Man From Matunga

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May 09, 2006

Much Ado Over Khakhras

This appeared in today's Mumbai Mirror.

Last month, I had to travel to a Middle-Eastern country for two days. I called a friend of mine who lives there to tell him that I was coming and we fixed up to meet for lunch, the day after my arrival. I then asked him if he wanted anything. He hesitated for a moment and then said “Can you get me some khakhras?”

I can understand Gujjus pining for khakhras, but a true-blood CKP wanting khakhras? Apparently, even though he is the general manager of one of the biggest supermarket chains in that country, which specifically caters to the large Indian population as well, they don’t stock khakhras.

I have grown up with khakhras. As a child, I would see my Mom take left-over chapatis from the previous day and then on a tava, using a thick, cloth-covered “datto”, deliver a constant pressure to the chapati, until it became thin and crisp. And we had to make sure that the khakhra dabba was packed air-tight and not left open under the fan, otherwise the khakhras would become un-crisp within minutes.

Many years ago, we used to eat khakhras with ghee and sugar, usually for breakfast or in the afternoon as a snack. Then for a long time, I didn’t really have much to do with them, except during my earlier trips abroad, when khakhras and theplas were packed for me just in case I didn’t find vegetarian food to eat in the “phoren” countries.

In the last few months though, thanks to the need to start eating healthier foods, I’ve re-stared having them as an evening snack. I quickly learnt that instead of ghee and sugar, its better to lather them with mustard and mayonnaise. Mmm…a mustard-mayo combo on a plain khakhra…just try it – its awesome.

Since my Mom no longer makes khakhras, and not knowing where they come from these days, I stopped over at Chheda (remember the four pillars of Matunga?) on my way home. I asked for their khakhra counter, hoping to quickly pick-up a couple of packets. Quickly? Couple? I was suddenly faced with khakhra choice-fatigue. There were more than 30 types of khakhras – plain, masala, low-cal, methi, Jain and even Schezwan. And in different sizes. I called my friend again and asked him what he wanted. After asking me how many types there were and listening to my incredulous answer, he opted for plain, masala and (how can you resist this) Schezwan.

I picked up these packets and then bubble-wrapped them to make sure they wouldn’t crack. This incident made for good dinner-table conversation that day and I also learnt that our khakhras now came from a co-operative in Nallasopara, where my mother-in-law helps out members of this co-op who make khakhras for a living. It is a time-consuming, labor-intensive job, but it does generate income. And apparently, there are many such co-ops, as well as individual women who make khakhras in their homes and sell them to make some extra money.

Over coffee at a Starbucks, after a great Mexican meal, as I handed over the khakhras to my friend he told me that they were actually now going to try and source khakhras from India to stock in their stores. Which I guess means that I don’t need to carry khakhras the next time I visit that country.

Posted by bhavinj at May 9, 2006 11:36 AM

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Posted by: Shareecomment at September 9, 2007 12:01 AM

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