The amounts of flavors, styles, condiments, are just amazing! Ahmedabad is a mixed bag of culture bringing with it a broad vista of culinary forms. While on one hand you can have bacon and eggs on toast with your morning cup of coffee on the other its appam with dry meat and your morning cup of filter coffee. Tarapore Patia and Dhanshak with rice to mutton dry fry and stew with rice and the wonderful diverse biryanis make lunch a laid back royal affair. And as the night life of Ahmedabad catches you by surprise its sizzlers, Shepard’s pie, and frankies to Irani chicken, dabba gosht , and the sheer variety of kababs blending into tiers and levels of eating places. The advantage of having the largest coastline means an array of fascinating sea food nurtured by various communities according to their palette.

Restaurants and eating places exist to serve every level of financial existence. The different kinds of cuisines and styles mirror the cultural diversity of the city. The style and shape of food changes according to seasons and communities. An innocuous dish of white chicken can be prepared in a myriad variety of ways, a lot of which can occupy an infinite amount of time, much to the connoisseurs delight!

A variety of cuisines to suit a variety of palettes! A city of cross-cultural restaurants indulging in exotic gastronomical delights, but it is the non-vegetarian street food in its subtle variations that really explores the pulse of the city. Ahmedabad is home to a jigsaw of cultural variations through food. And it is the ‘larris’ and stalls that capture an essence of a historical ink to distant lands. The aroma of spiced recipes and a mix of blend of people from various strata stepping out to eat is an interesting route of exploration through the very grooves of Ahmedabad city.

Non vegetarian street corner food is an amalgamation of scents, smells, a visual overload of color and lighting, scenes and drama and an aroma laden mist hanging over the air, as thin as gossamer with a wisp of memory. Eating places enveloped in an atmosphere of smells and shapes located in nooks and crannies within the convoluted environs of the walled city. Though adventures and intriguing, these environs are not for the faint hearted and weak stomached.

A nocturnal drive ‘across the bridge’ to the auto spare parts, mutton market of Mirzapur, shuttered down shop fronts, loose paper an leaves carrooming around deserted sidewalks. You swerve across a small temple shrine and are suddenly assailed by forms taking shape through the glimmer of red, blue, green colors of lights and the aroma of meat with a sizzling sound of cooking mutating in the background. A push cart ‘larri’ with plastic chairs, roasting ‘tandoors’, groups of people single mindedly eating with hunks of dismantled meat and poultry hung out forming a pop rendition of a mobile installation. This and other beacons of gastronomical delight form an integral part of Ahmedabad’s living heritage. A recipe and the styles and the condiments within which it is born form a storehouse of information regarding the cultural flow of intertwined communities that makes up this city.

Spiced, roasted, fried with gravies on the side, different brads and rotis grace the variety of meat, poultry fish and prawns all labeled and compartmentalized in a street patois unique to Ahmedabad. Everything is a happening waiting to be experienced, visual, and olfactory, blended with appropriate seasoning swirling in a bowl of cultural potpourri. It is all high art including the street slang poetry of food.

As one travels down this path of discovery, a inner city map of interesting food havens emerges along with surrounding living spaces and the people ho inhabit them. community celebrations and festivals are marked with specific delicacies, subtle flavors changing according to area. Seasonal changes in condiments and styles are also factored in. thus a little known landscape of Ahmedabad unfolds through only a small non-vegetarian aspect of its total cuisine topography.

Published: Ahmedabad Mirror