One of the reasons why people throng Numaish at Exhibition Grounds in Nampally is because of the sheer joy of indulging in some street food treats. The food items are mostly inexpensive and with the huge number of crowd turnout everyday, nothing sits for too long on the shelves, ensuring food safety.
Besides the numerous ice cream, popcorn and drink kiosks scattered around the entire exhibition ground, there are stand alone stalls selling kebabs, noodles, haleem, chat and what not.
To keep the customers going and forget the long hours on foot, there is popcorn in as many flavours as one want. The regular salted pop corn too is available. Another favourite at the exhibition is the pink cotton candy, popularly called buddhi ka baal . The long queue of people make sure they get over the moment it gets ready. A few yards inside the main entrance gate is a stall called ‘puffs.’ A peep inside will find puffs in all sizes and shapes here. And, from the crowd which is gathered around it, they are surely doing brisk business. For convenience sake and for prominence the food stalls aren’t mixed with the regular stalls selling clothes and footwear. They are either in the alleys or on one extreme end of the two rows of shops. This ensures safety and the saves the risk of the smell of food items on clothes, shoes, linen etc.
The biggest stalls which cannot go un noticed are the Pista House stalls. Done all in green including the floor, customers are making a beeline as early as 5 p.m. A fast seller here, haleem is also a favourite dinner ‘item’ for Numaish goers.
If haleem is too heavy for your appetite, then kebabs are also a hot seller (literally) here.
Prepared only after the orders are placed, the kebabs come to you ‘straight from the skewers’ and one can watch them as they are being prepared. Priced at Rs. 80 for 8 pieces is the reshmi kebab. A little bigger than bite-size, they are done to perfection leaving no scope for compromise of the final product. Also popular here are the chicken sheekh and tangdi kebab also called the kalmi kebab. Also to be tried here is the Pathar ka gosh.
Also up for grabs are tandoori chicken in various portions. Relish your kebabs at Bade Miyaan Kebabs and they have five different stalls all around the exhibition grounds. These stalls also meet your Chinese food needs. Chilli chicken and chicken manchuria, chicken 65, noodles, fried rice et all. Only the counter window differs. In no mood for ‘friendly talk’ the salesmen in these stall are quick at taking payments and rendering change and pointing one to the respective window as well.
Aerated drink lovers will be in for a crude shock as the popular cola drinks are replaced by a brand called RC which tastes like a mix of the two most popular cola in the market.
A stall with the number 26 written is selling everything for Rs. 26 and the jalebis here are made in front of your eyes, right from frying to dipping them in the sugar syrup. Four pieces of juicy jalebis come in a plate.
The chaats have been a let down but the Pav Bhaji meets our expectation. Mirchi lovers are lapping up the thick battered mirchi bajjis and seem to be loving it.
After all this, visit the AP prisons stall and take home some Osmania biscuits and green vegetables to prepare a healthy lunch the following day.
