About three kilometres from the main city, past the sensitive area of Gomtipur, another eatery comes to life after sunset. It's the Khan brothers' Diamond Restaurant, that offers everything that  non-vegetarian food lovers can dream of - all kinds of tantalizing gravied meats on sizzling tavas, including Diamond's famous tandoori, the chicken skinned and marinated and strung across the stalls ready  to be fried or grilled. The hungry can also take their pick from simple omelettes to the more elaborate Baida-Roti, Chinese Fried Rice and American Chopusey too. All in a dhaba-style atmosphere, replete with charpoys, film posters, huge colourful lanterns, and the hiss and sizzle of food cooking. Weekends see the place packed, so it is a good idea to get here early, especially if you are coming with your family.

Diamond was started in the eighties, by Mohammad, the older of two siblings. He is a Pathan from the north and knows his meat well. It is also Mohammad who personally supervises the buying of  meat and vegetables from the local market. The recipes are his, so are the improvisations.  "I had to include Chinese Chicken too," he says, "that is what some people like to have."  The speciality here, is Diamond's Chicken Fry. It is a full leg piece crisp on the outside and succulent inside dipped in  egg, topped with onion rings, pudina and a sliver of lemon. At Rs. 40, this is reasonable fare. If you are in a group go for an assortment.  A full tandoori which costs Rs. 90, tangdi kababs or plates of fish fry. Chicken fans might relish the Soupwala Chicken, it consists of two pieces of chicken cooked in a mildly spiced broth. The famous kaleji (liver) or kidney is served sliced in a substantial portion of gravy. Have the above with a choice of rotis, roomali and naans. The baida roti is rolled out  before you, the batter tossed on to a hot plate and then the egg and mutton mince mixture are rolled into it. Delicious! 
 
It is 7.30 p.m. on a Saturday evening and the eating house is gearing up for the night ahead. The crowd, comes in through the night and all four levels get packed. The efficient staff, have learnt to keep pace with the hungry crowds and are quite oblivious to all the noise. On one side, a cook is tossing the roomalis onto hot upturned kadais while his assistant rolls out more dough quickly.  Elsewhere, an older hand, simmers a thick chicken gravy over a slow fire while two men grill at least seven chickens at a time!  The eyes smart in the smoky atmosphere.  Quite an estalishment, this and mind you, no small feat to have started an eatery like this, in a place where meat is taboo,  wait for it to hold its own and then maintaining the standards. "Success didn't come overnight, it took time," reveals Hamid Khan. "At first we just drew about 15 to 20 people, most of them auto, taxi and truck drivers."  Word spread around but it took over a year and a half for Diamond to develop its clientele.  The faithful taxi and auto drivers still come here, though now it is more of a family crowd that frequents the place. Interestingly, the people of Ahmedabad have developed a special rapport with the restaurant and made it their favourite eating-out place. The waiters know their favourite customers by their cars without even looking at the number plates they can tell who has arrived to eat there. They inquire fondly about their families, if they are okay and why they could not make it to Diamond as well. This is hospitality, albeit minus the frills.


Paaya, Salan & Bhuna Ghost At Bhatiyaar Galli

Inexpensive, quick and all night eating in a street where fragrant aromas drive you mad. UpperCrust dives into the Muslim handis.

Bhatiyaar Galli, near Teen Darwaza can be mistaken for the Muslim heartland in Ahmedabad. It has whole lanes of small Muslim joints dishing out delicacies like mutton masala, chicken do pyaza, paya curry, gosht ke parchay, tangdi kababs and a whole lot more. Walk into the lane, breathe deeply and take in the aroma of meats being fried, the exhaust fumes, the roar of nearby traffic and the babble of crowds and you know you have arrived. This is the place to relish Mughlai foods, a place the locals know well. Many of them are supposed vegetarians too. And Bhatiyaar Galli is their refuge when they want their fill of non-vegetarian foods, unable to have the same made at home, for matters of religion or otherwise. One realizes Ahmedabad got its Mughal character from the time of Sultan Ahmed, after whom the city is named. Much water has flown under the bridge since then; rulers have changed, but the legacy of the Mughals lingers on. Today, statistically it is true that Muslims constitute only 12 per cent of the population in Ahmedabad but their influences are in the architecture and very much in the food.

The most renowned of the places that serves this cuisine, is Bhatiyaar Galli. Ideally you should kick off your culinary journey here by eight pm; that is when the other shops and establishments in the lane have downed their shutters, the traffic has lessened and the galli resumes its singular avatar of a Mughlai gastronome. Those who you may find here at that hour then, have just one serious business, that of eating.

From the other eateries close by the scent of saffron biryani wafts by, so does the sizzle of hot coals. It is essential that you come here with a hearty appetite. The seekh kebab that one sees in Bombay or Delhi hangs on skewers at the start of the eateries. Open chunks of meat are marinated in slivers, marinated for six hours, at times overnight even and then threaded onto the skewers.

Akbari Hotel is the paya specialist here. The paya or trotters is first boiled in a huge cauldron on slow fire and cooked for a few hours till the flesh leaves the bone. In hot oil whole garam masala is added - tej patta, dagad phool, etc, along with onions till the onions are caramelized. The ginger-garlic paste is added along with a little water, the heat reduced and then the other spices are added: chilli powder, turmeric, coriander and cumin and the garam masala powder. More water is added to bhuno or sauté the spices; the trick is to do it gently without letting the masala burn. Lastly the payas are added along with the shorwa or the spoup made of the paya fat. It is delicious and at Rs 25 a plate, absolute value for money! Akbari Hotel has quite a variety on the menu. Mohammed Zuber Haji Yusufbhai, its owner, is a man who believes in food as a matter of taste; 'jo dikta hai who bikta hai', what one sees one sells, he says. That explains why his place offers White Gosht and Chicken Manchurian gravy too.  

Haji Fry Centre is the most favoured for its fries and curries. The gosht curries are steaming hot, more than six varieties each in a handi, or vessel. For those who fancy a mélange of sorts, they will ladle a little of each of the dishes onto your plate, like a bara handi that is so famous at Bombay's Bhendi Bazaar during Ramzan. Mohammad Haji, the owner informs us that he sells more than 2,500 plates of curry a day, peak sale hours being after 10 pm. It's a good idea to carry your own water or buy mineral water though. And as a fitting finale, order a suleimani or lemon chai. This is an important part of the meat-eating experience, as the lime tea breaks the meat down, prevents gastric build-up and hastens digestion. After that a paan from any of the nearby galas.

Akbari Hotel (Non-veg eatery at Bhatiyar Galli)
Mr Zuber Haji Yusufbhai
Khas Bazar, Karanj Police Chawki,
Ahmedabad - 1.


A Yolk Of A Time!

Egg Eatery is where one can discover all the delights of an egg. It's running, says UpperCrust

Runny or well-done. Add to that about 30 different ways of making eggs and that is what the Egg Eatery is all about.  A different concept altogether, a plethora of eggs, cooked, scrambled, boiled, poached all under one roof! This restaurant which is a great breakfast option has struck gold. It is that successful. For most Gujaratis who are 'eggetarians' as they like to be called, frequent the 'Egg eatery'. A nice place to have their fill of eggs which are disallowed at home. It has a striking display window, shaped like an egg so anyone who is passing by stops and takes note of it. A large quotient of the patrons are the young cosmopolitan  crowd from the National Institute of Design (NID) nearby, who come here during lunch hour to have their eggs to order!