Nope. I am not writing about someone I met during my recent visit to the city. This indeed is the name of the shop that is famous for its savories. :-)
I had expected to see a big shop but the place appeared quite unassuming for a shop of its reputation. I pushed open the door and instantly felt as if I was back in the sweet shop in Kolkata during Navaratri days years ago. It had the same chaotic look, lots of people picking stuff off the shelves and talking loudly at the same time. I almost stepped back in alarm. How am I going to manage to buy anything here? But a second later I realized that there was an order to this madness. The people were in fact standing in a queue, serpentine though it was. And it was moving at a fairly fast clip.
Encouraged, I stepped in. The first two choices were easy - Chapati Kachori and Khasta Kachori. I moved on to grab a pack of Nylon Banana wafers and another of Masala Pudina Kurkure. A tiny section containing sweets caught my attention. How could I give it a miss? So Topara Pak and Halvasan found their way into the shopping cart. I hadn't bothered to check the price tags when I picked up the packs so as I joined the queue I took a good look at the contents and fished out two Rs 500 notes. Surprise! When my turn came, the guy at the counter asked me for Rs 360 only. And though looking at the number of people ahead of me in the queue I had expected to be standing there for at least 20 minutes, I was in fact out in 10 minutes flat.
It turned out that I had done a smart thing buying sweets when I got a chance. Because when we reached the famous Kandoi sweets on our last day in the city, an empty shop and a security guard were the only thing in sight. When I had called the shop a couple of weeks earlier they had assured me that they are open on all days of the year. :-(
The kachoris were good. The wafers appeared a bit salty in the beginning but later on I realized that the salt had not got mixed in evenly. I should have bought 1-2 more packs of Masala Pudina Kurkure. Topara Pak (Coconut Barfi) was okay and Halvasan was heavenly.
It was much later that I realized that I didn't buy Khakhara at all :-)
I had expected to see a big shop but the place appeared quite unassuming for a shop of its reputation. I pushed open the door and instantly felt as if I was back in the sweet shop in Kolkata during Navaratri days years ago. It had the same chaotic look, lots of people picking stuff off the shelves and talking loudly at the same time. I almost stepped back in alarm. How am I going to manage to buy anything here? But a second later I realized that there was an order to this madness. The people were in fact standing in a queue, serpentine though it was. And it was moving at a fairly fast clip.
Encouraged, I stepped in. The first two choices were easy - Chapati Kachori and Khasta Kachori. I moved on to grab a pack of Nylon Banana wafers and another of Masala Pudina Kurkure. A tiny section containing sweets caught my attention. How could I give it a miss? So Topara Pak and Halvasan found their way into the shopping cart. I hadn't bothered to check the price tags when I picked up the packs so as I joined the queue I took a good look at the contents and fished out two Rs 500 notes. Surprise! When my turn came, the guy at the counter asked me for Rs 360 only. And though looking at the number of people ahead of me in the queue I had expected to be standing there for at least 20 minutes, I was in fact out in 10 minutes flat.
It turned out that I had done a smart thing buying sweets when I got a chance. Because when we reached the famous Kandoi sweets on our last day in the city, an empty shop and a security guard were the only thing in sight. When I had called the shop a couple of weeks earlier they had assured me that they are open on all days of the year. :-(
The kachoris were good. The wafers appeared a bit salty in the beginning but later on I realized that the salt had not got mixed in evenly. I should have bought 1-2 more packs of Masala Pudina Kurkure. Topara Pak (Coconut Barfi) was okay and Halvasan was heavenly.
It was much later that I realized that I didn't buy Khakhara at all :-)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment