If I was granted just one wish on what food I’d like to eat for the last time before I die, it would be “puchhka”.
By puchhka, I do not mean the south Indian version of the paani puri. Yuck. Those are horrible. They use “patanis” (chaana) instead of aloo chaat and not only that, they even serve it hot! Eeewwww. That’s the only thing I hate about staying in Tamilnadu for the past 14 years.
By puchhka, I mean the typical Kolkata style paani puri. Aloo with lots n lots of chaat masala, kala nimak, other spices and tamarind. Maaaan, just writing about this is already making my mouth water.
I spent 3 lovely years in Calcutta before I moved down South. Almost every evening, me n my frens used to run to the chaat-wala behind the school gate before the evening “prep” classes commence. We always have puchkas, and sometimes the bhel-pooris and jhal-masalas.
I was just in 4th standard then. But never-the-less, I was always the champion puchhka eater. 16 years later and I still am the champ. Hence this is an open challenge to all of you out there. If you can eat more than me, I’ll pay for the puchhkas (and maybe a dinner treat later if you’re of the opposite sex). Otherwise, vice-versa.
Speaking of old times, man, I really miss those Cal days. For one rupee we used to get around 5-6 puchhkas. And now, each friggin puchhka is 50paise. This is when you realize the puchhka-wala understands much more about the economy and inflation better than you do. And they are shrewd at marketing too. In Cal, u’ll find a puchhka-wala in almost every street, but never two of them on the same street. Boy, dada even knows about economies of scale. And I really don’t wanna start on how well they maintain their inventories. Seriously, the IIMs should make a deep study on them. If the “dabba-walas” of Mumbai can create such a flur in the economic scene, why not my “puchhka-walas”?
If you really wanna know how crazy I was about puchhkas back then, check this out. I even named one of my G.I.Joe characters as “Puchhka Joe”! He was ofcourse, always the good guy who kill C.O.B.R.A Commander and Destro in the end. *sigh* those days….
Anyway, enough of puchhkas for the time being. I getting more and more hungry over here….
Until next time… goodbye.
By puchhka, I do not mean the south Indian version of the paani puri. Yuck. Those are horrible. They use “patanis” (chaana) instead of aloo chaat and not only that, they even serve it hot! Eeewwww. That’s the only thing I hate about staying in Tamilnadu for the past 14 years.
By puchhka, I mean the typical Kolkata style paani puri. Aloo with lots n lots of chaat masala, kala nimak, other spices and tamarind. Maaaan, just writing about this is already making my mouth water.
I spent 3 lovely years in Calcutta before I moved down South. Almost every evening, me n my frens used to run to the chaat-wala behind the school gate before the evening “prep” classes commence. We always have puchkas, and sometimes the bhel-pooris and jhal-masalas.
I was just in 4th standard then. But never-the-less, I was always the champion puchhka eater. 16 years later and I still am the champ. Hence this is an open challenge to all of you out there. If you can eat more than me, I’ll pay for the puchhkas (and maybe a dinner treat later if you’re of the opposite sex). Otherwise, vice-versa.
Speaking of old times, man, I really miss those Cal days. For one rupee we used to get around 5-6 puchhkas. And now, each friggin puchhka is 50paise. This is when you realize the puchhka-wala understands much more about the economy and inflation better than you do. And they are shrewd at marketing too. In Cal, u’ll find a puchhka-wala in almost every street, but never two of them on the same street. Boy, dada even knows about economies of scale. And I really don’t wanna start on how well they maintain their inventories. Seriously, the IIMs should make a deep study on them. If the “dabba-walas” of Mumbai can create such a flur in the economic scene, why not my “puchhka-walas”?
If you really wanna know how crazy I was about puchhkas back then, check this out. I even named one of my G.I.Joe characters as “Puchhka Joe”! He was ofcourse, always the good guy who kill C.O.B.R.A Commander and Destro in the end. *sigh* those days….
Anyway, enough of puchhkas for the time being. I getting more and more hungry over here….
Until next time… goodbye.
14 comments:
challenge ??
Damn! now i'm hungry!!
i am in cal rite now and guess what..had puchkas yday and you are rite, they are bloody good! tell me anything(anyone) you miss about cal..would be more then happy to do 'it' for you:-) on a serious note...any hot chicks you know outta here??
...vin
Hmm...I love puchkas. But you re right, most of them have chana, which is baaaaaad. I prefer the ones with aloo chat but you hafta search high and low to find them. There are very few such good places in Bangalore.
@ Mihir: Yes, its a challenge! :)I am not afraid of your size, no i am not! :P
@ Agony: You know any other place here in B'lore that serves amazing puchhkas? Do lemme know.... :)
@ ...vin: Hmmm... lemme guess who u are... oooh oooh i like mystery games :) Pravin, Calvin, Melvin, Marvin... did i get it? :)
And yeah, i know a couple of hot chicks out there in Cal. Sushmita Sen, Celina Jaitley, Reshmi Ghosh, Bipasha Basu, Reema Sen, Riya Sen.. loads of them. Only problem is, i don't think they know me :)
@ Ramya: Boy thats a quick change in you, considering the fact that, that day we took u to the puchhka-walla was your first puchhka in life :) Nice nice, Call us up, Amol n i go almost everyday to Koromangala to have those puchhkas.
@ Slarti: The thing i LOVE about Cal is that, people of all class, creed and colour join up and huddle around a puchhka-walla. You can even see a couple of rich bengalli babus get down from their Mercedes S-class just to eat these puchhkas.
The puchka scene in Chennai just got worse. Imagine!! Nowadays they sell them for a rupee a piece.
Wish I could sue them for this ...
no buddy, none of the names you mentioned..i am just a guy who seems to have lost his way...as for the names of the 'hot' chicks you mentioned..all i can i say is that been 'there' done 'that'...vin
lol Jimmy, why do u wanna do that? their puchhka is sucky anyway, you're just wasting ur time (and money) by suing them :)
...vin, been there done that types huh? you and i will definitely become best frens if we ever meet up :) Am doing my 2 months internship at calcutta. maybe we can hang out during that time. lemme know.
kima i meant 'hot' puchkas...not to dampen your spirits..am here in cal till end of next month, when you coming down for your summers?
ok brother dear! the challenge is on...will meet u in cal and beat u at your own 'game'. Get your wallet loaded!!
hello from a fellow puchka lover and someone who studied in cal too. if you want to try some good cal style puchkas then go to "calcutta chats-koshy's outpost". it's on brigade road just before the scullers showroom. maan, if you call the puchka guy 'dada' you get a papri free :)
Dude..Puchkas rock!I pigged out like mad while I was in Cal! However, there are a couple of places in Blore now where the guys from Cal have come and have started making/selling them :D.
Puchkas..you either know them OR you dont!
Later
Cal rox! I've been having puchkas non stop now. And the price depends upon the locality. Some place, its 6 for 5 bucks, other places, 3 for 2 bucks. I've eaten atleast around 1000 puchkas since arriving here and i still can't get enough of it. My internship is coming to an end soon. Am sad coz i really am going to miss the puchkas...
Hi Kima.. Have been reading your blogs since y'day.. n am really getting curious to read more n more (Though frankly speaking i dont read much)... even im from Cal but presently in Mumbai... and i really love puchkas... Keep writing more... waiting for ur next blog.. Tc.. Purnima.
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