April A-Z Challenge: A Tale of Four Cities [D]

Blog entry #4

Dabeli | Duronto | Dominos | Dodda

Dabeli
I know we already covered cheese pav bhaji previously, but this is Mumbai special! You might think I’m a foodie, but I evolved into one only later in life, until then I used to just eat to live, with certain exceptions of Mom’s food and Mumbai street food. Growing up in the heart of Ghatkopar, a Gujarati locality, Dabeli was a commonplace word. Only recently, I realised that the meaning of the word "Dabeli" in Gujarati, pronounced as "Daa-bay-lee", is pressed. Laughed to myself hard after that realisation. Anyway, coming back, it’s basically Sev, dates or tamarind chutney, green chutney, raw onions, roasted peanuts, and some more masaledaar stuff in between a double Pav (sometimes a round bun), and my favourite ingredient - pomegranate. Although I’ve eaten Dabeli outside, my vote goes for Mom’s Dabeli :)

Duronto
Another train I’ve frequented - from campus to home (Hyderabad to Mumbai). A 12-hour overnight journey with a decent breakfast served in the morning before we get off at 8am. The best part for me about those train rides were the group of friends I travelled with. It was a diverse group, with one person from each group all coming together to travel to the same destination. We’d play games like Contact, and chat and get to know each other better, sometimes bonding over personal stories. Good times.

Dominos
In Chennai, I don’t think anyone gives Dominos more business than us. Akhilesh is extremely fond of pizza, and we’ve ordered all sorts of pizzas on days I don’t feel like cooking. Alternating between small and medium, thin crust and cheese burst, oregano and chilli flakes, these flat breads with cheese and toppings do not seem to diminish our marginal utility (Earlier note to self: add an economics concept here, ref) even a little bit!

Dodda
Dodda is a Kannada word for big. Its opposite is Chikka, for small. My Mom has 2 older sisters, one in Bangalore, the other in Chennai. While I refer to my Chennai aunt as Peddamma (big Mom in Telugu: Pedda + Amma), I have always referred to my Bangalore aunt as Doddamma - it all makes sense now (could not find an apt meme for "that realisation" face, so leaving it blank for now)! Or was this difference deliberately chosen because both their names start with the same letter?

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