Chowk is this intense market place/bazaar
in Aminabad in “Old Lucknow.” Anand,
Vikas, and Shibani took me there the other night. Its kind of like taking people that visit New York to Times Square,
but actually cool. It was a Thursday which
means most of the shops are closed, which translates into less of a chance for
the American to be completely overwhelmed on her fist visit.
We walked the main path into the
middle of Chowk in search of “the best kebab” in Lucknow.
What do you think of when you think of kebab? Meat on sticks, is what most Americans would
say. Wrong. As we approached the restaurant the sound of
people grew louder and the smell of charcoal grew stronger. It smelled almost like camping—ahhh. Then before you knew it we had arrived. There is a huge iron skillet atop burning
coals and what looks like brown balls flattened out and clustered covering the
top of the pan. Not the most appetizing
sight to be sure.
In front of the restaurant there
is a man sitting next to the fire and people crowded around him. Some are packing orders of kebab and roti,
and others are placing orders. There are
small children wandering between the legs of the adults. We walked past the crowd to a table off to
the side of the restaurant, and placed our order. Kebab and roti—you don’t even have to order
that’s all they serve and they bring it to you basically as soon as you sit
down. So back to these delicious blobs
of meat. We were served our tin plates
of dark brown, squished flat blobs of meat and some plates of roti (a kind of
flat bread). Like I said before not the
prettiest of food, but definitely the tastiest.
You use the roti to pick up the meat and pop it in your mouth. The meat
is so tender it melts in your mouth.
Killing cows is against the law so this beef is Water Buffalo. Everything I’ve eaten in India is
flavored so nicely. It makes you realize
just how bland what we would deem American food can be. So after stuffing ourselves with kebab and
roti we walked back to the main “entrance” to Chowk.
On our way attempting to take
night photos of beautiful scalloped arches at which point I gave up completely
and gave Anand my camera. He, of course,
had a much better working knowledge of it than I, despite the fact that I have
had it for about 6 years now. . .sad. So
even though I’d love to take credit for them most of the lovely photos of Chowk
are courtesy of Anand, whom I have deemed my official Lucknow photographer. Back at the main entrance, Shibani, Vikas,
and I indulged in Kulfi (saffron ice cream and rice noodles) and strolled
around a bit more. Overall it was such
an interesting and beautiful night spent in great company!
