That Aloo from Madhya Pradesh
Bandare wale Aloo
It’s not very often that a humble aloo ki sabzi (potato curry) makes it to a blog post. But isn’t food all about the beautiful memories it brings back? This one is very vivid for me.
In school my parents tried to make sure we travel together, twice, every year - usually in the summer and diwali breaks. We took the train (my favourite), flights, boats, buses, hired cars and sometimes our own. Until last year we’ve tried to continue this and now it’s more of an annual adventure.
In October 2004 on one such holiday, we took a train to Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan. From there we drove to Ranthambore where we spent a couple of days. Over the next 10 days we toured Jhansi in UP and Gwalior, Orchha, Jabalpur (where my Nani is from), Khajuraho and Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh. When we were booking this holiday, I remember accompanying my dad to the #mptourism office in Cuffe Parade in Mumbai. The team there was extremely helpful. They were patient through our detailed planning and full of ideas and recommendations. Their properties had some of the best locations possible. For example the motel in Jabalpur was right by the Betwa river and very close to the marble rocks. The Khajuraho hotel was close to the western part of the temple complex. In Orchha, a part of the palace had been converted into an MP tourism hotel. They had recently opened and offered us the Maharaja suite.
Each hotel though had the same menu card with exactly the same dishes listed and surprisingly they even tasted the same across the cities
In places like Khujuraho and Gwalior, we chose to step out into the bazaar and the town respectively for our meals. In Bandhavgarh and Jabalpur though we stuck to eating at our hotel. My mom’s favourite among these staples was this particular aloo ki sabzi, usually served with puris. No onions, no garlic, no other veggies - just a simple aloo with spices and a slightly tangy gravy of medium thickness. The taste is very similar to what is known as Bhandarawale Aloo in North India. Bhandara is an open meal system. A lot of people sit down in rows and are served this free meal comprising of poori, bhandarewale aloo.
Today in my kitchen I tried to recreate it and in these times when travel is restricted, these special memories came right back, making my head and heart a happier place.