My Ode to a whiff of Ghee scented Gandhinagar

I came down to Adyar today afternoon, to leave my Activa at the Kun Honda showroom in Kasturba Nagar for repairs. After this, I walked from there to the bus stop near Aavin Roundtana. (Anyone who knows Adyar will probably know the Roundtana.) I enjoyed the walk alongside a platform, traffic and numerous puddles. I carefully manoeuvred these puddles, like the people walking in front of, and behind me, with a degree of calm that amazed me. I think that calm and enjoyment is to do with the fact that I walked here after months, and I don’t remember walking the entire length of the foot-wide platform with broken stones (for literally eons… now I'm cribbing) along this large and busy stretch of Sardar Patel Road.


As I walked down, the aroma of sweets prepared meticulously and snacks made of dough smothered with ghee gave me an olfactory high. Ahhh… Grand Snacks! The heavenly smell reached me from a shop that is located on Gandhi Nagar 2nd Main Road (note the location). The shop is well inside Gandhinagar, on the opposite side of this huge road, I am sure the smell pervades almost the entire Gandhinagar area everyday.


Grand Snacks has been a part of our lives (my family) and kitchen shelves since I was a kid. Grand Snacks makes sweets and savouries that have a truly homemade authenticity and taste. (Not like those Jhangris that taste of sugar and oil, or mass produced milk sweets falling below standards.) Grand Snacks is set up in an old house with pillars, and a yard – you’ll find such houses in Adyar and Alwarpet (to my knowledge). The picture the shop presents makes you feel as if it has been there for decades. My mind conjures up a black and white image of an orthodox Brahmin cooking there.


Grand Snacks has for years been having women workers with sarees of the same design. For a long time the sarees were of Mysorepak colour. (Perfect for a sweet shop, wasn’t it?) My Dad always reserves a portion of his income for Grand Snacks. He loves the potato chips and Bombay kaja – a picturesque creation made of maida and a sugary substance that I think has khoa in it, and it’s tastiest when it is freshly made. Bombay kaja is a fat oval Mysore Sandal soap shaped spiral, with almost the same colour (my Grandpa still calls it Mysore Sandal soap sweet. And I know you’re probably craving sinfully delicious things now, but I am looking at Bombay kaja from an artistic perspective. I avoid sweets and fried snacks unless I am forced to eat them.) Another pride of the sweet shop, the Laddu, deserves to be only referred to by the adjective Royal. The other creations at Grand Snacks are also superb – lip smacking Sonpapdi, Coconut burfi, perfectly shaped yum milk pedas, kaju katli, and much more; the delicious savouries include thattai, pretty kaimurukus, gama gama pakodas and more. My relatives have their favourites. One of my cousins loves the Cheedai, another cousin is a big fan of the Kaju Katli, and my Dad loves the Pakoda and likes to have the Kaaraboondhi at 11 pm.


There’s more to Grand Snacks. You can indulge in treats like Adai Avial, Sambar Vada and Badam Milk (out of this world) every now and then. Grand Snacks also offers curd / tamarind / coconut rice, but not very often. These delicacies are served in “Dhonnais” (old fashioned leaf cups) and are given for free. But these come in small batches and customers will be waiting to grab them… you’ve to be alert. Grand Snacks also sells tomato and onion thokkus, vathakozhambu, adai and rasam mixes, & podis. Whenever my aunt comes from Mumbai, she buys some tomato thokku.


What started as a blog post ended up as a PR article. (I can imagine you nodding in agreement… I hope you aren’t nodding off.) But I am happy that my ode to this Adyar landmark is truly heartfelt, as it came in a slew of words I couldn’t hold back. Grand Snacks deserves praises from a million people for all the happiness it gives away with each of its offerings.