It's been a while since I traveled out of Mumbai and was destined to go to Ahmedabad. The options of travel were by land and air. The Air options are quick but always has a delay in the transportation.
I took the option travelling by train to enjoy the beauty of sleep while travelling. The night train from mumbai was the most convenient way to travel and the fastest mode of land transport.
I reached Ahmedabad in the middle of the September sun. The rains were scanty this year and the sun was giving back all it could to make it hot and dry. As I reached the station in the early morning, I expected the Rickshaw drivers to crowd me to make their extra buck. luckily I had already booked my stay online and knew where I wanted to go. With a little haggling I was on my way.
The stunner started here, this is a developing city with a population of a little over 3.5 million. The city had only started developing recently and industry development was a work in progress. The streets were comparatively clean (comparing it to Mumbai) and the pot holes were basically invisible.
I was struggling to understand the reason why the streets were so much better in a lesser known city than in Mumbai. Maybe the tar they used on the roads were of a different quality or the politicians and bureaucrats were more involved in the development of the city rather than their own accounts. What ever it was, I was happy that a city in India was developing better than the other so called Metro cities.
The day was spent in meeting and greeting different clients and offices, through the day I kept asking my liaison for a place where we could taste the Gujarati cuisine to enjoy the local makes. It was a revelation that most of the street vendors were from UP or Bihar and there were none who were the true Gujarati cooks at the local stalls.
Added to this, there were gourmet restaurants, who were seemingly serving authentic Gujarati cuisines for the masses to enjoy. The locals are so absorbed with the globalisation concept that they have forgotten their roots of food they eat.
Gujarati's are among the few communities who actually enjoy eating out of their homes. The number of restaurants and the variety of cuisines available was amazing to see. From Thai, Continental, Mexican, Lebanese, all were available in the dozen. But all were vegetarian cuisine. The majority of persons in Gujarat are Vegetarians and so the outlets for the Non-vegetarians are limited to choose from but the vegetarian cuisine is so abundant that one does not feel the loss of the meats and tastes.
The beauty of the local cuisine was found in the old Ahmedabad, I venture with a friend to the narrow lanes of the old Ahmedabad to have the ever famous Gujarati Thali. We were wandering like lost souls in a desert determined to find a place that would be close to serving us with the local cuisine. We took a while to understand where we had to go and with a little help from our local contacts we were guided towards the old Ahmedabad streets.
After some asking, some guidance our rickshaw was guided towards the railway station which had a restaurant serving Gujarati Thali. The thali was costing Rs.120 (less than $2)and had unlimited servings. We thought it was heaven, they started with the farsans and chutney and 4 variety of vegetables. then was followed with roti and papad to start the meal. Along with it, we were served with a tray consisting of 6 variety of chutneys. The chutneys varied from the sweet, to spicy and super duper killer spicy hot chillies.
There were two varieties of dal, a sweet and a spicy version. We tasted both and were delighted at the tastes. This local cuisine was all the more awesome to taste and the price band on it was even more delightful.
Our meal was completed with Gulab Jamuns that were sweet as milk and soft like ice cream. It was such a yummy experience that we craved for more.
Unfortunately, owing to our limited stomachs we could eat only as much as we could and had to forgo the rest of the meal. The end was just complete and our stay in Ahmedabad was fulfilled with this thali. The taste was above all amazing, the service friendly and above all the food was limitless.
One should visit Ahmedabad not for the sites and scenes alone, but also for the amazing chats and foods that are available for all.
