Food, Spices and Sardaarji: my kerala adventures part-3

On the first day in kerala when I went to a restaurant for a meal, the only thing on the menu was beef curry and rice so we had to shell out some 250 per head for a buffet, which also had beef. Since I had never been so close to beef in any form, it was a little awkward for me and my friend. The last time a saw some beef shop in my hometown while on my way back from school I ended up giving up non veg for entire year. It was very hard for me not to get perturbed this time around too.but somehow we started eating. The thing about kochi is, it has ridiculously overpriced shops for no apparent reason. Total mismatch for a city like that but I was about to discover more. We started
Talking
Bath: why are they selling beef everywhere? Will we have to get used to eating that?

Me : (I have no clue why I said this till date) don’t worry I m pretty sure some sardaarji has opened his shop somewhere in this town.

I am yet to visit a town where some happy go lucky sardaarji isn’t selling home-made finger licking desilicious Punjabi food.

Somehow we gulped down the meal and went back to sleep, our training started and all we could find in that area to eat , apart from beef curry and rice, was chana masala, mix veg and roti. I am kind of particular about food but in those 2-odd months I learned what the term “eating to live” meant. I mean there is only so much chana masala you can eat.

Don’t remember how but someday we were doing the routine “I-AM-SICK-OF-THIS-PLACE” thing when a friend of mine said that his friend had done his engineering from this place and he knows a Punjabi dhaba which is in the market. We all felt terribly sorry for the guy who had to live in this place for 4 years and then started deciding about the whereabouts of the place.

After some raids at random markets we found the place behind a mall called “menaka”,
And boy did we eat!



After 1 and half hour of eating like a pig when we got up to pay the bill the sardaarji (henceforth referred to as Punjabi uncle said)
P.U.: bête aap log naye ho kya yahan pe?(son, are you people new here)

We could say anything jus staring. We had the best meal in around 3 months

P.U: pata hai khane se parehsaan ho aap log.shakal se hi dikh jaata hai(I know u look irritated by the food in this city.its written all over your face)

After some talking like that we came to know that he lived at stones throw from our place so he agreed to bring us food for as long as we were in town, making us the envy of every1 in our entire training batch.

A lot of other friends tried to get him to bring food to them but he politely refused.dont know what prompted him to say yes to us.

After 1 month we will call him to tell us what the bill amount is and he would forget everyday.this happened for 2-3 days in a row when finally we got irritated and said

bath: uncle bill mat bhulna aaj(uncle don’t forget the bill today)

he came and in the night and started talking to us,

P.U.:beta aapko lagta hai main ye paise ke liye karta hun?paisa upar wale ki daya se bohot hai (beta do you think I do this for money? I already have loads of it by gods grace)

And then he told us that he has worked as communication engineer in Sony and has two sons who are, like everybody else in Kochi, settled in FAREN.

We were shocked to hear all that. And then we noticed that he would come in cars to give us the dinner.

All this while our peers were having a really hard time wid chana masala and roti


I never got a chance to say THANK YOU

For all those who are planning a trip to kerala,I f u happen to go to kochi,
Do visit :

Punjab House
Broadway market
Kochi

U will notice a jovial guy at the counter and he will sure make some remarks about you. That’s PUNJABI UNCLE

\m/oO\m/