There’s something about street food that lights up everyone’s eyes. Calcuttans got a taste of the street food capital of the country as City Centre Salt Lake and City Centre New Town channelled the spirit of Sarafa Bazaar, the night food market in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. A jewellery market by day, come dinner time, Sarafa Bazaar of Indore turns into a street food market that remains open till hours past midnight! Also available were handlooms and handicrafts, including Maheshwari saris, chanderi saris, bagh-printed clothes and more.
Sarafa Bazaar in association with t2 made lots of tummies happy from February 24 to 26. With mouth-watering chaat, a variety of desi sweets and full veggie meals, the crowd had their fill of the Indore flavours.
“I love watching food channels. I’ve heard a lot about Sarafa Bazaar from my friends. Being a food lover, I go to every food festival in the city and couldn’t resist coming here,” said Sharmila Dey (right) who came with a friend, Rita Maitra. Bhutte Ki Kees was their first taste of the food fest.
Suresh and Mamta Jain started their chaat-tasting journey from the first stall and savoured everything till the last one. “I’ve stayed in Indore for a couple of years. The magic of Sarafa Bazaar can’t be described,” said the 46-year-old housewife while her husband was busy digging into the Poha.
We caught this BFF duo just after they had relished the Malpuas. Yudhajit Mitra (left) and Hindol Das had plans of digging into every sweet dish around. “I read in today’s t2 about this and bunked my guitar class to come here!” said the 21-year-old Yudhajit.
These two with a sweet tooth headed first to the Jaleba counter. “The size of it is too tempting to resist,” said Md Azharuddin, accompanied by wife Tanvi. Jaleba — a king-size jalebi — was a delight for the eyes (and the tongue!) and drew the attention of many. Fried in desi ghee, sprinkled with strands of kesar, we loved how it was crispy yet soft. The stall owner gave us a tip: Jai Bhole Jalebi Bhandaar serves one of the best Jalebas in Sarafa Bazaar. Did you note it down?!
It was family-day-out for the Kapoors. Rohit, a student of NSHM College, and sister Neha (centre), student of Garden High International, had a tough time making their pick, finally choosing the Aloo Tikki stall to start their food journey. “Sarafa Bazaar is a must-visit for me whenever I go to Indore. My favourite memory of that place is hogging Joshiji’s Moong Dal Dahi Vadas,” said mom Raveena.
The smile tells you just how happy 11-year-old Ishan Mondal was after tasting the oh-so-spicy Indori Patties Chaat. “I love street food. My mom read about this on Facebook and we decided to come,” said the DPS New Town student, who knew exactly what he liked and didn’t like at the fair!
