A dish about colours, a dish about flavours and culture which was brought to India by non other than our lovely Parsi community is what I am gonna tell you all about.

Its the stoty about how I met The Dabeli.

My sister in law whom I call Bhabhi got a chance to live and enjoy around 3 to 5 years of her life in Mumbai during her college days.

She used to tell stories about how good was the Mumbai street food full of spices and wholesome after taste, there nothing missing on those roadside bites which could have compensated by any other food item.
One of those dishes which she loved on those street foods was Dabeli, which literally meant pressed in Gujarati.The dish is said to have been created by Keshavji Gabha Chudasama also known as Kesha Malam, a resident of Mandvi, Kutch, in the 1960s. When he started business he sold dabeli at the price of one anna or six paisa.

Over the years of Dabeli’s existence, its first name has been erased by the mainstream. Its original name, however, doubles as a hint to its origins – Kutchi Dabeli.Today, while he no longer serves the delicacy himself, the shop continues to run by his descendants. The recipe – it is claimed – remains unchanged.
At around the same time, the then Bombay state split into two: Maharashtra and Gujarat. As a result, communities also migrated. Over the years, Maharashtra developed as an aspirational state for better trade and people from Gujarat would cross the new borders for work. The Dabeli accompanied and found a new audience to woo.

This love for the snack is so widespread that a few restaurants in Mumbai serve variations of just this one dish, such as at Matunga Dabeli.

One day bhabhi got some dabeli the very first time in our house.At first sight it looked like a sweet burger or a time bomb because it was very red in colour from a distance due to its mouth full of pomegranate and mini savoury fritter bites known as Bhujiya.It portrays like a monster with its pointy teeth grabbing some blood flesh in its mouth, but it’s that evil when it comes to taste.

It has beautiful layers of flavour hidden beneath the sweet and savoury bun of mashed potatoes mixed with sweet and spicy sauce with a savoury crunch of bhujiya end with the grand finale of sweet and refreshing pomegranate crunch !

Peanuts are also used for enhancing the crunchiness in the dish.

These all elements may sound very different from each other which they definitely are but when it comes to food, there are magicians in this world who can make anything come out of their hats making us astonished and surprised with joy each and every time.