Is Ahmedabad warming up to non-veg food?

While blatantly diverse in terms of food, both Islam and Jainism managed to beautifully amalgamate in Gujarat inspite of their obvious food differences. While the area across the bridge in the old city was considered to be mecca for those who wanted to devour luscious, spicy kebabs, chaap, and meat samosas, the other side of the city was more about vegetarian food.
It is also believed that Emperor Akbar turned to vegetarianism in this very city! And then, centuries later, a leading international pizza chain opened its first ever vegetarian pizza outlet in Ahmedabad after a thorough survey. However, when the same pizza chain recently turned one of its veggie outlets into a nonveg one, we are now thinking if it is time that the city has finally opened up to the rich world of nonveg cuisine. Says educationalist Nisrin Saqib, “We used to live in the old city until last year and have only just shifted to Ashram Road. My parents were apprehensive about the food and thought that we wouldn’t get non-veg food as easily as we used to anymore – but they were pleasantly surprised when I showed them places around our house. Now they enjoy exotic dishes like shakshoukas and moussakas.”
While the number of restaurants serving non-vegetarian food has certainly gone up over the years, new cuisines have also been introduced to Amdvad’s foodies. From taking pizzas and sandwiches to a different level, the city is now home to Mediterranean, Japanese, Thai and European non vegetarian delicacies. Says PR professional, Aditi Shishoo, “Ahmedabad has certainly embraced non vegetarian cuisine! Now I can name at least two places that offer authentic sushi and more. Who would’ve thought that finding raw fish dishes in Ahmedabad would become so easy?”
Non-vegetarian food has also found its way from the restaurants to trendy food wagons on the busy streets of SG highway and more. With juicy, gustatory chicken and lamb burgers to heavenly American style hot dogs and sublimely creamy and mellow cold meat salads being served right on the roads, one can easily agree that the non-veg trend has fully arrived. Says event planner Rushina Doctor, “Earlier non-veg food used to be a taboo, when I was in school I used to refrain from admitting to my friends that I ate chicken but now, it is more like a trend. Now people get surprised when you admit to being a complete vegetarian and don’t even eat eggs.” An interesting thing to note is that people too have become more comfortable with the idea of nonveg food and even strict vegetarians don’t scrunch their noses at the mention of meat.
Not just restaurant and eateries wise, even shops and stores serving cold cuts and gourmet meats has gone up over the years. Now, the city has one cold cuts store in almost every prime area, including Vijay Cross Roads, Vastrapur and Prahladnagar. And not just in numbers, these stores find buyers for expensive cuts of cured meats and interesting seafood varieties including freshwater salmon, squid andcrabs. The store owner, who does not wish to be named, “Some of these meat cuts cost as much as ` 4,700 for a 1.5 kg fish and we still find buyers. I now find a lot of Gujaratis also opening up to non-vegetarian food.”
So love it or hate it, nonveg food is most certainly trending and looks like it is here to stay!