Shambu ki Chaat

Shiv Chaat Bhandaar a.k.a Shambu ki Chaat is immensely popular in Allahabad, the evening crowds make this fact apparent. Having devoured chaat made by Shambu I know the reason behind this popularity. Simply put, this place serves some of the best chaat I have ever had in my life, and I have had A LOT of chaat.

The super hits here are the phulkis and aloo tikkis. The dahi bhallas are great too. Lets get down to the details.

Mashed peas filling

The phulkis served here are filled with the usual mashed peas and paani. What makes the phulkis here stand out is the sheer freshness of the ingredients. The fresh, crisp puris are generously filled with the mashed matar and dunked into paani. 

phulki - warm crisp puri with cool and spicy pani

The blend of warm puri and matar with the cool and spicy pani crumbling and tumbling inside your mouth treating it to some of the most exciting flavours! Upon instructions from Madam Mimani, the matar filling was tweaked and spiced up a bit – and it went from 'awesome' to 'oh-my-god insanely awesome'. It is quite amazing how a pinch of certain masalas can change your entire experience.

Aloo Tikki

One might say that aloo tikkis are Shambu's hot favourite. He personally makes them, and its an experience in itself to watch him work. He picks up a pair of tikkis from the tawa just as they are ready, drops onto the green leaf-made serving plate. With a gentle push he flattens and ruptures the surface of the tikkis and begins the process of adding the various chutneys and masalas. It is hard to keep track, there is so much that is being added, and so quickly. 

Shambu creating his masterpiece 

He doesn't lift his head up, all the time singularly focussed on his creation. He adds the green mint chutney, a dash of various spicy masalas, a hint of sweet imli chutney, topped with some dahi, chopped coriander and fried shredded potato. I eagerly cut into the hot tikki and not wanting to burn my tongue blew into the steaming piece of tikki. Satisfied that it would not scald my tongue, I sent them to tikkis into the munching machine! 

While enjoying every molecule of the dish I realised that the seemingly random addition of masalas and chutneys are in fact not random at all. Each of those in specific quantities result in a precise flavour on your palate. Shambu is an expert declared my taste buds.

Dahi Bhalla

When you are all fired up from the fiery chaat, you must then take something to cool off. That is where the dahi bhallas come in. Bhallas are essentially small fluffy fried lentil nuggets soaked in a bit of water. The bhallas are then taken, the water squeezed out and then topped with dahi and a small sprinkling of chutneys and masalas! The dahi is mildy sweet, thick and creamy. Its a light and delicious snack that contrasts the heat of other chaat dishes.

Munna, Shambu's son. 

Shiv Chaat Bhandaar is an establishment that gets all of this perfect. I asked Shambu's son Munna, how do they do it? What is the magic? He laughed and gave me the answer that is common to all creators of lipsmackin' food – anything made with love and dedication works magic. If it were not for the amazing chaat, what would he be doing I asked him, “sarkari naukri” (government job) he said and burst out laughing. Though I am quite certain that no sarkari job can keep you away from the yummiest chaat in town!