Khao Galli

Iftari khana ...I can't believe that I've actually ignored it despite having lived in Bombay for almost 12 years now. Earlier this week, I took the best decision I've taken in a long time and heeding my rumbling stomach headed to Bhendi Bazaar. The BEST bus No 5 with a back seat full of hungry @ers wove its way through the jampacked streets of Kalbadevi and Pydhonie till we finally reached our destination.....Khao Galli at Bhendi Bazaar...it couldn't be more aptly named. We started our gastronomic adventure, seated at a slightly shady :) joint with the ever enthu waiter serving up plates upon plates of the best food I've eaten in along time !! Baida roti, chicken roll, mutton sandwich (nothing like a regular sandwich), delhiwala aloo chaat...all livened up with a dash of lime. We were just about half way through. We moved on to another joint less than 10 metres away, and eagerly ordered the next round of seekh kababs. This time we also got slightly more adventurous and got persuaded by the only experienced iftar khana khanewala among us. We ordered Khiri. Now, khiri may sound absolutely innocent and may even be mistaken for kheer, the dessert we're all so well acquainted with, but its nothing like and nowhere close to kheer. Khiri, beleive it or not is cows udder. I like to think of myself as somebody who likes to try new foods and I couldn't possibly let myself down. So, I very gingerly placed a tiny little piece of khiri in my mouth. And guess what, it was really good....slightly chewy, but definitely worth a try. Right after this we headed off to a sweet shop. After a few rounds of malpuas and phirni, we decided that it was time to head home. Now, all along we'd been looking for a drink called Rimzim, a local version of a cola.....but hadn't managed to find a shop that sold it. We did manage to find a close substitute though....masala soda. I've always seen them hanging precariously from the snack stalls at the local railway stations, but never tried it. The masala soda with a hint of jeera and kokum turned out to be the best way to wash down our meal. Happy and well-fed we headed off to Bombay Central station with me vowing to myself that I was never going to miss the iftar khana at Bhendi bazaar ever again

And then, a few days later, I found myself braving a rickshaw ride through the infamous Garage Galli with lakshmi bombs and other life threatening fireworks ( as you can see, I'm not a fireworks enthusiast) being burst dangerously close to my rickshaw. The sole reason for my bravery being a Diwali dinner. And guess what was cooking, aloo dum and luchis, my all-time favourite Bengali food that I hadn't had in sooooo long.

Waiting in anticipation for Ramzan 2007 :)