Trav-EL! The Sweet Side of Meerut!

Hey from EL The Cook! A few days ago we begun our Trav-EL series, taking you on a journey through Meerut!

The fiery side of Meerut chaat can be found here! Today we take you on the sweeter side of Meerut's street food!

Meerut has a real sweet tooth! Walking through its gallis is a special experience! Colorful statues built into facades of buildings and charming little pictures of Volkswagen Beetles adorn the walls of some houses!

The real eye-catchers though are the sweet street food, packing a punch and adding a couple of pounds, these sweet treats are loud and full of flavor!

Jaleba

This gorgeous looking dessert is made of wheat flour, deep fried, which is then coated in sugar syrup. The larger cousin of the common jalebi, the jaleba is larger, fluffier and juicer!

As large as the palm of your hand, the jaleba, was actually served up at Hyderabadi Nizam's tables in South India!

Through the Mughals it spread to the North..

The jaleba is full of that deep fried caramelisation really bringing indulgence to the plate. One bite into the hot sugary crunchy exterior gives way to a sweet chewy inside and if your lucky you get a quiet oozing of liquid centre on your palette making the jaleba, one to-die-for dessert!

A-ONE ICE-CREAM CART

Every city in India, has an A-One food cart, which often serves up some great food. Meerut Bazaar boasts an A-One Cart too, but this one serves up some fresh home-churned ice-cream!

 They top the ice-cream off with crunchy almonds and finely stewed...pineapple slivers?!

We were baffled with this odd flavor combination.. However the tangy stewed pineapple works like a sweet sour topping over the chilled ice-cream. Along with the crunch of the almonds, the ice-cream leaves a memorable taste on the palette!

HARIYAJI LASSI WALE - KADHAI-WALA DOODH!

The famed North Indian, "kadhai-wala doodh" (cooked milk in a large pan) is a must try when you are exploring street-food desserts! We hadn't heard of this until we stopped by Hariyaji's shop in Meerut Bazaar. 

It might not sound flamboyant from its name, but kadhai-wala doodh is the most decadent milk you'll ever taste!

Fresh whole milk is flavored with saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, pistachios and other exotic Indian spices and cooked in a large pan or "kadhai" for over 3-4 hours. The resulting condensed milk is rich in fats and aromatics. The kadhai also develops a healthy layer of cream which is even more decadent!

Hariyaji's staff provide a great dose of theater while serving up his most prized "kadhai wala doodh". "Juggling" would be the only word to describe the way the man serves it up..  From a height of what seems 3-4 feet, the man juggles the hot milk, so it froths up! 

The bubbling liquid is then poured into "kulhads" or earthen glasses and topped off with an inch of the flavorsome cream!

On a cold night, one sip into this concoction, is enough to leave you with a warm feeling of guilt! The pistachio cream is rich and fatty. The condensed milk, warms your insides  and gives you that fuzzy feeling of sweet warmth. 

The hints of earthen taste is through the milk gives you the warm taste of home!

"Kadhai-wala Doodh" is truly one of those desserts which is indulgent and a home-grown nostalgia of Indian Food Porn!

IMARTI

This pretty looking dessert is an Imarti (pronounced as ee-mar-tee) It is made of an urad daal (black gram) flour batter & saffron which is deep fried in oil and then soaked in sugar syrup.

It looks similar to a jalebi,  but differs in the batter content. The characteristic shape of an Imarti is truly an art-form with its flower like appearance, where the chef forms beautiful geometric patterns with the batter!

A true pleasure to watch, the frying is like watching a painting come to life, except that it can be eaten!

The streets of Meerut truly offer up some rare gems in terms of desserts. Decadent and rich, the sweet treats are diverse in ingredients, flavors and aromas.

EL The Cook, suggests a visit to the homely town of Meerut, on the east-side of Delhi for some sweet, indulgent dessert adventures!