Ankur Bhardwaj: Delhi, Jaipur... Indore?

Jaipur and Indore have a lot of similarity and makes you wish the Delhi-Agra-Jaipur triangle was actually a quadrilateral

Last Saturday saw the highest number of visitors in a decade to the magnificent Amer Fort and Palace near Jaipur. Authorities reported a footfall of 15,000 in one day alone. The long Christmas weekend coupled with beautiful, sunny days in the winter made Jaipur the perfect getaway from the polluted air in the national capital.

With its history, classic architecture, good infrastructure, welcoming attitude and superb food, Jaipur continues to be an important tourist destination. The Delhi-Agra-Jaipur triangle is a favourite with foreign tourists as well.

While its history and palaces continue to hold fort as the biggest tourist attractions, it is Jaipur's delectable food that really makes one swoon. It requires a huge appetite and loads of time to be able to sample what is on offer in its various corners.

From breakfast at one of the lassi shops on Mirza Ismail Road to a visit to Rawat Mishthan Bhandar for the pyaaz or mawa kachori, kadha doodh and jalebi, to paying obeisance at the legendary Laxmi Mishthan Bhandar, Jaipur can make you beg for a bigger appetite - because you may also want to try the dal baati choorma or the classic Rajasthani thali with numerous small portions of local delicacies. Non-vegetarians need not despair, for there is Handi with its lal maans and tandoori chicken that can keep them satiated. You could also go to Virasat or Chokhi Dhani for a traditional Rajasthani experience. Both are designed to satisfy the tourists' craving to get photographed in a typical Rajasthani mileu. At Virasat, there is even a throne where you can sit wearing a safa and get clicked. You marvel at the acumen of the owners of the place for having thought it up while wide-eyed tourists get clicked around you.

What makes Jaipur tick like this? Is it just the quality of the food? If history and quality of food was the case, then Indore too would feature in this list - but it doesn't.

Having visited both Jaipur and Indore recently, I can safely say that Indore probably has the best street food in India. Imagine a city with two markets dedicated to street food: Chappan Dukaan during day time and Sarafa Bazar at night. Sarafa comes alive at 9 pm when all the jewellers shut shop, and stalls are set up - and it keeps buzzing till the wee hours. While Jaipur with its kachori, mirchi-vada or mithai is rightly celebrated, Indore is strangely missing from this conversation about desi snacks. Unlike north India, Indore understands breakfast and does it well. One can stop at any of the small shops or shacks around this city for a five-minute breakfast of Indori poha, often served on a piece of newspaper with a steel spoon. Then tea, which is consistently good at any shop in Indore.

One needs to visit Sarafa twice. It needs a visit during the day to be able to sample Nagori's legendary shikanji, which unlike north India is not a drink made of lemon juice, sugar and water but is something like liquid kulfi - with some sellers even using yoghurt to give it a different taste. The day visit is also needed to meet another legend in the same market at Joshi Dahi Bada, who is an artist and makes the best dahi vadas that you would find anywhere. With his showmanship, he turns a serving of a simple dahi vada into theatre. The greatest secret that Indore's streets have is something else though: it is called bhutte ka kees, and is made using grated corn, milk, lemon, coconut and the mildest of spices. What makes Indore's street food special is that the Indoris know how to use sugar in their food. So both poha and bhutte ka kees have a mild use of sugar that does not overpower the taste, but takes it to another level.

As the erstwhile capital of the Holkars, Indore has enough history around it to be a good tourist destination. The Rococo-style palace at Lal Bagh is one of the most beautiful palaces in India, with opulence that can amaze you but requires urgent and massive restoration. One can also visit Mandu with its fort or the town of Maheshwar, the home of the Maheshwari silk sarees, on the banks of the serene Narmada river which used to be the capital of the Holkars before it was moved to Indore in 1818 AD.

Jaipur and Indore are two cities that have a lot of similarity - with a rich history, booming trade and exceptional food. It makes you wish the Delhi-Agra-Jaipur triangle was actually a quadrilateral with Indore being the fourth corner.

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