Ode to the Siliguri Pao Bhaji
When you are in Siliguri, you can't miss the Pao Bhaji near
Bombay Stores in Hill Cart Road
As children, the only motivation that would drag my brother
and me to this place with the grown ups was the Pao Bhaji at this special tiny
corner stall. The grown ups, the poor grown ups only dragged themselves to this
dusty, cantankerous, cacophony of a town ( and I'm sure they suffered as much separation anxiety as we did) from the peace and tranquility of the
hills to shop and not just for big, important things. People came down from the
hills in hordes to buy almost everything under the sun – tiles,
paint, cement, fittings, paper, saris, needles, yarn, fabric, vegetables, fruits, boxes,
kitchenware, ink – you name it, you found it in Siliguri and in fact, although I hate
to admit it, you still do.
The oasis in this desert as I mentioned was this sizzling, delicious, melt- in -the- mouth Pao Bhaji cooked in chunks of golden, simmering butter and served with soft, melt- in- the- mouth, heavenly buns - so decadent that i am almost cringing with shame and self-loathing or maybe not!
Paying tribute to this little piece of gastronomic relief, a dear friend during hard, hot times and a life saver on many occasions has always been on my mind. So I grabbed my camera the last time I was in Siliguri, hailed a rickshaw, found my way back to the dear old stall, clicked these pictures and rounded it off by polishing another serving of the never- fails-to-impress concoction - double on the go!
I came home a happy girl.
who da man!
date night
the madness
of
Siliguri
