Maa Annapurna Gajak Bhandar

You can find us at 134 inside Surajpole on Janta Marg. We are mostly known for our gajak, which is that crunchy sweet made with sesame and jaggery. It is really a seasonal thing, so when winter comes, we are working non-stop. The smell of roasting sesame is something you get used to after a while. We have big heavy hammers for crushing the mixture and it takes a lot of strength to do it right. Our shop is pretty small and it can get very warm inside when the fires are going. People line up outside when we have a fresh batch coming out because it’s better when it’s still a bit warm. We don’t bother with much decoration in the shop. We just have the counters and the workspace. In the off-season, we do other things, but gajak is what keeps us going. The address is easy to find if you know the Surajpole area well enough. We’ve had the same workers for years and they know exactly how the texture should feel. It’s a bit of a messy job with the sugar and seeds everywhere, but that’s just how it goes. We try to be fair with our prices and give people a good amount in their packets. It’s just a local shop doing things the old way without making a big fuss about it.