Indore Night Sarafa Food market

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Ghoomophiro

Indore has been dubbed as the food capital of India and perhaps no other city deserves that title. Indore is for food lovers of India what Goa is for its beach lovers. It drives advantage of its central location in India to find a way for specialties of different parts of the country whose culinary genius is held in awe and respect all over the world into its own highly diverse kitchen.

And nowhere does Indore bring to life its love affair with food than at its tremendously popular Sarafa Market which springs up like sinister intentions of naughty lovers every night.

Sarafa Bazar opens at around 8 p.m. when the jewelry market around Rajwada Bazaar – a dying rudiment of Holker Raj shuts down and stays open till long past midnight proving, to the uninitiated, that there are no bad times to satisfy your craving for something delicious. Its a festivity and a fan fair of over 3000 visitors for food lovers that surround the neon-lit shops and carts which one feels when one visits the Sarafa Bazaar which makes you want to make it your home.

Over 50 different dishes are available at this market – made of recipes that have been perfected over a century and, of course, just as Indian food lovers would like it, there is nothing subtle about taste.

During our last trip to Indore, we got a chance to partake the pleasures of Indore Night Sarafa Food market three days in a row. Here we bring you a list of some of the most popular food items of Sarafa food market:

1.    Pani Puri

If like us, Pani Puri is your thing then it will take you a while to have enough of Indore Night Sarafa Food market which offers not one, not two and not two, three, four but over 10 different flavours of this beloved street food of India, of course along with its long-standing partner – the usual mint-and-chilli-spiked water.

2.    Poha Jalebi

Poha Jalebi is the signature breakfast dish of the city of Indore. It is born of a marriage of two unlikely partners – poha and jalebi, one from Maharashtra and the other of Arabic origins. It is light, mild, not to say sinfully delicious and served with spicy crunchy missal.

3.    Bhutte ki Kees

Bhutte ki Kees is a seasonal specialty. It is made from corn, shredded and cooked with milk, coconut, and spices until it acquires a moist, smooth texture. It will melt in your mouth leaving behind a mesmerizing taste that goes just too well along with fresh coriander, grated coconut, and lemon juice

4.    Garadu

Garuda is a sort of guilty pleasure of a dish – for it is exactly the burning sensation it leaves on our tongue that we love it for. It is a particular variety of the yam, that is fried to perfection to form a crisp snack topped with spices, etc and sold on pushcarts. It also goes along well with lemon juice which will also satiate the burning sensation eating hot Garadu will leave on your tongue.

5.    Khopra Patties

One of my favorites from Indore Night Sarafa Food Market is Khopra Patties. These patties are potato balls cooked with a core of stuffed coconut and fried right in front of your greedy eyes. They are best enjoyed tangy tamarind chutney. We particularly recommend the ones they sell at Vijay Chat House.

6.    Egg Benjo

Egg Benjo is made from an omelet, that was crisp and red with chilies and nestled in a warmed bun. It is so soft that it will melt in your mouth and the best place to enjoy them is Johnny Hot Dog Shop.

 

7.    Dal Bafla

The Dal bafla is an oven-baked ball of wheat and semolina, which is then crushed and dipped in ghee (who cares for high cholesterol levels anyway?) before being served. Accompany Dal Bafla with light dal, churma, coriander-mint chutney, and mango pickle. We highly recommend trying it Rajhans.

8.    Sabudana Khichdi

We will most heartily recommend the Sabudana Khichdi made by Om Prakash Vyas of Saawariyan Seth. The Sabudana Khichdi is one of those dishes that can be eaten during Hindu fasts, thus you can give into your taste-lust without fear losing your pious standing

9.    Malpua

The Malpua are thin pancakes made of flour, khoya (milk solids), semolina, etc. It is deep-fried and dunked in sugar syrup. It partners well with rabdi.

10.    Indori Shikanji

Indori Shikanji is, unlike its name suggests, neither lemon nor water. Rather, it is a milk drink with dry fruits that have a hint of tanginess from the mattha (buttermilk). It has a dewy sweetness to it.

11.    Jaleba

Have you had fantasies for a really big Jalebi as we do? In that case, Jaleba, a specialty of Madhya Pradesh, especially of its Indore Night Sarafa Food market is just the thing for you. Jalebe is a king size jalebi fried in desi ghee. It is large and crisp but soft within and is sugar syrup sweet thus making it fifth in our list of 10 Sweets you should eat while in Madhya Pradesh.

 

12.    Ratalu

Ratalu is a winter specialty. It is made of chunks of purple yam deep-fried to a golden brown and then generously smothered in red chili powder. Just one bite is enough to fill your mouth with an unparallel taste.

13.    Doodh Chana and Namkeen

Doodh Chana is a snack made of kabuli chana, soaked in milk for several hours and then it is fried and spiced. It is incredibly soft and delicious and goes well along with Namkeen. We highly recommend trying it at Ganesh Namkeen. There are several forms of namkeen but the one we loved most was Indori khata meetha.

14.    Kaanji Vada

Kaanji Vada is a sour tasting Dahi vada made by soaking plump vadas in kaanji. Kaanji is a digestive drink (may as well, you need one after indulging your taste buds so much in Indore Night Sarafa FOod Market) that is made of fermented mustard with a big smack of asafoetida.

15.    Hapus Icecream with Shrikhand

Something for dessert. Saffron flavored shrikhand with pistachio and cashews partners well. We very highly recommend Agarwal Ice Cream shop which has been serving it for over 55 years.

16.    Petha Paan

Petha paan is a very unique paan made of cashew, almond, gulkand (rose jam), etc that are encased in a thin layer of green petha. The Petha is held together with clove and makes a perfect end to your food marathon. We recommend trying this mouth-watering variety of paan at Anna Ka Paan shop.

17.    Gulab Jamun

Balls made out of freshly Curdled milk, Gulab Jamun is without argument the king of all sweets. These mouthwatering Sugar soaked Khoya balls are flavored with green cardamom, rose water, saffron, etc. And when it comes to Gulab Jaman, nowhere else has the art of their creation being perfected as in Indore. Calories, calories – there are just no good reasons to keep anyone with a sweet tooth from enjoying these little balls of paradise.

Conclusion

Indore Night Sarafa Food market is one of those poster pictures that we would show to a newbie to encourage them to travel more often and I think the reasons for same are obvious. We hope we didn’t turn you into a hungry Joey Tribioni. Enjoy J