Gastronomic delight: After garba, Barodians prefer roadside eateries

People love eating at the popular roadside places to savour Gujarati dishes

Devanshi Joshi. Vadodara/DNA
Wednesday, October 08, 2008

On a normal day, one will find Barodians going out for continental, Chinese and other multi cuisine dishes at restaurants and food joints, but come Navratri and road side vendors get busy serving typical Gujarati specialties like papdi no loat and sev usal to hoards of hungry Barodians after garba.These food items are a rage among the food-lovers during this festival season and the famous road side food junctions in Vadodara have become the must-visit place for the revellers, especially after the garba. After utilising their energies dancing to their favourite garba tunes, the road side food joints are the last stop for the gastronomes in the city.The stalls of papdi no loat can be seen at every half kilo meters near garba venues in the city. Starting from Rs5 to Rs10 one small bowl of papdi no loat, garnished with oil and spices, is the must food item to have in Navratri. The vendors selling this item get good profit as the cost of preparing the loat doesnt cost much but the selling price gives good margin at the same time, people also find the price pocket friendly. Ramesh Patel, a papdi no loat stall owner near a garba venue at old Padra road in Vadodara, said, “Profit margin is very high in selling papdi no loat. We Patels are famous for making this item. My wife cooks the loat, which is made from boiling rice flour after adding and salt and spices in it. It is then served after garnishing it with vegetable oil and red chilli powder.”Talking to DNA, a group of garba lovers, including Arpan, Aditi, Nimit and others, said, “Navratri in Vadodara is not complete without papdi no loat. Every night, after dancing for hours at the garba venues, we try different papdi no loat stalls in the city. It is not only pocket friendly but after playing the garba spicy loat with extra oil gives us some energy. Nothing can beat the taste of Barodian road side food.”Next popular item is sev usal but is available only at selected places in the city like Rajmahal road, Station road and Chokhandi. The scene at these roadside food junctions at mid night is worth experiencing with every stall being jam-packed with people in colourful traditional dresses and savouring sev usal. This apart, stalls of khaman, dhokala, ragda petis, vada pav and chaats are other items which are popular among Barodians during Navratri. Economic prices and eating with friends in the open on the road side brings the city to life throughout the night.