Indore Food

I am told the ‘Indore ki hawa’ or atmosphere at Indore is naturally stimulating to eat more and food gets digested faster! Well, I don’t think I disagree as I almost always had room for more for each of the meals and the variety of food I had.

One of the highlights and must-do’s of Indore is a visit to Sarafa. Sarafa is an area in the old town on Indore near the Rajwada. the a market of jewelers, Sarafa is now known as the foodie bazaar. Late in the evening at 9 p.m when businesses start closing down, jewelers down their shutters, Sarafa starts getting festive. Smells of gulab jamun, and hot frying oil start wafting and appetites are aroused.   Traditional ‘Chaat’ houses open and sweet sellers sit with their huge assortments of freshly made gulab jamuns, rabdi, kalakand and malpuas.  One can see people gorging on ‘Kachoris’, ‘Samosas’ and ‘Tikkis’. Along side the traditional chaat places.

Some popular ‘Chaat’ varieties in Indore are –

‘Samosa’ chaat 

Dahi vadas 

Pani puri 

Alu Tikkis

Papdi chaat 

Kachori

Apart from Sarafa, another popular hang out  for youngsters in Indore is ‘Chappan Bazaar’ which originally consisted of chappan or fifty six shops.  Although the variety of food was similar to that of Sarafa, the feel of the place was new and less charming as compared to Sarafa.

If you were to visit Indore, some suggested places and food are –

At Sarafa –

Alu Patis at Vijay Chat

Dal Kachori near Vijay Chat

Rabdi at Bhairavnath

Jalebi and Malpua near the end of Sarafa near Bhairavnath

Some non Sarafa and Chappan Bazaar places are

Aspee on Racecourse road for ‘Mirchina’ a local drink not unlike a spiced up Coke but milder and Icecream Soda

Hira Lassi – near Shri Krishna Talkies

Ravi’s Aloo Kachori – Anand Bazaar

Damu Anna’s Kachori at Sikh Muhalla