Tuesday, January 09, 2007

jalebi and gaathia






we are having a mild winter in mumbai these days.continuous blowing of the cold wind.some woolens have come out of the closet. many people have been affected by sore throat and cough. surely,telltale signs of winter. and when i feel a tingling sensation in my throat, i could think of no better remedy than my favourite jalebi with gaathia. a small indulgence which really titilliates the taste buds.

jalebi and fafda gaathia is a fantastic combination. the last time i had it was last month when i was driving down from raipur to titilagarh. i stopped in a wayside gujerati teashop in khariar road and had this combination. the true marks of a good jalebi are its thinness and orange colour.eaten with the yellow coloured gaathia and sometimes green chutney, it is a heavenly feeling when the succulent jalebi enters your mouth. i have a friend who goes to the mafatlal swimming pool at chowpatty every morning come rain or sunshine. for a swim. and enjoys his well earned jalebis alongwith the yellow fafda after the swim.

so wake up and smell the jalebi. do some exercise and come back and have it. your conscience will not prick.

11 comments:

Lotus Reads said...

Ohhhh, you make me so envious! I long for the good ol' winter days of Bombay. We would finish the nightshift ( I worked at the airport) and then my colleagues and I would head over to some small dhaba-like place for jelabis and milk at 5:00am! Mmmmmmmmmm! Never eaten it with ghatia before though - I will have to try that the next time I'm in Bombay.

jacob said...

I love this post. and the pictures are very nice. makes me nostalgic for mumbai.

Unknown said...

jalebi is quite attractive and mouth watering...but still need to do lot of exercises if we wish to eat this...

david mcmahon said...

Gopal,
The jalebis look terrific - nice pictures too.
David

Lotus,
You worked at Sahar? Which airline? Six degrees of separation here again. I had a couple of very close friends who worked there too. My wife used to be a flight attendant too.
We flew in and out of that airport more times than I can remember.
Small world ...
David

gs said...

hi lotus
in the north of india it is jalebis with milk.and they believe that if you have a headache it is a sureshot remedy.in the west it is jalebi with gaathia.and in the south it is jaangiri! nothing to do with gandhigiri about which we hear a lot these days.

hello jacob
thanks for your maiden comments.look forward to your comments more often.

hi hema
you will have to keep it up!

hello david
the shots of jalebi being made were taken in kolkata.and the standalone jalebis are from 'kailas parbat', 2nd paasta lane,c0laba. and i am glad you liked the pictures.

david mcmahon said...

Where in Calcutta? Could have been one of my many stamping grounds!

gs said...

hello david
the two pictures of jalebis being made were taken at the crossing of ballygunge circular road and syed amir ali avenue.there is broad street coming in from the north and garihat road leading to the south.there is also a tram line running on the saali avenue.these pictures were taken around 7.30 in the morning about a year back during my morning walk.there are some more interesting pictures which could email to you.

david mcmahon said...

Hi Gopal,
Yes, I know the area well. Nothing like an early morning walk in an area which tempts you with these delicacies!
Would be great if you could email me a couple of jpegs next weekend, and if it's okay with you I'll post them on my blog. Of course, I'll use your name on the pictures too - and link to your blog as well.
Let me know if that's okay with you.
Now, here's the REAL question for Calcuttans and Mumbaikars - which city has the best jalebis?
Cheers
David

gs said...

hello david
surely,i'll send you some interesting jpegs.you are most welcome to post them on your blog and thanks for suggesting the blog linkage.
that question is a real toughie.viewing it dispassionately,i think i would give a thumbs up to mumbai on the jalebis.
and this midweek i attending a book reading programme on a book written by a grandson on his very illustrious grandfather-mkgandhi! more about it in my blog. it was at 'crosswords' and i could lay my hands on a copy of 'vegemite vindaloo'. so david you are in for some thorough scrutiny!

david mcmahon said...

Hi Gopal,

Okay, so that's one vote for Mumbai jalebis! Let's see what your other readers think!

Gandhi book sounds interesting.

I look forward to your `thorough scrutiny', now that you have a copy of my novel.

Cheers

David

Lotus Reads said...

Oh, gs, I know which Gandhi book you're talking about (I saw the author interviewed by CNN-IBN) and I cannot wait to read your thoughts on it. The only Gandhi book I have is "Mira and the Mahatma" by Sudhir Kakkar (sp?). Have you read that one? This new book by Rajmohan Gandhi couldn't have come at a better time - the country seems to be in the grip of a Gandhi fever after "Laage Raho Munna Bhai". Even my daughter (Grade 6) wants to do her annual school speech on Gandhi, here in Canada and in French, too. lol I want to encourage her, but not one of her classmates know about Bapu or what he means to India, so am not sure how much the speech will be appreciated or comprehended.