Every place you travel to tells you a story through its food. From the aroma that drove you towards it to how it was served, your first reaction remains etched in your memory forever. You might taste the same things in your town or elsewhere but they can never match the memories attached with the real experience. I’m a foodie and thanks to my parents have travelled quite a bit across our country since childhood. We have innumerable food and travel memories stored in our minds but hardly any physical food pictures to return to. Who knew back then that blogging would become such a huge thing? Camera rolls were much too precious to spend on them!
Luckily, with smartphones, places we travel to and the food we eat can now be captured in detail for posterity. Like a time machine, they allow us a peek into every moment that seemed important enough to be clicked or documented. My husband too is a fellow foodie and likes to try local dishes wherever we go. Little wonder then that my phone gallery has a folder full of food and travel pictures that have been lovingly collected over the last few years.
Sharing with you today some of my favorite food pictures and a fun anecdote to go along with them. After all, what’s life without some drama right? 🙂
Breakfast treat: Fafda jalebi at Somnathji
Gujarat is a haven for food lovers and offers the best array of street foods at reasonable prices. We reached Somnathji late Monday night and had a quick darshan followed by a disappointing dinner of fried rice (the only thing available at that time). We went for an early morning darshan again the next day and caught the most beautiful sunrise at the beach after that. Bhajans were playing nearby and the atmosphere was charged with positivity. Could things get any better? Apparently, yes. The wafting aroma of freshly made fafdas tickled our olfactory senses and we took to it like a moth to a flame. What followed was multiple helpings of fafdas, jalebis, gathiyas, and dhoklas which were drowned with two cups of masala chai each. Safe to say, my diet was ruined during the trip. Amitabh Bachchan had said “Kuch Din to Gujaro Gujarat mein” for the right reasons.
Another breakfast special: White butter or Makhan toast at Varanasi
Varanasi was my first solo trip for the Blogchatter offline meet and I was super stoked to make the most of this experience. Visiting Kashi Vishwanathji was the highest on my list and I was looking forward to some wonderful food and travel memories as well. Thanks to my friend Aesha we were blessed with the amazing opportunity to attend the morning aarti. We reached the mandir at 2 am. The aarti started at 2:30 am (which one couldn’t realise considering the crowd) and went on till after 4:30 am. After a wonderful darshan there we visited the Kaal Bhairav Mandir. The rats in our tummies which were dozing till then suddenly started protesting violently. Navigating the signature tiny Varanasi lanes we found an open shop at that hour serving Makhan toast which I had never tasted before. The crisp toast with the creamy butter downed with garma garam chai was like a beautiful melody in my mouth. Richly delicious!
Odd-hour cravings: Poha at Kota Station
Travelling alone (without the guys of the house) for the first time was exciting for me and Angel as we got on the train to New Delhi for a family function. To mark the special occasion I had packed a three-course dinner of paneer tikka, chhole parathe, tadke wale chawal, and dark chocolate bars for dessert. Fed and sated, the gentle movement of the train lulled us into a deep sleep almost immediately. However, as the train halted at Kota station at sometime during the night (around 3 or 4 am) I woke up and instantly craved for chai. A 20ish guy passing by was carrying a plate of freshly made poha to his seat. “Ask him to add extra masala,” he said as I pointed at it questioningly. Long story short, I hurriedly got a plate and settled on my seat. The colourful topping looked enticing. As the warm poha mixed with the added masala (thanks, stranger) and crunchy chana dal, every bite felt like a blast of flavours in my mouth. Took my own sweet time to finish it and didn’t save any for Angel. Moms are allowed some luxuries too!
There are so many more dishes that are on top of my mind right now. Maggi at Sonmarg, Paper dosa at Chennai, Amritsari kulcha at Amritsar, Strawberry dessert at Mahabaleshwar (this one’s traumatic!) and more. Also, just realised that when I started writing about food and travel I blatantly ignored my other love chai but it made an appearance(s) here anyway. What say, I write another post to share more food and travel stories with you? Meanwhile, please tell me if you liked this post, and do share your favourite ones with me. 🙂
This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle ’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Dr. Preeti Chauhan.
This post is a part of Blogchatter Blog Hop
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