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!

The Holy Master of Chaat: Guruji

Every city has a legendary icon that must be remembered for all eternity. In the city of Allahabad, I think it is Guruji. THE master of chaat.

He learnt the trade from his father, and has been serving chaat for the lucky residents of Allahabad since 1945. Yes, you read that right, 1945! Even before India got its independence!

Guruji

Guruji is special not just because he's probably the oldest living chaat vendor in this country, but because he serves a special three-course phulkis. Now, lets get some terminology clear. Phulkis is the term used in Allahabad for pani puris, and I will stick to that. As I discovered, phulkis are different from phuchkas, that is different from golgappas, that is different from pani puris! Napkin Chatter promises to do a full length feature of the national variants of tangy spicy pani filled in crisp tiny pooris!

Enough of lessons, back to the three course phulkis. First course, the puri is stuffed with seasoned matar or mashed peas (this is the regular filling for phulkis across Allahabad) and dipped into nice tangy spicy pani. The pani is at room temperature, not iced like it is in most parts of Delhi. Second course, the puri is stuffed with garam(warm) sagoda ka pani. If you're wondering what on earth is sagoda keep reading this post. Third course, the puri is stuffed with potato that is seasoned with green chilli and mint paste then topped with some sweet imli (tamarind) chutney before being dipped into the khatta (tangy) pani.

3 Course Phulkis

Guruji still serves each phulki to each customer himself. At the second course, he warns each of them “garam hai” (its hot, don’t burn your tongue!) The commitment and dedication shown to his craft is incredible.

Sagoda

Sagoda is a kind of pakoda in some insanely yummy gravy/pani. I am saying pakoda because it resembles one but it tasted far more flavourful than any deep-fried-gram-flour entity I have had! This is drenched in a tangy and spicy gravy of sorts. Its thicker than paani used for phulkis and thinner than a subzi gravy. Served in a khullad (clay cup), it is as appealing in appearance as it is in taste. My first taste of sagoda has found a special place on my 'memory palate' (à la Sherlock's memory palace!)

Khasta

While we were chatting with him, he whipped up a serving of Khasta for us to sample. Its a variation of a kachori. Smaller and denser with more filling. He crushes a pair, tops it up with yummy chutneys, dahi and fresh boondi! Its nothing like I have ever had before, simply delicious.

The establishment is entirely family run. While on the face of it, apart from guruji only the son is seen making tikkis and dahi bhalla, right from peeling potatoes and making the various chutneys other members of the family are involved. In a way, you can sense that love and bonding in the near flawless flavours that are you are introduced to by Guruji. Come here by late afternoon, because by evening the cauldrons are nearly empty.

What makes this experience even more awesome is the ridiculously cheap prices at which Guruji serves these heavenly chaats. I asked him how does manage to price his chaat so cheap, and he said “it is what is it”. Though he laments that when he started out, he could serve 8 puris for one paise and now can only afford to serve 4 puris at Rs. 5. I still think its a fantastic deal, in the year, 2014, if you get chaat that tastes this good at Rs. 5 you are blessed.

I have been blessed by the Guruji. I'd recommend you set out on a chaat pilgrimage and pay your respects to the holy master.