The 'Food-lanes' at Ghatkopar

By Parvathy Nair

Ghatkopar, a suburb in Mumbai, famous for its food-lanes, Dandiya dresses, hobby shops, matching centres and good tailors. Pre-dominantly occupied by Gujaratis, this place has a culture of its own and you can smell it in the air as soon as get off the local train, at Ghatkopar railway station. You move out and you see roadside stalls lined with clothes, footwear, flower garland shops, xerox centres and food. Bad luck for all those of you who relish non-vegetarian food. This place is meant for pure vegetarians. Did I hear you say that you don't mind being a 'one-day vegetarian'. Great! Then move away from the station and come to Pant Nagar, the 'khau galli' or 'food-lane' of Ghatkopar. You will find yourself confused, what to have and what to have...no what not to have, because you will start praying to God to give you an extra stomach to relish all that you see in these lanes.

Lets start with something as simple and as mundane as dosas. I hate dosas, have been having it since my mom discovered that I could chew food. But here, dosas seem so exotic. Chinese dosas, palak dosas, jain dosas, paneer dosas, onion dosas.............hmmm.....and many many more. And the chutneys, mind-blowing. Fine, the dosas are done with. Keep walking. Stop! Look at those crushed ice golas - red, purple, yellow, green - dip it into the glass of sherbet and sense the cold crushed ice in your mouth...do I need to say anything more. A treat for the hot summers.

This place is famous for its Pav Bhaji and Chaats. You also get the popular Dhabeli. Its a potato mixture filled inside the local bread (pao), and garnished with roasted peanuts, chopped onions, pomegranate and some chaat masala. Its heavenly if you are treated by the right Dhabeli waalah (as they are popularly known as). The one to look for is a dhabeliwaalah who has stationed himself close to the famous Agarwals. He operates from under a tree. Word of caution here - only look at the dhabelis, avoid looking at him or the tree or the surroundings.

The paanipuris (Delhiites please read as golgappa) are also a delight here. Now comes the most popular Gujrati dishes, the dhokla and the khandvi. You can buy this from most local food shops here. Also check out other stuff like Khakra, Choonda, Thepla and some exotic mukhwaas. All this and more at Ghatkopar. A must checkout food-lane in Mumbai.

The author Parvathy lives in Mumbai and blogs at http://paro-kickingboredom.blogspot.com