Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

I went in search of Shivdhan Dairy in Churiwalan Gali. This is such a small halwai shop that you can very easily miss it. I would suggest that you take a rickshaw from Chawri Metro station, and then enter the lane of bangles – Churiwalan. Look out for a board that says Seema Lodge. Shivdhan Dairy (Phone no. 23270196 ) is close to that, below something called the Metro Guest House.

I would have walked past Shivdhan’s had I not seen a huge vessel with the rabri that I was looking for. I went in, and found a strapping young lad called Sanjeev Sharma overseeing the making of all kinds of sweets. The small shop specialises in five or six types of sweets, but I think it’s best known for its rabri, though its paneer, khoya, cream and curds are also pretty famous. The rabri, as we all know, is a dessert of milk that has been thickened over hours with sugar.

Shivdhan’s rabri is different for two reasons. Unlike usual rabris that float in creamy milk, this one is almost dry. In fact, it looks like crumbled kalakand. But it’s a great mix of thick chunks of malai, or cream, with thickened milk. And what I love about this rabri is that it’s not seeped in sugar. The sugar level is just right – you can, in fact, have a bowlful of this heavy sweet and not get that uneasy feeling that you tend to get after you’ve eaten something that’s too sweet. The khoya is not soft, but a little gritty, and that adds to the taste. A kilo of rabri is for Rs.120.

What’s also nice about small sweet shops such as Shivdhan is that they reflect the secular culture of the area. Churiwalan has a sizable Muslim population, and Sanjeev himself looks like a devout Hindu with a flaming tilak on his forehead.

But I found him frying what looked like paneer and chilli pakoras. Being naturally curious, I asked him what the savouries were doing in a sweet shop. The pakoras, I was told, were for the Muslims of the area to help them break their fast for Ramzan. I think, along with the food, it is stories such as these that make me want go back to the Walled City over and over again.

I went back home with the rabri, and was pretty gratified by their action. We have two ladies who manage our home and kitchen and who are as different as chalk and cheese. One can’t stand anything sweet, the other can’t have enough of it. Surprisingly, both loved the rabri. As I saw it disappearing like P.C. Sorcar in front of my eyes, I realised that I have to visit Shivdhan’s again – and soon – if we have to keep the kitchen fire burning.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

---

---