Sursuri Chaat. (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
Chaat is a wide term used to cover a range of fried savouries. Chaat is enjoyed as an evening snack, usually from roadside eateries that are set up in the evening only. Lucknow’s famous chaat has some basic accompaniments which are served with its chaat offerings- sweet curd, tamarind chutney, ginger juliennes, crisp potato juliennes, chopped corainder and a dry spice mix. The popular aloo tikkis are shallow fried potato rounds, dahi badas are deep fried lentil dumplings, dahi papdi are small, flat discs of fried refined flour, dahi batashas are tiny puffed rounds of refined flour and semolina with a spicy potato or matar filling.
Matar (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
Matar tikkis are rounds of boiled dried peas, fried and served with lemon juice or the usual curd, tamarind chutney accompaniments. The most popular chaat item is the pani bataasha, puffed rounds, deep fried to a tiny size for a single mouthful, and filled with flavoured water. The flavourings may be tamarind, raw mango, mint, coriander, green chillies and so on. Samosas are deep fried savoury potatoes in a flour casing and triangular in shape. Aloo chaat is chopped boiled potatoes topped with basic accompaniments. Lesser known chaat items include chana chaat which is whole horse gram topped with green coriander, lemon juice and dry spice mix. Palak chaat/palak pataura are whole spinach leaves deep fried in a coating of gram batter and brinjal pakoras are deep fried sliced brinjal fritters.
Lucknow Bioscope Chaat Banner (2024)Lucknow Bioscope
1. Shukla Chaat House
Dinesh Kumar Shukla, aged about 65 years, retired as a banking professional. For the past 50 years, he has been managing one of Lucknow’s iconic chaat outlets—Shukla Chaat House. This outlet is unbelievably tiny. Dinesh Kumar says that the tiny space is sufficient for their business.
The outlet opened in 1968 when his father Mangla Prasad Shukla was motivated by his wife Kaushalya Devi to get into business. Mangala Prasad was himself in service. Kaushalya Devi had a passion for cooking, and would serve her children delectable savouries, including chaat and bataashe.
Front View of Shukla chat. (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
Even today, the outlet follows her recipes. “It is because of her (Kaushalya Devi) that we are so highly appreciated” says Dinesh. He confesses that his heart was in manning the outlet ever since he was young. Even while working in his bank, he would look forward to the end of the day when he could get back to the shop and help his father.
He has three brothers and two sisters. The brothers are all engaged in the chaat business. Kaushalya Devi is no more. Mangala Prasad is still around. Dinesh Shankar is proud that his three offspring are well educated and gainfully employed elsewhere.
2. Jain Chat
Sanjeev Kumar Jain says that his father, Santosh Kumar Jain migrated from Tikait Nagar (Barabanki District) about 30-35 years ago, to set up a chaat stall near the main Lalbagh crossing. After great effort, he managed to acquire a proper shop. This establishment is currently managed by Sanjeev and his brother Raju.
Garlic, onions and ginger etc. were prohibited in the Jain community. Santosh was determined to prove that delectable chaat could be made without the use of these forbidden foods. Thus, even today the chaat is flavoured with spices and condiments that are ‘kosher’ in the Jain opinion. The pani bataashas, aloo tikkis, and dahi badas are very popular. Sanjeev himself prepares the seasoning for the chaat, taking every care to maintain hygiene. He says, “In my father’s time, people used to spend time enjoying chaat. Father used to fry the chaat for 15-16 minutes before serving it.
Various ingradients for preparing chat. (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
Now, everyone is in a hurry. The children now prefer hamburgers, chow-mein and momos. But, we have loyal customers as well. Not necessarily Jains, but definitely epicures.” Asked to recall an interesting story from a time gone by, he relates, “Once a strange woman came to have chaat made by my father. She was surrounded by hefty men bristling with weapons. The buzz in the market was that these people were dacoits or bandits.
Probably Phoolan Devi (a famous lady bandit) herself ! My poor father, a believer in the principle that ‘non-violence is the ultimate duty’ was frightened. Somehow, he managed to serve chaat to this crew, hoping that the ‘purifying’ tendencies of Jain food would inspire them to abjure violence! It was said later that the lady was not Phoolan Devi, after all, but probably actress Seema Parihar. Father was so terrified that he wouldn’t open the shop for 4-5 days…”
3. Pandit Ram Narayan Tiwari & Sons
According to Prakhar Tiwari, his grandfather Ram Narayan left Rehmatgarh for Lucknow in 1929 in search of a livelihood. Here, he and his wife started a business of selling sweet dahi badas. His mother Sumitra Devi would make the dahi-bada, and Ram Narayan would sell them, first off a stand, and then a handcart. He would trundle the handcart from his home to the shade of a peepul (a species of the fig tree) on Latouche Road, ringing a bell all the time to alert customers. The premises are currently located where the handcart used to be stationed.
Front view of Pt. Ramnarayan tiwari and sons (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
After his grandfather, his father Vivek Prakash Tiwari took up the business. He had been elected to the UP Assembly and as an MLA, had contacts with a large number of political figures who patronized the establishment. Atal Bihari Vajpeyee (former Prime Minister) and Amar Singh were among the prominent politicians who enjoyed chaat here whenever they were in Lucknow. Amar Singh brought film personalities like Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan and Sunjay Dutt to have chaat here.
Vivek Prakash passed away in 2004. His wife Vibha Tiwari took up the affairs of the business with her never-say-die attitude and ran it for several years, selling aloo tikki, pani bataashe, dahi bada and dahi papdi. Vibha still comes around to check if all is well. Prakhar’s elder brother Anurag Tiwari then stepped in when he was old enough to tend to the business.
After his demise, the responsibility fell on Prakhar. He studied to be a chartered accountant but has no qualms about taking the business forward. Kishan, an employee, has been helping in the shop for the past 25 years.
4. Pandit Chaat Corner
Angad Maharaj's chaat shop was registered with the Municipality in 1927. Angad Mahraj was Kalyan Kumar Sharma’s grandfather. Now his grandson Amit Kumar Sharma has taken over. Amit has studied Hotel Management and has a degree from IHM, Chennai. After qualifying, he worked as a chef in Lucknow hotels such as the Picadilly, Golden Blossom and Levana, but in 2019 took up his family business.
Ambiance photo of Pundit Chaat Cormar. (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
He tells us that Angad Maharaj sold chaat door to door from Fatehganj to Ganeshganj for several years. The later generations moved the shop to its current location in 1996. They also have branches in Naka Hindola, Mahanagar, etc.
They offer paani batasha, aloo tikki, samosa, palak chaat, mixed chaat and sursuri chaat (aloo chaat with chopped green chillies). The onomatopoeic ‘sursuri’ chaat is named after the burning sensation it sustains on the palate! Amit tells us “Many people ask us to make the aloo tikki crunchy. You can’t make a crunchy patty from mashed potatoes unless you add arrowroot.
We would never adulterate food to serve customers. There is a saying that ‘what tastes good is bad for health!”
5. King of Chaat
Originally set up in 1941 by Hari Narayan Tandon, this outlet is famous for aloo chaat, matar, palak pataura, brinjal pakoras and of course, paani ke bataashe. It is currently run by Hari Narayan Tandon’s grandson, 56-year-old Arjun Tandon. According to him, his grandfather was a freedom fighter, and set up a cart selling chaat as part of his ‘cover.’
Aloo ki tikki and Matar ki tikki on iron tawa. (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
After independence, the first Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Sarojini Naidu helped him get permission to operate his cart near the zoo. She herself used to call him ‘the king of chaat’ and he used the name for his outlet. In later days, Arjun Tandon’s father took the cart to the main street of Hazratganj. He would ring a bell to attract customers. The little brass bell is still kept in the outlet.
From 1980 onwards, the location shifted to the stadium. Arjun was then 16 years old. Today his son Rahul also helps out. Arjun feels that tastes have changed with the times. The emphasis today is on the size of the portion. The diversity of spices and condiments is not appreciated.
He says,“There was a time when cutlery was not used for chaat. People would use their fingers, and would end up licking the fingers to savour the snacks. This act of licking gave its name to the food. What is the point of having chaat unless it is finger-licking good ?
We still use a grinding stone to prepare spices for our chaat as my grandfather used to. We prepare enough for 15 days or so.Preparations for other dishes starts in the night itself. This spinach, it’s the oldest among our chaat dishes. You won’t find such taste anywhere else. Earlier, there was demand for brinjal pakoras, chana chaat, and many other things that have now vanished. Today, customers eat what they enjoy—such as South Indian snacks, Chinese food, and cuisine from all over the world. But chaat holds its place, especially among foodies.
Lucknow is a city of gourmets, and we maintain the same standards as in my grandfather’s time. Customers have never had, and never will have, any cause of complaint about our quality. People come from Lucknow and outside to eat here or take away our packaged chaat. It is their love that has made us famous—we have always earned more goodwill than money.”
Curation: Ansaf, Noor Khan, Saman Habib
Graphic: Stuti Mishra
Photography: Anshubhi Singh, Ayan Bose, Isha Pratap Singh, Karan Kashyap, Tasveer Hasan
Text and Translation: Amit Misra, Divya Joshi, Wasim Ahmed
Special Thanks to: Amir Jamal, Madhavi Kuckreja
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