Punjab might be famous for its butter
chicken but dare to ignore the street food and of course the doodh, dahi,
makhan & paneer at your own risk. This is the land of the foodie. And it
shows in the waistlines. People eat and eat and then eat a bit more. Walk into
a Punjabi shaadi and its no different than a buffet. You pay your entry fee to
the bride/groom’s father right at the gate and from then on its a gastronomical
journey. You move from one food stall to another till you have had your money’s
worth and exit with packets of paan and churan for the after-shaadi party. Who
was the bride or the groom? Who cares!!
Nothing exemplifies the tag of 'foodie land' more than the wide array of street food jo galli galli
main milta hai. So lets take a walk down bhukkad street. Golgappas, tikkis,
samosas, chole-kulche, pav bhaji, bargar (spelt as pronounced), rolls are all
common fare. Whats uncommon is the munda eating this food from the same thela as
a rickshaw-wallah but seated in his Honey Singh blaring tainted Mercedes for
fear of ruining his aan & shaan. Equally uncommon are the other dishes that
are available on Punjabi thelas. You have the Madrasi dosa, thick crust pizzas
and (this one is more legendary than Barney himself) authentic Italian pasta.
Drool as much as you want coz Penne Arrabiata is now served right outside your
home.
Let me ask the quizzer in you - What
connects all these dishes? Hint: refer to the blog title. Bingo! The correct
answer is indeed Paneer. While most of you might not be salivating at the
thought, in Punjab nothing sells like Paneer. Sukha golgappas are topped with a
slice of paneer. Tikkis and samosas are stuffed with paneer. The bhaji and chhole have paneer pieces as do
the rolls. Paneer dosas are very popular just like paneer pizzas. Thankfully
the pasta doesn’t have paneer but the bargar does. And it’s a bargar that rips
apart McDonald’s “Aap ke zamane main, baap ke zamane ke daam”. A ten rupee
juicy bargar created with aloo tikki, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber, onions,
tomato sauce, chilli sauce, mint chutney, chowmein and what else but paneer,
wrapped in a foil and served with a ketchup sachet and napkin. Or a twenty five
rupee burger with an unappetizing patty and some tomatoes, onions and thousand
islands dressing thrown together (I love their fries though). The choice and
appetite is yours.
As much as Punjabi women love downing one
snack after another, they hate cooking. Mostly fat and lazy they keep it simple
at home. Lunch and dinner usually have the same menu with easy to cook dishes
like rajma-chawal and kadhi-chawal being staple diet. Sabzi and dal once cooked
are consumed across multiple days. Sundays are strictly no kitchen days with
breakfast specifically reserved for puri-chole and lassi. This brings me to the
root cause of why Punjabis love eating out. What else can a foodie when is
served such drab food at home?? People in Punjab enjoy their food and the only
place to truly do so is on the streets (and of course the dhabas).
Want to make money in Punjab? Sell food.
Want to successfully sell food in Punjab? Add paneer to every dish. Want to charge
extra for a dish in Punjab? Add paneer to it. Want to create a healthy upmarket
dish in Punjab? Substitute the paneer with soya paneer. Yup this is the future.
As you can clearly see Punjabis are very healthy conscious. Soon everything
will sell in Punjab but with soya paneer on it!!
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