Batashe wali gali, Raja Bazar

This 70-year-old business was set up by Vishal Gupta’s grandfather, Babu Lal. The family is from Lucknow, and the business was take up in time by Babu Lal’s son and now by his grandson. After his M Sc, Vishal was reluctant to leave home. His parents, too, wished that he would continue the family business. He acknowledges the support of his grandmother, mother and wife in making the business successful. In the hot weather, raw mango kheer and mango kheer are much in demand. Gajar halwa is preferred during cold weather. Their signature dish all the year round is malai khurchan rabdi. For this, milk is reduced on a slow fire in a wok for about 2 hours to get a smoky flavour. As the solids adhere to the edge of the wok, they are gently scraped off as khurchan. For the rabdi component, the milk is reduced further, and cardamom and sugar added. It is only when the shredded scrapings of khurchan are intimately combined with the rabdi that the unique dish from Babu Lal’s establishment is deemed acceptable. It costs ₹400 for a kilogram.