Meet the chaat-busters

The olden halwai was a master of flavours, he spent hours bent over the kadai. Some were so consumed by the art of mithai making that they even slept in the mithai shop to keep an eagle eye on quality and consistency. That was the passion of the older generation, who had deep beliefs and a legacy defining them. Girdharilal Pareek was one such passionate halwai. Having opened his tiny shop in Guwahati in 1945, Girdhari Maharaj travelled to Kolkata and Benares to pick the best moiras and halwais to bring back to the hilly town, so that people could taste the morsels-of-heaven made with years of practice and shudh ghee, of course.

Bharatiya Jalpan has come a long way from his footsteps from his hometown Lachhmangarh in Rajasthan to Guwahati’s Fancy Bazaar. His endeavour was to bring the best of mewa, mithai and namkeen to Guahati-ans. After much thinking, his sons Niranjan and Pradeep Pareek decided to open their legacy with a flagship mithai and jalpan address in Bengaluru’s Indiranagar… amidst the din of soho city. That, in itself was a challenge they have dealt with beautifully since and are celebrated a year of mithai, chatpatta snacks, and even yummy khaana in their fine dine space upstairs.

The expansive mithai and chaat boutique is helmed by his grandsons Vineet Pareek and his wife, and Abhinav Pareek . At the foundation is a tradition that their fathers Niranjan Pareek and Pradeep Pareek have taken forward, lovingly.

A disclaimer before we begin: leave the diet at home for this one! First off, Indian food is soul food for me… especially chaat, and entering the bright, swankily dressed-in-stone, aroma-emanating address, I was like a child at a candy (mithai) store… wanting to order everything, a rare occurrence. The mouth watered over the choices - channa bhatura, papdi chaat, kachori chaat, (dahi and matar), aloo tikki and because we just had to, some pav bhaji and creamy, cold lassi too! We dug into the pav bhaji, delicious, fresh, a pav crisped with butter to perfection. The bhaji was good, bit salty.

Then came papdi chaat, crunchy, freshly-made papdi with dreamy dahi and saunth with pudina chutney. Yummy. We would have liked our dahi less sweet, but that’s just us. The channa bhatura is a must-have, the softest of channas cooked right and sprinkled with onion and nimboo.

They have an aloo tikki that can give dilli ki chaat a run for their money.  Nice and robust, it went perfectly with the matar masala toppings.

The quality and taste is unmistakable and Vineet stresses on the best of ingredients, “Our paneer and soya chaap is from Delhi. We also use buffalo milk for better quality. Our popular milkcake is made from it,” says Vineet Pareek.

“People love our paani puri, which is Kolkata style,” he added. The paani was tangy and lipsmackingly delicious, with a dash of spice and imli ka paani, for which they called in cooks from Agra. Their paani puri also comes equipped with a custom made refrigerated counter that was designed in stone slabs, hygienic for a street side puchka gobbling experience. “People love it, touchwood. We are using kairi (sour mango) too, to enhance the taste,” adds Vineet and Abhinav. We would have loved suji ka puchkas, though.

The Pareeks are sure of the consistency and quality, and insistent that what they do not know as a legacy, they do not make. Even their expansive, fine-dine space inside and on the first floor, open only on the weekends. “We get our masalas for rajma and dal makhani from Punjab. Even the basen for the dhokla comes from Gujarat,” adds Abhinav. They offer a cheese and paneer dhokla that is popular. Abhinav adds, “In fine dine, we have tandoori aloo, malai sheekh kebab that are popular. Our vegetarian thalis are hot selling on Swiggy too.” They also do home catering.

They are known for their sweets, and the khoya we had was unmistakably the real deal, freshest, softest and creamiest. We liked the ajmeri kalakand, with its smokiness. The famed Dilkhushal is a signature offering and they have a very interesting, mouth-watering saffron Mysore pak. We liked that the sweets weren’t overpoweringly sweet. They offer natural sugar alternatives too. We had the kaju kesar barfi was very good, and fresh. The Sandesh too is rich and flavourful and Vineet attributes their success to his father and his inherent knowledge.

“We are starting two branches in Guwahati, and even in Bengaluru, we hope to have a few small stores, though this will be our flagship store,” says Vineet.

A special dry fruits section has been added and outside seating is self-service, as the man of the hour smiles on. Niranjan is a connoisseur, “Mien pitaji ko dekhta tha jab who banatay the aur wahan se phir yeh humne seekha. Our quality is the best and my favourites are the besan barfi, kalakand varieties, dilkushal, ras malai, kaju barfi, anjeet barfi,” says the man who sits in quietitude today, after imparting his legacy to his children…  a precious one at that. 

Meal for two: Rs 400
Must-haves: A big stomach… for everything on their menu, especially the paani puri, papdi chaat, kachori, pav bhaji, kalakand, lassi, samosas, live jalebi, aloo tikki

From the mithai counter
Chhena Rabdi, Kesar Mysore Pak, Kaju Kesar Barfi, lassi