JEDDAH, 13 May 2004 — Ever since my English colleagues read a tourist book entitled “101 Things To Do in India,” they have been curious about the first thing listed in it: Eating Gol Gappey.
Also known as “Paani Puris.” Gol Gappey are tiny, golden puffs of fresh wafer-thin fired flat-bread taken from a pot of hot bubbling oil. They are a gastronomic contradiction — crisp and hot on the outside, cool and liquid within. The moment you bite down on one, the frail crust gives way, flooding your mouth with cool, cilantro-flavored water spiked with chili.
However you describe these little “edible balloons,” the proof of their rollicking taste lies in their actual popping.
But where do you pop one here in the Kingdom?
At Chatkhara Chaat, of course!
This new and cozy little restaurant specializes in all kinds of spicy South Asian snacks. Word-of-mouth publicity has turned it into a center for South Asian families on the weekends.
Now, if you want swank and wall-to-wall flunkies, you can find both in Jeddah. Obsequious waiters and unctuous service managers in expensive restaurants is the norm in the Red Sea city. So it is a real treat to find a modest restaurant that is scrupulously clean and offers genuinely ethnic food with clear and distinctive tastes, simple tableware and a charmingly simple nod to South Asian decor. The budget has clearly been spent — quite rightly so — on a feast for the palate rather than one for the eye.
And Gol Gappey is not the only specialty here. If you haven’t had “Bhel Puri,” rectify the oversight as soon as you can. It looks like a hybrid “Rice Crispies” mixed with dried threads of anorexic vermicelli, served with a tamarind sauce. The taste is indescribably amazing.
“Bhel Puri” originated as a fast food on the stalls of what would be called by some as Bombay’s Corniche but which is known to Indians as Chowpatty. Made largely from dry ingredients and mixed with fresh shavings of onion, chili, spices and tamarind-based sauce, the result is a crunchy bittersweet tingling mouthful that will leave you asking for more. And you get a generous portion for SR4.
The cooking staff was specially brought from India for their singular skills. Although the dishes are made from a few simple ingredients, the balance of spices and sauces is the secret to success or failure. Like any restaurant proud of its work, they are visibly working, chopping, frying and tossing gleaming bowls of “sev” for all to see.
The house specialty “Chatkhara Chaat” — from which the restaurant takes its name — is a layered mix of potato, channa (chick peas) crispy puri and spiced yogurt-based sauce. Served with a green mint and tamarind sauce on the side, it challenges the palate with its mix of creamy sour and sweet sensations melding and surfacing in each mouthful. Another SR4 well spent.
Then you have “Pav Bhaji”, “Sev Puri”, “Dahi Puri”, “Papri Chat”, “Aloo Ki Tikki” — all names and dishes to experiment with. To finish any selection, “Malai Kulfi” — creamy home-made ice-cream — cools the palate and relaxes the mouth.
Each one of these snacks has a unique taste. Each one sends the South Asian expatriate down memory lane — into a world which remains tantalizingly out of reach.
For the lazy host who wants to impress as an “old India hand,” the excellent Chicken Biryani or Chicken Qorma is available by the kilo as a party takeaway.
(Located in Jeddah’s Aziziah district near Manara Market, opposite the Fire Station, Chatkhara Chaat also offers outside catering. Tel: 673 6818; Mobile: 0509839622)
