Tigers Experience - Mango Leather aka AAM PAPAD of Amritsar

Mango Leather as they would call it 

The Story of the AaM Papad .

Who found this products? How as it invented ? what mangoes to use? do they really crush the mango with their feet ? what chemical do thy use to ferment the mango pulp ? is it hygienic ? Who cares ... just eat and enjoy the street food of Amritsar .

Well this was a to do in my two days at Amritsar besides other things, while Daktar Sahaib the culinaire, the hottest foodie of Amritsar abandoned me fto see a patient my exploration stil continued with him on the phone , trust me the man was in the OT and he was giving instructions to me where to find this Aam Papad man . 

And me forwarding al the instructions to the driver who had al his relatives in Canada and i felt like a piece of shit infornt of him and his richness heheheheh. I kept telling rehdi wala aam papad lena hai and he kept insisting that i shud not buy from the street instead wanted me to visit a store next to my rehdi man . Guess commissions work . Let me tell you a strange finding unlike other cities where taxi wala s get commission from carpet and antique sellers for bringing in the tourist Amritsar cabbies get commission from getting or taking foodies to famous restaurants . Definition of a true foodie city . 

Anyway we did manage to find the world famous Ram Lubhaya Rehdi wala on Lawrence road infront of DAV school for girls ... a pleasant young man busy as hell with girls flaunting around him for the chatpata aam papad HIS WAY . He greets me with a perfect Punjabi 'Hello Jee' while attending to the customers , i stood quietly watched him and his team malign the aam papad and savor it with their generic masalas chutneys to make all the kiddos happy . 

Vikram the Studd 

Full display of his Aam Papad collection , a pleasure to the eye and to the hungry chapata pallette.. aparently he has 15 varieties or ways of serving his aam papad along with several other generic churan golis.

The Proud Man

Vikram the second generation of Lubhaya ram - they have been in business since 50 years . Like a true punjabi he asked me "Sir Jee tussi kithe rehnde ho ?" Sir where do you stay ? - he was looking for an international flavor i guess .. first i thot i shud say London but then i thot to my self probably this man would have relatives living in the queens palace by now so avoided and told him I stay In Ganda Singh Wala .. my village on Majitha Road  and Major Ganda Singh Wala was my Great Grand Father ... the man fell on my feet and wanted to be blessed .. i was like Bhai maine kya kar diya ? He then told me that his family stays on our land behind the haveli and he and his family owes our family everything they have today .. thanks to the generosity of my Grand father who gave the land to them as a good will .  

so now the story changes - he hands the redi to his workers pulls me aside and then says "Sir Jee Can i take a selfie with you" i almost died  hehehehehehehehe i almost fell down laughing .. but anyways to keep him happy i did pose . He wanted t show off to his friends that the landlords grandson was with him blah blah  ... 

Mango Leather

As per Vikram - they take out the pulp spread it and let it dry as simple as that but as per wiki they add some chemical to make it rubbery and thick and it acts like a drying agent. I beleive Vikrams side of the story and i love Aam Papad come what may .

His Collection of Aam Papads

So how does he do his magic ? How does he convert a regular aam papd to a special kick your fingers wala aam papad . Takes the black khata leather look alike aam papad .. hygienically on a plastic sheet .. presses it to make it a bit soft .. add his masalas , squeezes nimboo and then comes the magic chutney of pudina .. mashes al of the m together and hands it over to me ... the taste .. khata ,namkeen,mirchi,sticky .. fantastic . I asked him to pack the chutnye , he was wiling to but then it wudn have lasted the journey back home.

The End Product

I sampled almost all the product inthe Rehdi :)

The Gift Box for 350/-

So the take away gift bosx is nice packed so that the packets don't roll over etc . it has Aam Papad -4 ways - Meetha , Khata , Balls and strips , Plus Ram Ladoo, some churan and yes his magical masala.

I called him to confirm the pricing - he said i can give you a box from 50 to 1000 . Now that makes business sense . But i asked him if he would come to delhi and set up stall he said no way - the water of Dilli doesn't suit him and his product wil loose its charm.. and then the real thing " He wil not leave the rehdi position for anything".

Overall Tigers Experience - He is a Must Visit .. sample all on his Rehdi /stall .. ask him to make the aam papd mix for you .. pack loads of it to get back home . And by the way i asked him about the feet part - he  denied outright , infact he proved it to me that the aam papad was a fab product for digestion and it had amazing medicinal powers . I bought what he said came back home , fought with wife and now i have a bit everyday . Trying to reach the depth of how it was discovered wil keep you posted til then enjoy the chatapata Aam Papad from Amritsar .

Please to Note - He knows all the top food writers , Vinod Dua , Rocky Mayur , Marryyam , all the international dudes visiting Ambrasar like David etc etc .. be careful and don't bullshit him that you want to do a story on him .. heheheheeehe He will ask you which publication , which television channel and does not understand what a blogger is hehehehehe

His address is : Ram Lubhaya & Sons : Lawrence Road ,Peepal Ke Ped ke neeche ,Rehdi Near Girls College Amritsar . Thsts it . His name is Vikram. 

Thank You Aman Prahji ... U r great .

Tigers Experience - Amritsar - Giani Tea Stall

GIANI The TEA Stall 

Cooper Rd, Company Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab - enroute to Darbar Sahib...  55 year old Shop owned and run by Giani Gurmeet Singh jee .

Yes it is ICONIC and a must do when visiting Amritsar , Punjab.

There is definitely some magic in the Tea served all over Amritsar and i am totally convinced its the water of Amritsar which does the magic ... the food , the tea taste so different and good . The tea is nice kaadi hui perfect sugar levels - mild , milk just right and trust me you cannot just have one .

It was quite a sight of fitness freaks ending their routines with a must have chai at Gianis's and they said they cant go home without one Chai and gup shup ...  didn see any women tho . These guys have been coming to Giani for years after their walks , badminton games . I can can very much relate to them - we do it al the time here in delhi too . 

So I asked the man serving us about the crowd , he said sir sab rich log hain who go to work at 11 am so they have all the time to enjoy the morning tea .. fresh hone ke liye .

Picture Lifted from the Net 

I loved the utensil in which they made the tea , brass pateela with a welded handle .. and the best part is that they never make and store .. they serve every lot fresh - water leaves etc etc etc. 
I did ask the man on how many cups do they sell per day he said he had no idea .. its infinite , never counted them .

Me and my driver did an estimation .... opens at 5 am and its peak business hours til 10 am ...  they have 100 stools outside on the pavement .. each lot of 100 sit for a max of 30 mins .. hence  5 hrs x 2 x 100 = 1000 cups of tea in 5 hours with intervals of 30 mins each .. Each cup is for 15/-  now calculate his business volume heheheheheheheheh.

 Besides tea the man is also know for his omelettes and his sunny side eggs . 

Tigers Experience : What an experience , being a Tea freak loved every sip of the chai .. had two cups and was still keen on the third til i realised where would i go to piddle hehehehe.. a must visit hole in the wall . Small places small pleasures. A must do on the way to the Golden Temple .

Sad part is that his son's dont want to get involved in dad's business so wonder who wil take the legacy ahead ?

Why is tea in Punjab Made in Brass or Peetal ke bartan ?Why is Tea more enjoyable in Mitee ke kulad ?

Tigers Experience - Kacheri Wale Nutri Tawa Kulche

After a successful hearing at the court , after bribing the whole world to get my work done .. i asked the lawyer Bhai sahab kuch khila pila toh do ... and he promptly inthe ambrasari style - "O jee kee gal kar ditee .. anil de Nutri Kulcha Khao the best in town .. people come from far far away to eat them and naal tussi chai v jaroor peene hai ".. oh no not a good sign hehehehhehehe I personally would not like to visit the courts again ...

Well anyways i sat down on this wooden creaking bench , the cleanest i could spot amongst the millions flies .. the flies were also so well trained that as i sat down they disappeared lol .. a good food adevnturer has to ignore such species to enjoy the food .. and then came the well awatied Nutri Kulcha .. along with came the owner Anil ... young hip n happening man with a team of mustandas .. the one's you see in punjabi movies , Kanada return heheheheheh. They all work as a team . He sets up stall at 10 am and by 3 pm he is all OVER . 

The Nutri Kulcha Tawa wala

Delicious Amritsar Nutri Kulcha

The Bench

The Tawa Nutri

 Deep red colour , tangy flavour filled with masalas so addictive ; could easily pass away for mutton takatak .. relished it to the end. Served garam garam straight from the Tawa. 

The World Famous Kulcha

I loved the Kulcha more .. dabbed in the masala from the tawa .. slightly crisp on one side .

The Tawa

The Magicians Tawa.... 

Though i missed the making process - i tried to understand and grasp whatever i could from Anil (and you know why - the punjabi they speak in ASR is different from the others .. most of it went over my head ,being a punjabi)..  he said he cooks in refined oil adds Paste of - Garlic , Onions, Tomatoes , and other mixed veggies and then tops it with some magic Masalas and goes Taka Tak tak ... and thats it Tawa Nutri is ready to be served  ... The kulcha is dabbed in the masala fromt he tawa to give it the necessary ting . 

No rocket science in the making the Famous Nutri Tawa but the taste was amazing .. spicy chatpata , yes fulfilling for sure but greedily i had three kulchas ...  They would not tell me how much is per plate as my kind lawyer insisted on paying .. but my guess is Rs.20 /- per plate . There definitely was some magic in what i ate . 

Now the downside and i hope im not taken to court for this because what im going to say has been told to me by people who eat Nutri Tawa regularly in amritsar ... and i dont want to spoil Anil's rosy roti . Apparently most Nutri Kulcha guys put Charbi (animal fat) while they cook it on the tawa to give it the addictive flavour ... hope its not true .. I asked anil why his nutri was thick and greasy .. he promptly said sir we use refined only and other maybe using other material :)

Well keeping what im sold in mind .. the Nutri was delicious , the kulcha could be had on its won .. just yum and you could get it all over Amritsar .. i saw stalls on Lawrence road also.

This is at the District Courts Amritsar .