Malaiyo, nimish, Daulat-ki-chaat, malai makhan the dish goes by many names
Sometime last year, during a book launch, I was interacting with a European author after his eloquent talk when he asked me if my name meant ‘that yellow-coloured soft sweet that’s eaten in the mornings’. I was already a fan of malaiyo, which fits the description, but could not for the life of me figure out why he had referred to my name.
Then, a few weeks later, a friend asked if my name derived from the Lucknowi dish available only during the winters. A sweet similar to the Daulat ki Chaat she had eaten in Old Delhi, she said. Vir Sanghvi’s account of the street food festival in Delhi, where Varanasi took the honours, had prompted her question. By this time, I was intrigued and looked up malaiyo, Daulat ki Chaat and, of course, nimish. It turns out the dish has a fourth name too malai makhan.