Chowk

Vikas Gupta tells us—“My great-grandfather Tika Ram set up shop in the phool wali gali near the Gol Darwaza. At the time, Manna Manohar used to run a shop that attracted so much custom, that he would have to disappoint many customers. He used to sell only kachauris. My great grandfather got his blessings to start his own business. His descendants are now no longer in the business of pooris-kachauris and sweets; they have gone into other areas. When my grandfather went to heaven in 1972, we shut down the old shop in phool wali gali. My grandfather Sevak Ram and father Sewak Ram managed the shop and now it is my turn to assume the responsibility. We prepare pooris, jalebi, khasta and samosa in pure ghee. We don’t use ginger, garlic or onions in the accompanying vegetables. Onions, ginger and garlic overpower the flaovour of food cooked in pure ghee. We open early to be able to serve breakfast. I prepare all the seasoning and tempering spices myself. I always endeavour to keep the traditions of this shop alive. Everything was cooked on clay furnaces in my grandfather’s time; today we use cooking gas stoves—there are bound to have been changes with the passage of time. In my grandfather’s time you could get a khasta for 50 paise; now we serve two for 26 rupees. Black carrot halwa is our winter speciality. These days you get black carrot halwa everywhere, but ours tastes the best. During the summer, people love to have our raw mango kheer.