As Indians we are blessed with the fact that almost every part of the country has a unique cultural offering. And they don’t come more unique than Amritsar where even vegetarianism’s harshest critics admitted defeat.
Anthony Bourdain, vegetarianism's greatest bête noire since Bengalis, said after eating at Kesar Da Dhaba in Amritsar: "If this is what vegetarianism meant in most of the places that practice it in the West, I’d be at least half as much less of a dick about the subject.” In this article, Avinash Mudaliar takes a trip through Amritsar’s lanes, searching for the answer: who makes the best Punjabi food?
Image credit: Avinash Mudaliar
Also, Avinash asked every dhaba owner, chaiwala and anyone willing to lend him an ear: “What makes the food so special?” And they said: “It’s the water.”
Of course, that’s not surprising since Amritsar literally translates to “the pool of nectar”.
PS: For our loyal foodies, we’ve linked every place’s Google Map location so all you’ve to do is save it for the future. Please note that Avinash paid for all his meals and none of the restaurants mentioned here had any inkling they were being ranked or reviewed.
The Holy Trinity of Punjabi Cooking
There’s a muhabara (idiom for all you International Board snobs) in Hindi that goes: Raag Rasoi Paagdi Kabhi Kabhi Ban Jaye (It’s impossible to replicate one’s tune (raag), one’s dish (rasoi) and one’s paagdi (turban). While raag and paagdi are outside our jurisdiction, we did find a few joints where the rasoi appears to be replicable.
Just like gym bros judge one another based on their Bench Press, Squat and DeadLift one-rep max lifts, the key to decoding, ranking, and quantifying the quality of Punjabi cooking is to rate them based on three basic dishes:
1) Sarson ka Saag
2) Palak Paneer
3) Yellow Daal
So, Avinash made it a point to try the sarson ka saag, palak paneer and daal at every place. There’s an elegance to the simplicity of these dishes which makes it easy to separate the wheat from the chaff. The restaurants which made the finals of the Saga of Saags – the culinary equivalent of Dance of the Dragons – were Yellow Chilli Restaurant, Kesar Da Dhaba, Brothers and Bharawan. Please note that being number 1 is worth three points, number 2 two points and number 3 one point.
Palak Paneer
1) Kesar Da Dhaba 🥇
2) Brothers Amritsari🥈
3) Bharawan Da Dhaba 🥉
Honourable Mention: Yellow Chilli Restaurant (it was Mutton Saagwalla)
Saarson Ka Saag
1) Brothers Amritsari Dhaba
2) Bharawan Da Dhaba and Kesar Da Dhaba 🥈
Yellow Daal
1) Kesar Da Dhaba 🥇
2) Bharawan Da Dhaba 🥈
3) Brothers 🥉
Overall
1) Kesar Da Dhaba – 8 points 🥇
2) Bharawan Da Dhaba – 6 points 🥈
3) Brothers Amritsari Dhaba – 5 points 🥉
And just in case you’re a fan of baingan bharta, the best place was Bharawan Da Dhaba, followed by Kesar Da Dhaba.
Bharawan Da Dhaba Vegetarian Delights
Avinash Mudaliar
, a stuffed flatbread that’s quite different from the kulcha that’s served in other parts of India.
In fact, Michelin Star Chef Vikas Khanna recently shared a video of himself making an Amritsari kulcha and wrote: "Almost 40 years ago, I used to practice making Kulchas on the streets of Amritsar. Whenever I go back to the same places, they will always request me to make one. I think I still got it."
Soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, the Amritsari Kulcha is so delectable that it would make an atheist believe in God, because it’s not feasible that a creature which evolved naturally could create something which seems like the product of divine intervention. And it all started 67 years ago in the Walled City. Pehalwan Kulcha Shop at Dhab Khaitan is often credited with being the pioneer of the Amritsari Kulcha.
The story goes that in 1952, Pehalwan Atma Ram, a professional wrestler, borrowed the concept of the Peshwarai Khameeri Roti and flipped it to make the Amristari naan. North India’s warm climate made sourdough untenable, so he used maida and stuffed it with boiled potatoes to make a whole meal. Later on, tamarind-onion chutney and chana was added to make it a more wholesome meal.
Later Atma Ram’s son Nathu Ram, another professional wrestler took over from his father. But the kulcha's genesis is even longer. Its lineage can be traced back to Mughal kitchens. It was offered to Shah Jahan who loved it so much that he had it for breakfast and lunch, and the dish spread across the realm wherever the Mughals and Nizams went. In fact, Lahore’s culinary tradition was so similar to Amritsar’s that it was often said that if one toured both cities, one’s tastebuds wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Much like hilsa formed an important part of the clarion call for Bangladesh’s independence, the kulcha became the official symbol of the Hyderabad state flag thanks to the Asaf Jahi dynasty. Just imagine, choosing a kulcha while other states had lions and elephants as their official insignia. But there’s a good reason for it.
Asaf Jahi I and VII
The Asaj Jahi Dynasty (the Nizams of Hyderabad’s official title) was founded by Mir Qaram-ud-Din Khan Asaf Jahi, who was a courtier at the Mughal court. Jahi’s family had served the Mughals for generations
When Mir Qamar-ud-Din was appointed the Governor of Deccan, he was given the title of Nizam-Ul-Mulk. Before taking up the job, he went to meet his spiritual guru, the Sufi mystic Hazrat Nizamuddin Aurangabadi. According to legend, he was offered a meal of kulchas tied in a yellow cloth. A famished Mir Qamar-ud-Din devoured seven kulchas and the Sufi mystic prophesied he would rule for seven generations. And so, they did till the last Nizam Asaf Jahi VII was outmanoeuvred by another epochal man named Sardar Vallabhai Patel. But let’s not digress, that's a tale for another time.
While the Asaf Jahi dynasty eventually lost control of Hyderabad, the wrestlers are still going strong. Today, inside the Walled City, there are 250 kulcha shops within a mere 10-km radius and they are always teeming with foodies.
Today, Atma Ram’s grandson and Nathu Ram’s son Harish Kumar runs the establishment. They have stuck to tradition, keeping the kulcha oval-shaped and stuffing it with potatoes, mint, green cardamom, khada masala and ground garam masala. The only compromise is an olive oil version for health-conscious tourists but then again, they don’t taste as good as the original.
In fact, if you are planning a trip make sure you go there between 8AM and 2PM. A kulcha costs Rs 50 per piece, the unlimited chana is complimentary and the taste heavenly. So next time you’re in Amritsar, make sure you go with an open mind and an empty stomach, and you’ll be in a gastronomic heaven.
All the Eating Joints Mentioned in This Article
9) Chawlas
12) Pal Da Dhaba
13) Friends Dhaba
