Chocolate Paan, From Mysore With Love

There’s this little grocery store in Mysore that sells ‘Chocolate Paan‘. That is what the shop calls it, at least. This is not the ordinary meetha-paan-with-chocolate-syrup-wrapped-in-a-betel-leaf that any paan centre anywhere can make for you. This is a proper chocolate – white chocolate, to be precise – filled with all the intricate flavours of a meetha paan. The white chocolate exterior is delicately sweetened, considering the sweetness of the meetha paan inside. To make it even more clear, the white chocolate shell contains a stuffing made of ground meetha paan.

Put it in your mouth and bite into it, and your taste buds will be assaulted, in the most wonderful kind of way. Unlike most ‘unique’ products that have only a ‘novelty value’ and fizzle out in terms of taste, this chocolate paan is mouthwateringly delicious. It is difficult to resist temptation and eat just one! Good that they are so reasonably priced, then, right? Just Rs. 15 per piece.

How do I know all this? Thanks to this Facebook page.

I had been intrigued by the chocolate paan ever since I read about it on Hottebaaka, a few months ago, especially because the post praised it to the high heavens. Since there was no one travelling between Bangalore and Mysore, sampling this delicacy remained a dream. Till last night.

As if the Universe conspired that I should have the chocolate paan after dinner last night, the OH got a sudden work-emergency call on Thursday, requiring him to book his tickets and leave for Mysore immediately. He remembered this little chocolate-ey dream of mine, looked up the place, and got a few home for me. Need I tell you that they tasted extra sweet to me? 😉

Thank you, OH. 😀 May there be the mutual fulfillment of many such little dreams of ours, in the times to come!

For those of you who are interested, the shop that sells this is Badri Maruthi Stores, in Shivrampet, Mysore. The Facebook page says the paan costs Rs. 8 a piece, but we were charged Rs. 15 for the same. They come packed in little plastic wrappers, tied up neatly like a goodie bag, and are super easy to carry for friends and relatives. Ideal for gifting too, I would say!

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