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Taj Chaat House

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Lucas Kutik

Professor Ball – Phillips

Blog Post 2

Taj Chaat House

Our classes second field trip was a trip to an Indian grocery store and cafe/restaurant.  We took a trip to the Taj Chat house in Plano,  it was a very interesting grocery store and the first one I have ever seen to have a restaurant attached.  Sen’s article, From Curry Mahalas to Chaat Cafes explains that, “Chat is a kind of food that is prepared and mixed fresh on the spot” (Sen, 204).  Which might explain why they like to have a Chaat in a grocery store, so they can have all their ingredients fresh and readily available to them.  He goes on further in his article to point out the origin of the word and food, “Chaat originated as a road side snack food in North India. Chaat means to ‘lick’ or to ‘taste'” (Sen, 205).  The first thing that I noticed when I walked into the grocery store was bags of rice as far as the eye could see.  Rices which I did not know even existed.  There was puffed rice, which looked like mini popcorn, black rice, red rice, and more.  Rice has had a significant effect on Indian culture dating very far back, and it still does today.

After walking around the grocery store for a while and observing all the different Indian cuisines, we headed to the restaurant.  The first thing I noticed when I walked into the restaurant was the obvious vibe change from the grocery store.  In the article Sen writes, “The café sales counter was neatly separated from the preparation are and seating space producing order in this chaotic environment” (Sen, 210).  However, he goes on to add that, “the café was no more local than the grocery store and the experiences in the two spaces were not segregated” (Sen, 212).    There were a lot of different options on the menu to choose from, but almost every single one of them included rice in the dish.  I ordered a fried spicy chickpea dish, which I cannot remember the name of, and also a chai tea and gulab jamun.  They were all good and very tasty, but the highlight of the meal was easily the gulab jamun.  The gulab juman are like two pancake balls soaked in honey and sweet, sugary, sauce.  I would suggest this dish to any non  adventurous eaters who are afraid to venture into Indian cuisine.  The spicy fried chickpea dish was also very good, though.  And I would also recommend it to non adventurous eaters as well because it may have a lot of kick  and spices to it, but it isn’t an overwhelming flavor and it pairs well with the crispy bread.  Overall, I really enjoyed this trip, it was probably my favorite trip out of the two, and I would recommend the Taj Chaat House to any fans of Indian cuisine.  I would also recommend just visiting the café even if you are not interested in Indian culture because the food is pretty good and affordable.

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