How many of you are from Biratnagar who has been to Baiju’s Jerry Puri Shop? If you haven’t been here yet, I recommend you to come here. Luckily, Baiju uncle’s jerry shop is near my house and I have been his regular customer from my childhood.
Baiju Shah, the owner of the shop, has been running his shop for more than 50 years. He runs the shop with his wife, son, and one assistant. The shop is next to Anil Photo Studio, near Neuro Chowk. Unfortunately, there is no board or name tag that indicates Baiju’s shop. But there’s just one jerry shop in the area, so you will not have much confusion!
Well, it is not like any other ordinary sweet shop in Biratnagar. It has its own uniqueness. First of all, the size of jerry and puri are both tiny. The jerry or jalebi (deep-fried wheat flour batter soaked in sugar syrup) is full of sweetness and the puri (deep-fried bread made from unleavened whole-wheat flour) is a little thick but perfect for heavy breakfast. The combination of jerry-puri is incomplete without the sabji – the spicy potato curry which has consistent taste.
I like to eat Baiju’s jerry-puri as a sandwich by putting single jerry between two puris. Even the pricing here is done differently. You’ll have to pay for the number of puri and jerry you have eaten and it is not served in kilograms or grams. The price for one jerry or one puri is NPR 5 and the sabji comes for free!
If you are new to Biratnagar, and do not want to miss the major things to do here, add ‘breakfast at Baiju’s Jerry Shop’ in the list. You will find hot and tasty jerry-puri in the morning from around 6:00 and it will last for few hours. Make sure, if you are running late, you visit the shop on weekdays because on Saturdays, the shop is crowded by people from different places. If you are patient enough, and want to be the part of the crowd, you should visit the shop on Saturday! You can also eat your food elsewhere as there is the facility of takeaway too.
If you are a hygiene freak, who is super conscious of the cleaneliness, this local shop might not be an ideal place for you. But for the real foodies, who want to experience the classic taste of Biratnagar, Baiju’s shop is your must-visit-shop.
If you go on weekdays, when Baiju uncle is less busy, you can hear his stories about how he shifted his old shop that was just a hut into a new one, his Bombay stories, his experience on selling jerry-puri for more than 50 years, and how he has been attached to his business and how he has profitted in all these years. Baiju uncle is a fun-person who panicks a little when the crowd gets bigger, but at the end, he loves to serve his customers and makes sure everyone gets to eat his yumyy jerry-puri!
Aleena Rayamajhi | Sat, 28 Aug, 2021.
got watery mouth while reading from … How many of you ….. till …… yummy jerry puri . may be one day let this wish be concurred.