A DHABA EXPERIENCE | CHULHA CHAUKI KA DHABA

My mother, she is this small little baby of mine whom I should baby-sit every weekend after my sister got married, apparently she hates sitting being alone. Sometimes it gets annoying but most of times its cute. So my usual routine for every weekend goes something like this: one day with friends/movies/treks and another day reserved for my mom, I take her out for shopping and then we dine out, this keeps her happy and it is also a change from her regular mundane life of home maker.

This past weekend we found ourselves at Chulha Chauki Ka Dhaba. I have been here a couple of times with friends for lunch and it seems to be a good place to enjoy a north meal.  I googled’map this place and ZOOM, in a couple of minutes I was parking my bike at their parking lot. Since we walked in pretty early around 12.30ish the place was empty and I could go in atleast once without being seated in there waiting room. 

They seemed to have done a pretty decent job on the décor front. Parasol with wooden chairs and tables arranged in a courtyard filled with white stones trying to create a dhaba atmosphere!

Once we were seated comfortably, I jogged through the menu. I ordered Malai Paneer to begin with, followed by Kulcha’s and rotis along with Paneer Kofta. On the drinks front I ordered for a thanda lassi which is one of their specialties. They serve chilled Lassi in aluminium tumbler that retains its chillness.

Malai Paneer:  6 pieces of paneer fried, topped with capsicums, onions and tomatoes and sided with green chutney. Uncontrollably oozing malai over the sides of the paneer like hot lava and sitting in the middle is a giant pot of green chutney, if there was ever an ad for clogged arteries this may be it. And while any self-respecting human being can’t eat like this on a daily basis, sometimes it just feels good to be bad. Don’t you agree?

Kulcha/Roti & Paneer Kofta: Since I had asked the staff to recommend something on the spicier side, he took it a little too seriously and made sure my kulcha and Kofta had tones and tones of sliced green chilli added to it. Did it work? Nah! I was picking out each chilli and throwing it away and it turned out to be a hassel to me. Kulcha’s and roti’s were good minus the chillis but I was disappointed with the Paneer Kofta and to be frank I am always disappointed with any koftas I order; no one seems to get it right. But the problem with the curry was not only the kofta’s, even the gravy was too strong of garlic paste and cloves which further spoilt its taste.

Lassi: To be frank I am not a lassi person. But I still love to try it from here. I will elaborate my first experience on lassi experience something like this:  

Well, ummm, yeah, this is what arrived shortly after placing our order. I’ll admit, I stared at it for about 60 seconds before picking it up. I didn’t really know what to think. Interesting presentation? It is chilled? Looks nice! After a few sip, there was a lot of forehead scratching and confused gazes. I started saying things like “I think I like it.” “Yeah, I mean I don’t hate it.” “I think I just drank lassi.” The whole thing was a bit of a mind f*ck to say the least. The flavors were kind of good, the texture was kind of milky white, and I still can’t decide if I liked it or not. But I did feel strangely captivated by it? I, I just don’t know. I think I like it, maybe!

CHULHA CHAUKI KA DHABA:

Address: 13, 7th Cross, 2nd Phase, JP Nagar

Contact no: 080 3232 7799