malaiyyo trail in Banaras | where to get the best malaiyyo in Banaras

We were in Banaras for a week to meet friends, family and have a good time generally. But the most encouraging part of this visit was the thought of malaiyyo that we were hoping to taste after so many years. About 15-16 years to be precise as we could not visit Banaras in winter season for these many years somehow. This visit in the last leg of winter looked promising for reasons than we had planned. Maliyyo was the topmost reason believe me.

Malaiyyo is a 'saffron flavoured milk cloud' that is made by churning whole milk early in the morning during winter months by the shopkeepers in the old part of the city who are actually gwalas (keepers of cows) and produce and sell milk products including yogurt, khoya, butter and ghee depending on seasons. When saffron flavoured milk is churned slowly (manually) it results in the fats separating into a froth that is collected in a large kadhai (a utensil they use for many purposes through the year). Later this frothy cream is sprinkled with finely sliced nuts and saffron to garnish. 

My research guide Dr. Goyle had introduced me to malaiyyo 2 decades ago as she used to live in Neelkanth area (in pakka mahal) and there were many malaiyyo vendors around her home. In those days small khomcha walas used to ply in the maze of those narrow lanes and would stop and ladle out a kulhad of malaiyyo for you on demand. You could get hold of them only in foggy winter months as the fog and low temperature would allow the malaiyyo to stay frothy the whole day but as the winter months would lead to spring you would find malaiyyo only in the small shops around Neelkanth and Chaukhamba lanes, the famous maze of gullies in Banaras that stay cooler than the city outside the gullies. These shops are literally holes in the wall with the edge of a huge Iron kadhai jutting out of it to indicate there is a malaiyyo shop. Not much crowded, only a couple of patrons getting the stuff packed for a nearby home or having it right there. This shop below is the one opposite to Gopal ji Mandir in Chaukhamba gully.

There is a world of difference between the city that breaths in the gullies of Banaras and the part of the city that chokes outside the gullies. Within a quarter of a century since I have been watching this city I see Banaras choking and suffocating on many levels. But pleasantly, I found the gullies almost untouched by the recent invaders. Apart from the gullies you don't see many banarasi people around, hoards of people have come and settled in the city from Eastern parts of the country and you don't get to hear that famous banarasi accent that often in the city. Not that I am complaining, but I feel Banaras is choking under the huge population it is supporting right now. Ranting over.

Over to malaiyyo now, after all these years we were suspicious of whether we will get to taste it this time or not, as mid February temperature was already soaring to worry us. But we asked around and got to know that it will be available till Holi. One day early in the morning we started from home, it takes almost 40 minutes from Lanka to Chaukhamba and we reached there around 8.30 AM, changing auto and manual rickshaws twice. We do feel like tourists in the city now that we find ourselves unable to drive in the mad traffic, not even a two wheeler. But luckily the rickshaws are very efficient.

Reach Godoliya from any part of the city, hire a rickshaw for Chaukhamba, tell the rickshaw owner to drop you at the gopalji mandir wali gully and he will drop you just there. Then start walking inside the gully you would find the first Malaiyyo wala in front of the Bhartendu Bhavan. You would want to ask for Gopal ji mandir several times to be sure of the directions as the gully meanders a bit, do not turn into any gully left or right.

Ravi, the owner of this 'corner shop' has already offered the 'bhog' to Krishna as you can see in this picture and is serving the first kulhad of Malaiyyo to us.

This stuff was good but not the best. Still way better than the Daulat ki chaat we get in purani dilli. We asked for the malaiyyo wala doodh and he walked inside the gully on the right to bring a bucket full of malaiyyo wala doodh within a couple of minutes. This proves the malaiyyo is made using whole milk and not using transfat based icing/whipped cream. But to be honest, this malaiyyo had a little 'dalda' or trans fat added as I could feel the fat sticking to my upper palate. A trans fat containing malaiyyo will look a bit more fluffy and stiff the whole day while the real 100% milk fat malaiyyo would be like soft peaks falling and collapsing easily. 

This malaiyyo was good compared to the malaiyyo available in Bansphatak road where it is made fully of transfats and stays well the whole day even in summers. A trap for tourists waiting. I have never tasted this one though. Will share the pictures of the Bansphatak shop too.

Ravi's shop in front of Bhartendu Bhavan is decent malaiyyo although you may find the gully quite unclean around the shop, which is just a wooden chowki (platform) where his wares are displayed.

The malaiyyo is fairly stiff and frothy.

The next Malaiyyo wala sits just about 10 steps ahead of this guy and had not started his business yet. You see the bhog offered to Krishna here too and the earthen kulhads waiting for customers.

The city in the gullies doesn't start business too early in the day, people are busy doing the ganga snan and puja early morning and business starts after 7-8 AM for food stuff and from 10-11 AM for others. We were the first customers of Malaiyyo wherever we went to sample the taste.

Walk a bit more to cross a small vegetable market on both sides of the gully and you reach the Gopalji Mandir on your left. On the right side is this Malaiyyo shop by Markandey Sardar. See the huge kadhai and the serving utensils propped up in this hole in the wall.

This malaiyyo is not as stiff (means 100% pure milk fat) and the amount of nuts is generous. This particular shop was patronised by the royal families of Banaras in the past ans is still known for great quality and purity. And surprisingly the malaiyyo was a bit cheaper than the one at Bhartendu Bhavan. The interiors of the gully is not bitten by the touristy charm yet.

See the malaiyyo froth that is collapsing in this half eaten kulhad, indicating pure milk fat. This one doesn't stick to the upper palate when you eat. If you have a sensitive palate that is.

 The cost of malaiyyo wala doodh is included in the malaiyyo cost here.

And he fills up your cup patiently. No hurry to finish. You can even have another kulhad without worrying about cholesterol and calories. Milk fat never causes cholesterol deposits FYI. And Malaiyyo is a far far better choice than ice creams and gelatos. You have to taste it to believe it.

This confection might be a bit too sweet by your standards, was so for me but that doesn't mask the flavours of this wonderful thing on earth. See the content faces and the gully that leads to more infinite maze of gullies.

I wish I could get this dessert more frequently although I have no trace of a sweet tooth in me. This is one of those desserts that result from the best possible combination of flavours and texture, and a dedication to create the best, the skill evolved through generations..

Malaiyyo is known as Makkhan malai in Lucknow and Nimish in Kanpur and Lakhimpur etc. Every region has their own minor variations in flavours but it is essentially a winter specialty and if you see it being served or sold in warmer seasons you be assured it is made of trans fats. The Delhi version is called Daulat ki chaat which is white in colour and quite pale in comparison to the taste of  Banarasi malaiyyo.

This shop at Bansphatak sells malaiyyo all through the year, neatly scooped in kulhads for easy dispense to tourists. No locals eat malaiyyo here ever.

Real malaiyyo once scooped out in kulhads will collapse really soon but here it stays for the whole day. Beware. This is fake malaiyyo.

Real pure malaiyyo looks like this. Found definitely at Markandey Sardar, opposite Gopal ji mandir in Chaukhamba gully.

I hope you will definitely throng to Chaukhmba the next time you are in Banaras. Don't forget to carry an empty bottle to get some malaiyyo wala doodh for home. Malaiyyo can be carried within the gullies only unfortunately, it wouldn't survive even 15 minutes in the heat and dust of the city outside the gullies.

dahi wala gosht or dhaba style mutton curry...

Dahi wala gosht means meat cooked with yogurt and dhabe wala mutton means the mutton curry one gets in highway eateries. This is yet another rustic mutton curry that doesn't involve many steps in the cooking procedure. The highway eateries cook large amounts of meats with balanced spicing but the cooking procedure is not complicated. Almost all of them cook the marinated meat in just one step, but they do slow cook all meat as a rule. At least an hour's marination time and about 2-3 hours cooking time makes sure the cooked meat curry is truly melt in your mouth type with a rich gelatinous sauce clinging to the meat. Some of them cook the meats overnight but you can always cook small quantity at home for approximately 2 hours with great results.

You normally get kulchas with such mutton curries in dhabas, at home you can choose what kind of bread you need with it. Such meals do not require any side dishes, just some raw onion on the side as they serve in the dhabas will be perfect.

You would be glad to know that this recipe is just 2 steps, just mix all ingredients first and rest the mixture (the marinated mutton) for a couple of hours. Then heat ghee and cook the mutton on very low flame tossing and turning once in a while in between.

ingredients..
(serves 2-4)
mutton pieces on bone mixed cuts 500 gm
yogurt 250 gm
finely chopped or minced onion 3/4 cup
minced garlic 1 tbsp
minced ginger 1.5 tbsp
special garam masala* 2 tsp
*(or just pound 6 green cardamoms, 6 cloves, 2 inch cinnamon and 1 fat black cardamom together)
kashmiri red chilly powder 1 tbsp or to taste


ghee 1/2 cup
whole coriander seeds 2 tsp
whole cumin seeds 2 tsp
whole black pepper corns 2 tsp

procedure...

Mix the mutton pieces with all the ingredients of the first list. Marinate for 2 hours or overnight.

At the time of cooking heat the ghee in a wide heavy bottom kadhai, and tip in the whole spices.

Wait till they sizzle and then slide in the marinated mutton slowly. Bhuno the mixture on low flame slowly, turning the meat once in about every couple of minutes in the beginning for 20 minutes and then cover the kadhai with a lid and let it simmer.

Check after every 15 minutes and keep adding 1/4 cup of water every time you feel it is getting dry. Be aware after an hour's time of cooking the meat as it might stick to the bottom if your kadhai/pan is not thick enough and the flame is not calibrated to cook very slowly according to the thickness of the pan.

Just keep simmering the mixture and watch when the meat is about to fall off the bone. The gravy starts looking almost gelatinous after 1.45 to 2 hours of cooking and it can be ready any minute after that.

Adjust seasoning and consistency of the gravy by adding a little water if you wish. You might want to throw in a few slit green chilies at this time. They taste great but coriander greens should be avoided as this meat tastes better without dhaniya patta.

This dhaba style meat will be one of the most delicious mutton recipes you have tried. You can always cook it in slow cooker if you use one. I normally like to keep stirring or feeling my curries when I cook, so the long cooking time is not a problem if I am home and want a therapeutic cooking time. After all the treat of slow cooking is immensely yummy meat.

The flavors are not too overpowering spicy, the yogurt makes the curry a little towards tart but the chilly heat and the spices complement the yogurt and slow cooked gelatin extraction kind of gravy really well. Everything that was chopped finely or not so finely gets soft and silky after slow cooking.

Sponge off the gravy with some freshly baked whole wheat naan or roomali roti.

You would love to cook this for crowds too. It is one of those crowd-pleasers and does not need much equipment to be cooked.

Cheers...

Kachalu ka achaar | instant Yam pickle...

 This yam is a tough elongated tuber root that looks like it will be very easy to cook just like potatoes. Just peel the skin, cut it in desired shape and cook it like any other potato based curry. Precisely that is the reason why I rarely buy this vegetable. I don't like potatoes much other than mashed potatoes and this one doesn't mash up like potatoes. Way too slimy for that.

In Banras it is called Banda, some people call it Kanda in Bihar and Jharkhand and some other call it Kachalu in the Hindi heartland. Taro root is a vernacular name, it is a yam family vegetable, call it by other name. I find it really too slimy and hard to soak any flavors...

And then I happened to eat at the Shyam Sweets at Chawri bazar last weekend and loved the green and red pickled Kachalu they served with the Bedmi aloo for breakfast. You must know this place is a hot spot for kachori/poori breakfast lovers. These places make their own instant pickles everyday to be served with the deep fried pooris or bhatooras. You might have noticed how the bhaturey chhole come with a freshly made carrot-green chilly and sometimes cauliflower pickle, part from the usual slices of onion etc..

This pickled Kachalu was quite hot with chillies, green and red in this case but that did not stop me from licking the pickle plate off. This is when I don't even like pickles much. With instant pickles it is a different story now. I decided to make the twin pickles at home.

So this Yam was peeled and cubed, then boiled into pressure cooker till done. Took me 5 minutes after the first whistle. Cooled and kept aside till I made my two different pickling mixtures.

The red pickle....

peeled and boiled kachalu cubes 300 gm
tamarind soaked in hot water for sometime and the thin pulp extracted 1 cup
kashmiri mirch powder 1 heaped tablespoon
hing or asafotida 2 pinches
salt to taste

Mix everything up and soak the boiled and drained Kachalu pieces in the pickling liquid. Store in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. The pickle is ready within 3-4 hours.

The green pickle...

I found this green raw Tamarind legumes being sold in the old Delhi streets and bought it for this very pickle.

A green paste was made using these green tamarind pods, green chillies and Rai seeds (the smaller variety of mustard) with salt to taste...

peeled and boiled kachalu cubes 300 gm
green tamarind pods 30 gm
green chillies 20 gm or more 
Rai seeds 2 tsp
salt to taste

The paste is used as a pickling mixture. This pickle would keep well at room temperature and will keep getting piquant owing to the properties of the Rai seeds. The boiled and drained kachalu is added to this mixture as well.

I love this Kachalu pickle over plain boiled chickpeas too.

Served as a side dish or condiment, this pickle is a good way to perk up simpler meals.

I am loving it. Tell me if you want a bottle of this :-)

haridwar wali kachori aur aloo ki subzi ....

Any kind of kachori aloo ki subzi makes me weak in the knees and you all know it well how we waited to have a divine taste of this luxury in Haridwar . I was so smitten by the taste that I had to repeat that experience in my own style, low fat style that is.

Don't tell me a fried recipe can't be low fat. I say lowest possible fat ...okay ?

So when I do such things at home I do it in the lowest possible amount of fat and since frying cannot be substituted with anything for a kachori, the only fatty indulgence of this kachori is a quick swim in hot oil. It would be better if you know that a firm dough of whole wheat flour, the kachori stuffed with care so that it doesn't get punctured and a quick microwaving of the kachori before the hot oil swim makes it quite low on fat content, believe me friends !!

making the kachoris...

Make a stiff dough with whole wheat flour with salt to taste and some ajwain seeds thrown in. Slightly coarse wheat flour is used for these kachoris. 

A bowl of soaked mung or urad daal with skin (usually it is husked urad daal)is ground with ginger, green chilies and a bit of garam masala. I microwaved this mung daal paste, stirring it 4-5 times after every minute and the paste becomes the consistency of the dough. In the authentic recipe this paste is fried (bhuno) in oil till it gets brown and dehydrated. dry frying this paste results in a smoky flavor but I preferred a low fat spicy version and gave a miss to the smokiness.

A quick tip : do not add any water while making the daal paste and add the seasonings according to your tolerance to heat. Here is how the dough and the stuffing look like.

The stiff dough and the paste to show you how they should look to 'complement each other', both should be the same consistency so that the stuffed kachoris do not split or get punctured while frying.

Now pinch off small portions of dough , make a bowl of it and place a little daal mixture into it . Now seal the dough , flatten the resulting ball and roll into a thick disk . 

The rolled kachori is first microwaved for a minute before going into hot oil directly, so keep the kadai with oil ready and hot when you start stuffing, rolling and microwaving the kachoris one by one . 

Do the stuffing and rolling beforehand if you can't handle all the four activities at a time . Microwaving and frying will be easy to handle in the second step.

Now the ingredients of the aloo subzi ...

2-3 large boiled potatoes

2 dry red chilies
2 green cardamoms
15 cloves
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black pepper corns
an inch stick of cinnamon
2 bay leaves
 2-3 green chilies broken
2 black cardamoms
2 tsp of everyday curry masala
1 tsp turmeric powder 
2 tsp mustard oil
a pinch of asafoetida
salt to taste

procedure...

Peel and cube the potatoes, keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadai and throw in the asafoetida, followed quickly by all the spices except those typed in bold. You must have noticed that the quantity of the cloves is much more than a normal curry but that was the highlight of the aloo subzi we had there in Haridwar , and that was the reason why i liked this aloo curry so much . feel free to reduce the amount of cloves if it is too much for you , it is a hot spicy curry with very strong notes of cloves.

Add the spices typed in bold and quickly add the potatoes mashing them while adding to the pan . Thrash with a spatula and mix well.

I added finely chopped green coriander at this point as I was not pouring any green coriander chutney over the kachori aloo like Haridwar . Make chutney if you feel like, I served hemp seeds and coriander greens chutney on the side it this time.

Add enough water to cover the mix and some more to make the curry almost watery... or as thin or thick you like it. Add salt to taste and let the curry cook on low flame till a nice cloves aroma wafts through the kitchen.

The curry is watery, the way I like it. With a gentle aroma of green coriander. The first notes hitting the tongue will be cloves, and the curry will be hot. Very hot but you wont be able to resist second helping I warn you.

You could choose to break the kachoris and dunk them into this bowl of aloo curry. We had it served on the side and dunked small pieces of kachori in the aloo curry as we sipped some curry like soup too. This is one addictive aloo subzi to be served with pooris and kachoris, especially for those who love spicy food.

Yummy hot way to start a weekend, healthy at the same time.

A kachori can't be healthier than this. I hope Pawan kashyap, the kachori wala at gau ghaat, Haridwar is not reading this and I hope he reads my post going all ga ga about his kachoris....

The best places to eat in Haridwar.....the places we like...

We wanted a change from the routine . A quick satisfying , exhausting outing . Walking long hours and soaking our feet in the cold waters of the Ganges seemed just right and we decided to go to Haridwar . With nothing religious on mind , we just wanted to get lost in the melee that can engulf just anything...leaving behind a wondering mind...A wondering mind that can find and formulate solutions...

As soon as we decided to go to Haridwar there was one thing on our mind absolutely clearly... FOOD . Haridwar is so refreshingly different from any other place when it comes to street food. Although you must know how to look out for the street vendors who serve good food and are hygiene conscious at the same time. Freshly prepared food must be the condition to even to have a look at it...don't ask me how to judge if the food is fresh .

Another way to look out for a good street vendor is the beeline surrounding the stall...or thela or rehri as we call it here...we found one such thela selling kachori at the turn to Gau ghat (Gau is cow in hindi and sanskrit) around 8 AM . Two other kachori walas were standing like fools waiting for the customers to turn up and this Kashyap kachori bhandar was doing brisk business . We knew we had to wait patiently , so we walked around a bit and came back to see the fast dwindling heap of kachoris .

Pawan Kashyap , the owner is a smart businessman . You can see him talking to a customer and doing his work at the same time... he judged that we were waiting and asked how many we need . I guess we are a bit shy people and just looked on seeing others being pushy around the thela ...We just wait patiently for our turn . Everywhere. Our faces must be telling this guy that we are dying to taste those yummy looking kachoris and yet can't yell our order .

I ordered just one dona of kachori as i am always cautious about street food and don't want to waste food even when i am dying to taste something looking so promising .... one spoonful in my mouth and i ordered another for the husband , otherwise we would have shared the dona ...

The kachoris were crisp and thick , stuffed with a spicy lentil masala mix, broken into 4-5 pieces and dunked into a light but spicy gravy of potatoes . He topped it with some fried red chillies and a dollop of thin green chutney . For Arvind he added a dollop of sweet tamarind chutney after inquiring...

I can still feel the aroma of this dona full of hot tang , something which transported me to another world...This stall is there just for an hour or so in the morning , look out for this mobile cart with a banner like the picture ( bad picture quality is regretted)...you can't miss the smiling Pawan Kashyap behind the cart...

The best part is , the plates are made of fresh leaves and the cart is quite clean , you can see a dirty duster behind the donas but this is after everything has been finished... and the duster has worked hard .They collect the used donas in a bucket tucked under the cart . I liked the approach , keeping the surroundings clean and using environment friendly plates..

I made this kachori the next weekend at home , my low oil version , and it was lacking that crisp and crumbling texture but we liked the taste as my guess towards the spice mix was quite good.

Another place we find really good in Haridwar is the Hoshiarpuri dhaba at upper road . We have been there years ago and found the food equally great this time too . While the makhni and shahi sounding things are not our thing , and they taste almost the same everywhere , what we like in this place is the vast variety of parathas . The parathas are made in the tandoor and the parathe wali gali of old Delhi looks like a gloomy slum paratha gali when compared to these...really.. I never liked the parathas in the parathe wali gali FYI...

Paratahs at Hoshiarpuri are a refreshing change and we did a second round of breakfast that day just for the sake of it...One aloo paratha and one aloo pyaz ka paratha with a bowl of plain curds we shared .... heaven on my plate...The butter visible on the paratha is just smeared after tandoor baking...so it is light enough.

The signboard says Hoshiarpuri hotel but it is actually a dhaba/restaurant . The service is good and tables clean . Good food makes up for everything else. Interestingly , this place gets a lot of guests in the dinner time and you are given waiting list number . The number is displayed on a digital screen just below this red signboard and people keep waiting till their turn comes. We waited for our turn this time too . Last time we had parathas there about 12 years ago and there was no apparent change we could notice .... how some places are timeless .

We find many small towns not changing with time and Haridwar is one great example even though there is a lot of tourist footfall in these foothills ....

Another great ting to try in the lanes of Haridwar is the thickened milk they sell in kulhars (earthen glasses) . We went to one such doodhwala/chaiwala many times during our stay . The chai used to be very sugary , almost like a syrup but we liked it there ...may be because we were walking all the time...The milk was something we both love to have . Hot , thickened ( reduced) to a pink hue , served with malai ... we had it unsweetened...

This small shop was tucked in the narrow lane called  lower road i guess . There was no name and no landmark i remember right now . There are many doodhwalas with a huge kadai in the front of the shop and you can judge by yourself which one is good...most of them are decently good as milk and milk products seem to be great in this place...there are many ashrams and many goshalas (cow shelters) in the city...

There are so many things to eat and if you like fried food there are a lot of things you would want to explore . We found a nice chaat stall at the crossing of subzi mandi , didn't try the chaat as we were already full but the chaat vendor was being mobbed like a celebrity and we guessed it should have been great .... we have had chaats in Haridwar in our previous visits and it is always good .

The things i would advise to ignore is the thandai the vendors on the upper road sell . Mishrambu is a much better choice if you haven't had thandai at Banaras. The chotiwala restaurant is just like any other place serving the usual suspects named makhni and shahi... Local flavors are not that tough to find when there is so much variety...go by your own instinct..  

A few khomcha walas ( vendors carrying a round tray on their head and a makeshift tripod to rest the tray over it when they choose to sit ) were selling mullberries and i could not resist ...i so wish they would come to Delhi so that i can make my preserves and sauces to go with our plain vanilla ice cream... Try and make a quick preserve with mulberries by cooking them with sugar . I do it quickly in the MW till it gets saucy and a nice colorful sweet n tart flavorful sauce is ready in a jiffy....

Make do with this picture of the mulberry khomcha here ...

Nicely arranged with green leaves as a base , the smoke is from the dhoop stick the vendors use for reasons unknown to me ... Take a closer look at the luscious mulberries...

I am reminded of the phalsas we used to get in Simla about 30 years ago . Do they still sit in a corner of the mall having a tokri full of phalse ? I was a kid then and it feels like a century has passed since then ... I wonder why these berries are not transported and marketed well in our country ... I know these berries ferment quickly but modern packaging and early picking could be helpful and what about making nice preserves with them....Or it is simply more convenient for everybody to use synthetic squashes and drinks with synthetic colors ....

Feeling like making a phalse ka sharbat right now...