नास्तो - In the land of Gandhi, Ganthiya & Dandiya !

Yet another Facebook inspired note!

Met an old buddy after 17 years yesterday in Ahemedabad. Joydeep & I go back a long way to our growing up days in Kolkata. Thanks to Facebook and a few common FB friends, we found each other again. Even working for the same company. (Me Mumbai. He Gujarat!)

We decided to meet up for thali dinner, but eventually settled for a no-nonsense gujarati breakfast en-route to office given our other prior commitments.

It could not have been scripted better !!

Left my hotel at 8:00 AM for a small road-side place called Ganthiya-Rath - reluctantly recommended by Joydeep's much cajoled Assistant. (Why don't you go to a proper restaurant instead?)

Crispy, Golden Ganthiyas & Papris with masala lightly sprinkled ;

Mini Khamans that were less spongy that the imitated city variety but fresher and tastier as they can be (less or no cooking soda, I think!)

White "sandwich" dhoklas (I think they use rice in the batter!) with a thick layer of chutney in the middle.

Succulent and mild sweet Patras (made from Arabi Leaves).

...And of course loads of thick green chutney to die for.

All of it offered courteously in liberal portions with folded newspapers for plates! (yes this was an environment friendly, near-zero-carbon-foot-print meal with utmost care for recycling, water conservation and no need for soaps or detergents).

We polished everthing off without much ado while all of us fittingly stood on our Terra firma with a small and low stone-top table in front of us.

And yes, we could not resist pouring a thick blob of sweetish and thick green chutney even after finishing our princely meal.


Business philosophy of this joint was simple and so Gujarati. We cook good and fresh, you eat good and fresh. No frills, no tamasha, no overheads, and....no chairs. Only food & VFM. Eat and move-on. You have got work to do.

Seedhi Baat!!

The only person who had the privilege of a chair was the cashier-cum-owner-cum-Security Guard-cum Quality Supervisor who sat next to the row of numerous kadhais that were busy metamorphosing ordinary looking dough into tantalizing jalebis and alluring ganthiyas....And yes, nothing stayed preserved as inventory for more than a couple of minutes.

This was washed down by two 40 ml "cutting" chais that could not have got any sweeter...We expected our chai to be very sweet so we weren't surprised.

The entire hot-breakfast episode cost us Rs 55 and for once we were both equally keen on picking up the tab :-).....A far cry from our good old kadka days when we would walk half an extra mile for cheaper chai & samosas!

We ate and chatted about past in equal measure like there is no tomorrow and as our watches beeped 9, we drove back to work. Back tp our world of Power-point, Spreadsheets, Meetings, Targets & Deliverables (and Cappuchino with no sugar please !!)

Seems no amount of work-place inoculation and sytematic social nurturing by our adopted environments over the years of adulthood can take the "native" out of some of us.

Thanks Joydeep. Enjoyed the reunion with you after so many years, over an awesome desi breakfast!!! You haven't changed a bit...and I am glad.

If work never takes me back to Gujarat, food will...All the recommendations I gathered through my facebook thread have been preserved and will be used at an opportune time.