Hot, spicy, sweet, crunchy, squishy, and other local words which challenges the English vocabulary.
The poha has every conceivable taste and texture. This poha is served with a hot spicy chana usal, garnished with chopped onion, doused in a red-flaming hot oily soup called “tari” and then sprinkled with thin crispy sev, spicy gathia, loaded with sweetened dahi, and finished with chopped coriander. At 6 in the morning, young and old alike dress up and meet at Head Sahab Ke Pohe at Old Palasia to eat Usal Pohe. Usually made of flattened rice fried with onion, green chillies, spiced with turmeric and, garnished with coriander leaves, it is Indore’s favourite breakfast. The one dish that is typically Maharashtrian but has been elaborated by the Indoris, with spice, embellishment and audaciousness, is the simple Poha. Indore also being the commercial capital of Malwa region, the food here draws influence from Marwadi, Rajasthani cuisines and of course Maharashtrian food, which allows the food here to bait favour from the best of both worlds. Indore in Madhya Pradesh was a trading hub between the Deccan and Delhi in the 16th century and was later built by Ahilyabai Holkar as their Maratha seat of power. But before I go into greater details about the assortment and mish-mash of delicacies available in these 100-year-old arteries of this ancient city, let me tell you about Indore itself. Men, women and children are shoving, thrusting, and bulldozing their way to get their hands on Dahi Bade, Tikki Chole, Bhutte Ka Kees and Garadu. If you want to know what food means to people, and what great lengths a man will go to in search of a snack, you should step out on a Saturday night and try to jostle your way into the narrow lane of Indore’s Sarafa bazaar. What the Fork: Poha, Bhutte Ka Kees, Garadu, Kunal Vijayakar On Indore’s Sinful Street Food