Train journeys have been an important part of our growing up years (as for most of us), but shooting for a TV show called #StationMastersTiffin helped me relive those experiences from a different perspective.
One such experience was Sandila, a miniscule station en route to Lucknow. I recall, as a kid, we used to take the Punjab mail back home, the train would make a quick early morning stop at Sandila. This was a station where we wouldn’t even alight to fill water, Lucknow being very close you didn’t need to, plus you’d be scared to miss the train!
So the only thing to do in your half-awake condition was put your hand out of the window & get those window-sized Kulhads covered with bright coloured kite paper.
It was almost a cardinal sin not to bring along Sandila ke laddoo when you were visiting Lucknow. There would be swarms of these Laddoo-walas at the station who would spring into action at the arrival of a train. The laddoos are, till date, packed & sold in mini Kulhads that are interestingly shaped & sized to fit through the train window bars, perfect for the vendors to quickly sell thru the windows & for passengers to buy without getting down, especially as the train wouldn’t stop for long.
What’s also fascinating is that the train station actually has a “लड्डू कक्ष” which acts as the warehouse for all these laddoos!
As a kid I always wanted to get off at this station & figure out the story behind those laddoos. So this time during the shoot, we drove back to Sandila from Lucknow & it was a kid in a toy store moment for me as we got a 4th Gen Laddoo maker to make those laddoos.
There are many such transit places in our train journeys that we just pass by & the anticipation of the destination & our itinerary takes over. Sandila was always that town, where rarely anyone gets off. A town where conversations revolve around mainly 1 thing, you guessed it, Laddoos! And quietly, sleepily it has just lived on, among all these big Riyaasats & Talukas.
Sandila may probably not ever be as big as Lucknow, but its charm will always live on, through its laddoos.
What’s your transit story?
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Passion for food and creativity has driven me to #Ranveer Brar .I’m quiet sure that someone hardly imagine to do another work when there ia streaming Ranveer Brar. He is a signature man like a signature dish of a 5star Hotel.
Passion for food and creativity has driven me to #Ranveer Brar .I’m quiet sure that someone hardly imagine to do another work when there ia streaming Ranveer Brar. He is a signature man like a signature dish of a 5star Hotel.
.Passion for experiment in food has driven me to Shef Ran🏆 Brar. I can’t imagine,how a Shef can creative to make a smile on our face.Really we are so so so so lucky that You Tube is giving us all the updates .Ranveer Brar is not only a Shef but also a ……….
Hey Chef, thanks for showcasing unheard and unknown facts of different part of this country.
For the fact that i am aware of is snacks sold in train, junction, not ladoos.
Thanks for sharing the story.
Loads of Love Chef
Warm Regards,
Vijaya Kumar
Bengaluru
Karnataka
THANK YOU!!!!
Wow, interesting as usual
You are a great story teller with little missed out in the rush through a busy life style
Hats off to the beautiful narration Ranveer betah.
I always love the way present which overflows with your love & passion of what you do
Be blessed. Long live…💜
THANK YOU!!!!
Oh so nostalgic Ranveer, thanks for bringing this up for the generation which I feel have grown up not perhaps knowing that trains do have windows which have bars…
Sandila k laddu 😋😋😋😋 I love it aapne kahte kya 😋
Where’s the recepie for sandila laddus😊
Wow. I saw the link on YouTube and glad I saw it. Hats off to you chef Ranveer for bringing this thing to the world. I have enjoyed these laddu on train journey many times. Still makes me drool.
Nice story . It is good to see someone has fulfilled childhood dream .it’s sweet to think like a kid. I remember one of my childhood wish but like you it is not yet fulfilled but hope in future it may. My hometown is Shrirampur ,it is also called as Belapur,it is a taluka place. While you take passenger train from Shrirampur to pune ,one railway station named ranjangaon comes which is famous for Ganpati Mandir. The railway station is very quiet, it feels a calm place when train approaches to ranjangaon it feels a like a small hill station ,ar least to me!!. My dream was to take all family members ,get down at railway station to enjoy the natural hills barefoot , then have homemade lunch there and then by evening take another passenger and return home. Hmmm… Hopefully I will go there..that’s it. But now due to covid many trains are not running..so wait wait wait…
Nice story . It is good to see someone has fulfilled childhood dream .it’s sweet to think like a kid. I remember one of my childhood wish but like you it is not yet fulfilled but hope in future it may. My hometown is Shrirampur ,it is also called as Belapur,it is a taluka place. While you take passenger train from Shrirampur to pune ,one railway station named ranjangaon comes which is famous for Ganpati Mandir. The railway station is very quiet, it feels a calm place when train approaches to ranjangaon it feels a like a small hill station ,or least to me!!. My dream was to take all family members ,get down at railway station to enjoy the natural hills barefoot , then have homemade lunch there and then by evening take another passenger and return home. Hmmm… Hopefully I will go there..that’s it. But now due to covid many trains are not running..so wait wait wait…
Nice story . It is good to see someone has fulfilled childhood dream .it’s sweet to think like a kid. I remember one of my childhood wish but like you it is not yet fulfilled but hope in future it may. My hometown is Shrirampur ,it is also called as Belapur,it is a taluka place. While you take passenger train from Shrirampur to pune ,one railway station named ranjangaon comes which is famous for Ganpati Mandir. The railway station is very quiet, it feels a calm place when train approaches to ranjangaon it feels a like a small hill station ,atleast to me!!. My dream was to take all family members ,get down at railway station to enjoy the natural hills barefoot , then have homemade lunch there and then by evening take another passenger and return home. Hmmm… Hopefully I will go there..that’s it. But now due to covid many trains are not running..so wait wait wait…
It was great show.I used to watch repeated telecast & never get bored but always got new & memorable experience.This was all because of our incredible India & flowless Chef.
hello chef….great fan of urs….love u for the passion u have for food….somehow i can relate to it as i luv cooking too…great to hear about sandila and always love watching you n trying ur recipes
Have tasted it as a child. Awesome taste. It is wonderful that you showcase the art of local Indian food.
Film.Piku has reference of these ladies.where Raghubir Yadav tells Irfan to bring do char kilo laddoos if he Visits his native place where Rana (Irfan khan) belongs.
I work in lucknow and live in hardoi, sandila district comes in the middle of hardoi from lucknow, i also buy sandila’s laddo. Ranveer sir i am your big big fan too and i love cooking. I want to be a chef like you.
And one day i will be a chef like you. I have preapred lot’s of recepies by watching your videos and even by myself. Tonight i have made kulfi around 1. 30 am and stored in refrigerator and after that i have prepared batter for jalebi around 2.30 am . Now i came to bed good night my 5 star chef
Only who get to travel this places can experience this Sindila laddu. So thank to let us know this unknown mouth watering amazing food stores
I am also belong to Lucknow…apnapan hai aapse kuch..💕
RB thanks for sharing Sandila Laddu,
Being a Sandilvi a pride moment for us.
Thanks RB
Yar i missed plz bring the receipe
It would have been nice to learn how Sandile ke laddoo got their distinctive flavour! I remember them well from a train journey filled childhood. One of the charms that one misses on flights that are taken now, where one has to make do with soulless sandwiches.
Wow, that’s lovely. Memorable for me as well We also ate those laddoos in our childhood. The next transit memory I have is from Allahabad where we get small size tiny samosas with some spices in them, don’t know what spices they put but it was amazing and angoori petha that’s heaven on earth can’t forget that amazing, taste ever.And at Banaras station you get dry dum aloo with sohaal, no comparison with that dish, in front of that every transit dish is failed in Banaras.
Sir please share the recipe of sandila ladoo
This was my child hood crush
Hallo Sir
Lovely writeup Actually I heard it for the first time .Request to show the Demo
Just loved it.. Story and pictures goosebumps aa gye.. Jaise train ki khidki se kbhi koi station dikh jata Tha to lgta tha ye bna b q h station.. Love you chef and this fascinating story
hay chef thanks for covering my hometown. i hope you like it 🙏