Sweet Treats @ Asha

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
-Robert Frost, “Nothing Gold Can Stay”

I call this time of the year, this month of October, the “change month.” We shuffle with one foot in rain and the other stubbornly in icy-cold weather of winter; That’s always how I feel about October; eagerly anticipating the changing light of the new season, but also so very hesitant for the short cold days to creep away. And so, today, on a cloudy weather day, when we all nurse for a good month more, I happen to be on the other side of Bangalore, “Malleshwaram”, shopping for my sisters never ending wedding purchases. In this qualms of planning a wedding and shopping and arranging all the necessities, I have had the privileges to go to new places and try out new joints to dine and try savouries. One such instance was yesterday, when my sister happened to have dragged me, against my will, into Asha sweets. Gee, I don't regret it. One of the oldest sweet joints in Bangalore, Asha sweets have stood firm and unaffected by the newbie’s in town, retaining their glory, by providing some lip-smacking savoury and chats in town.

So, today as I sit here with an acute acknowledgement that I am far from a savoury master, I am feeling awfully proud to be sharing this experience.

Disclaimer: If you feel dainty I am not to be blamed ;) Instead make your ass move to the nearest savouries and be a prey to gluttony.

Asha sweets are known for their Badam Milk. Costing round 40 bucks, they serve this chilled milk in a plastic cup. This milk harbours a handful of Badams, squished almonds and pistachios, along with little essence of Kesar. Delicately flavored with cardamom, the nuts in this chilled, cooling drink don't just make it tasty, they pack a mighty nutritious punch too! 

Next up was Rasagulla, my favorite Bengali savior. My style of eating this delicacy is, shoving an entire piece of Rasagulla into my ingress. Nom Nom Nom! 
Made of balls of unripe Ned Cheese and Cottage Cheese soaked in sugary syrup, this rasagullas has perfect texture, adequate sponginess and strikingly sweet yet not too sweet syrup, if you know what I mean. Costing one piece 20/-, this is slightly expensive but the piece of rasagulla served is quite big.

The last item on the menu was Rasamalai. I have had a fare share, or rather I would say more than my fare share of rasmalai’s when I was residing in Indore. Its a very popular Indian sweet prepared with paneer (Indian cottage cheese). Ras means 'juice' and malai means 'cream'. Rasmalai is another form of Rasagulla, wherein instead of rich sugary syrup, the cheese chunks are soaked in rich saffron flavored creamy milk. This cost around 35/- per piece.

There were many more savories I wanted to try, like gajar ka halwa, samosas, pav bhaji’s, barfi’s and the list goes on and on.

One of the things I most love about this blog is the way I can look back through the seasons and years and glean a sense of what that time felt like for me, judging by the food I was eating, the things I was baking, the stories I was telling. With this, it’s me, Manju, bidding you farewell with a promise to come back with many more blogs.