Kachori!!!

I have always loved kachoris. I really thinnk making Kachori is an art and not everyone can make it well.

This post of mine on Adarsh Kachori Bhandar says a lot about the respect I have for someone who can make spectacular kachoris.

In Bangalore, yes, in Bangalore. Here in Bangalore, I found someone called "Saraswati Mishthan Bhandar". He is almost there in making kachoris as Adarsh, if not fully there. His is the best dal ki kachori I had in years. I have not been to Bhopal for almost 2 years now and already miss Adarsh. But this guy is just soo good.

You have to eat it to believe it. The other kachori he makes is "pyaaz ki kachori". Now that one again is splendid.

I still remember the "aloo ki kachori" of Cafe centre, Indore and Mayur shop at ghanta ghar, Ujjain. I dont think anything comes even close to the aloo ki kachori which Cafe centre makes and the way he serves it with 2-3 chatnis and finely chopped pyaaz. That guy is a champion.

Also, can you believe it, I have found in Bangalore of all the places in the world a shop which sells milk at night. Not close to home but still its there. I love all sorts of food (except for Chinese) but dont think any place in the world comes even closer to Malwa and the food there.

Bangalore definitely is surprising me in some cases where I am mostly shocked by it :).

Shab-e-Malwa...

I come from part of Madhya Pradesh (M.P.) called Malwa. There are total 6 malwas in India. Two in MP itself - one is the very famous malwa plateau where I come from and will describe and another is Seoni Malwa (now Hoshangabad district of MP). There is a another malwa in Punjab which consists of 10 out of 20 Punjab districts. Bhatinda, Ludhiyana, Firozpur, Faridkot, Patiyala are a few of the famous ones in Malwa of Punjab. The other Malwas are believed to be in U.P. (Gorakhpur in U.P.) and some part of Gujarat is believed to be called Malwa at some point in time.

The malwa we will talk about is the Malwa Plateau of M.P. M.P. is divided in various districts on political landscape. However, if we consider a physical map, we will find that its divided in 5 major regions - Malwa (Ujjain, Indore), Bundelkhand (Jhansi, Gwalior), Nimar (Khargon, Timarni, Khandwa - hot and dry region), Mahakaushal (Jabalpur) and Chattisgarh (Raipur, Bhilai, Bastar). Chattisgarh is now a separate state.

The name Malwa is as old as the human race itself. Historically, the word was used in Matysa-puran, Scanda-puran. Also Panini used it in his Ashtadhyayi (Not the panini sandwiches you get in Mocha. Panini lived in around 4th century BC in Gandhar region of India(now Afganisthan/Pakistan) and was the father of Sanskrit grammar. He wrote "Ashtadhyayi" which is a comprehensive document on Sanskrit grammar. This marks the beginning of Classical Sanskrit era and end of Vedic Sanskrit era).

Alrite, coming back to origin of word Malwa - historians have their differences about the origin of Malwa but Matysa-puran reference is the most popular one. Matysa-puran describes the story of Savitri and Satyavaan. When Savitri ask Yamraj not to take her husband Satyavaan with Him, she asks Yama for a vardaan that she should have siblings and also praises Yamaraj in the process. Lord Yama grants Savitri's wish and returns her husband. Also, grants the wish of her having 100 siblings which He says will be called "Malaw" (read ma-luv) named after Savitri's mother "Malwi". Also Savitri's 100 sons were called "Mukhars". They say the 100 brothers of Savitri came to a region in Central India and so Malwa is named after them.

Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain, Dewas till Ratlam is called Malwa (Also, Datana-Matana, Narvar, Sanwer, Ashta, Sonkachch, Sehore are some smaller places in Malwa region). Its the central part of M.P. rich in black soil good for cotton growth. Its in this part where cotton trading first started around 200 years ago but malwa-ries are not as enterprising as the marwaries, so Ujjain fell short of becoming the New York of the East. In NY, three German immigrant brothers did something similar almost 200 years back (More about the organisation they built later, you will find it everywhere on business news). Ujjain has a very old stock market. Now a days, they dont trade on anything but rain.

It also has a story. The brokers from Ujjain bet on rains rather than short-selling some of the investment bank stocks. The idea is to bet how much will it rain. Patre, Kavelu, Nali, Patri, Rapat, Chota Pul (bridge) and Bada Pul. These are various levels. Patre (patra) is a corrugated iron sheet. Kavelu is the earthen tiles (reddish in colour) used for roofs of huts. So, if the rain water starts falling from a particular parta(roof), they say "patre ho gaye", similarly, if it rains heavily, the mud of kavelu roof after soaking some water, will start flowing so - "kavelu ho gaye" and it continues and the bet continues :-). interesting huh.. well that's malwa.

The nights of malwa are extremely pleasant. No matter whats the temperature of the day 45 degs or 47 degs, at night the temp drops and cool breeze starts flowing. That's why they say -

"Seheri-Banaras, Sham-e-Awadh aur Shab-e-Malwa".

Jai Mahakaal!!!