Wally, George, Manvi and Duke stuffing themselves silly on all-you-can-eat thali
We have thali with the prettiest transsexual in Gujarat and sample paan, gulab jamun, pani puri and jelabi.
George took us to the offices of two NGOs, Lakshya Trust and Project Pehchān. The staff had just sat down to lunch to share some tiffin that had been delivered. They were so sweet, offering some to us.
But we had other plans. We invited two hijra to join us for lunch, but Angeli had just had a sex change operation (she had her testicles removed; the penis would be a later surgery) and was on a strict diet of food she had to prepare at home to prevent infection. So the gorgeous Manvi joined us.
“I’ve never been very good at spitting. The reddish-brown fluid left my mouth in sloppy, staccato bursts.”
thali
We walked down the street to experience the Gujarati version of thali, which George called "Indian tapas."
We were seated at a table, where four round stainless steel trays were placed in front of us, each holding four small ramekins.
We had barely been there for 30 seconds before the servers, each bearing one item, began to fill our ramekins with food — which they will do continuously until you ask them to stop. We stuffed ourselves silly.
The meal included:
- Roti
- Moong dal
- Curries
- Chana masala
- Sabzi
It was all washed down with chaas, a buttermilk drink.
gulab jamun
For dessert we tried gulab jamun, which are balls of deep-fried ricotta-like cheese soaked in a sugary syrup and flavored with green cardamom and rose water.
paan
After lunch, George took us to a stall where we tried a traditional digestive known as paan.
It was quite the production and fun to watch. The paan vendor spread a seemingly absurd amount of ingredients onto a moist betel leaf, including:
- Rosewater jam
- Mint
- Camphor
- Tobacco
- Rajsi gulab (cardamom seed pieces coated with silver — yes, actual silver!)
He folded these into compact triangular pouches that you pop into your mouth, gently chew and suck the insides out. The sensation was odd — like chewing a waxy tree leaf with an astringent, menthol wood-mulch filling.
The act produces an ample amount of saliva, which you're meant to expectorate. I’ve never been very good at spitting. The reddish-brown fluid left my mouth in sloppy, staccato bursts.
pani puri, or golgappas
The sidewalk that surrounds Sursugar Lake in the middle of Baroda is truncated. It would suddenly disappear, forcing us to walk amidst the chaotic traffic of auto rickshaws, cars and mopeds.
A 120-foot-tall statue of Lord Shiva stands at the center of the lake.
As we started our circumambulation, we saw a small billboard atop the Art Deco façade of the Pratap Cinema that displayed the peculiarly titled action movie Baby.
When we had almost gone all the way around the lake, we stopped at a street vendor selling a popular street sweet called pani puri, or golgappas.
This is one of George's favorite snacks and he treated us to the tiny, spherical fried puffs, which are briefly submerged in flavored coconut water, popped in the mouth and eaten whole.
jalebi
To complete our Gujarati culinary tour, George also took us to a sweet shop where we purchased jalebi, a traditional Indian sweet similar to a funnel cake. It's made with whole-wheat flour and is soaked in sugar syrup. Saffron in color, they're compact, coil-shaped, glossy and sweet. –Duke
