Where’s My Street Food?

“One cannot love well, sleep well, live well, if one has not dined well” Something that we amdavadis never ever can think of.

We love our food so much that every celebration starts and finishes with food.

With a city which is so passionate about food definitely has a lot to offer in terms of food and the vibe along with it.

Things are revamped when they are needed to and this is exactly what happened to Ahmedabad almost a month ago. On a very serious road clearance drive by the Municipal Corporation for of course we salute them for the sheer dedication that they have shown and spared no one again emphasizing on “NO ONE”. So in this drive illegal parking was targeted, extra space utilization by shop owners was also targeted, but something that absolutely broke our hearts was the they even took away the hawkers.

Yes street food in Ahmedabad now is 20-30% of what it was. There were market, “khau gali” in Ahmedabad. Some iconic decades old and some 5-7 years old. One such khaugali famously know as the Law Garden khau gali was so iconic that it hustled throughout the night. Years back it had things as simple as Pav Bhaji, Chaats and kulfis. The most famous was the Old Pizza that was regularly available and a favourite of regulars there. A hard base of pizza a little crispy with sweet sauce baked first and topped with onions and capsicum and a generous helping of grated cheese is what an old pizza is and every amdavadi loves it for its cheese that is mind you not baked. With the time passed different cuisine also made their way at Law Garden Khau Gali. Not as prominent though.

So for the different cuisine a few years back the lane of CEPT University got really
flourished. Famously got acquainted as the CEPT Khau Gali. This was a lane where different cuisine got accepted at the streets of Ahmedabad of course with our amdavadi twist.

You could of course have the basics of Chinese, continental with sizzlers, wood fire oven Pizza and our favourite there were pancakes. The favourite place to have pancakes at CEPT Khau Gali was Turi’s. Made with absolute love and patience, the lady making these pancakes used to make pancakes with so much care never ever leaving it undercooked even though 20 pancakes orders were already waiting. A simple vanilla pancake with maple syrup, chocolate with Nutella and chocolate chips or the unique rabdi pancake each and every piece had the precise and consistent taste always. We definitely miss all of this but nonetheless we do still have our ever hustling and bustling manekchowk and with the new age the food truck park.

We may definitely find another place for that extra cheese old pizza and the chocolate pancake with Nutella and bananas but the memories we have at these khau galis will always be coming back on seeing those streets empty at night and complete silence would in fact transport us to the honks, call for orders and noise of the Chinese being cooked in the wok. Yes development is necessary and we are happy that Ahmedabad is developed enough to adapt to these changes.