Moving away from the slick ice cream parlours, Sohini Chakravorty discovers the local, hand made ice cream flavours of Hyderabad.
Managing a busy parking lot on a hot summer day can be a tiresome task. But Mohammad S looks forward to his ice cream break of the day, when he manages to get some respite. The Famous ice cream near the Mozamjahi market is his regular haunt. In between his shifts he manages to enjoy mango or anjeer flavoured ice creams. “It helps me cool down otherwise it's difficult to continuously work in this heat,” he says. In fact, there are a row of ice creams shops like Shah, Gafoor ice cream that line the road, apart from Famous ice cream which is indeed quite famous and a popular landmark in the city. Away from the slick ice cream parlours and gelato kiosks, Hyderabad has quite a few local ice cream shops which dish out their trademark ice creams and boast of having natural flavours.
“Ours is a 55-year-old shop,” informs Mohammad Mohiuddin who has been working in the Famous ice shop for 15 years. “Our USP is we make hand made fresh ice creams and the ones with seasonal fruits like mango and chikoo are quite popular among our customers,” he says. With chairs haphazardly strewn around under a tented shelter in front of the ice cream counter, these ice creams shops are fuss free. In one corner is a huge machine that is used to make the ice creams; it takes approximately half an hour to make one batch of ice creams.
“The prices of the ice creams start from Rs. 10 and goas high as Rs. 50. It is not an exclusive product here, everybody can enjoy ice creams,” points out Sheikh Mehmood from Mahbubnagar who makes it a point to enjoy the ice creams whenever he is in the city. Even the afternoon sun doesn't deter some of the customers from enjoying the fruit salad ice cream. Many prefer to sit inside their autos while relishing their ice creams.
A little away from Famous is Bilal ice cream shop which stands out with its well done and bright décor and a chaat counter. “This is an old building which belonged to the last Nizam. The other ice creams shops are very old and we are relatively new that's why the idea was to offer something more to the customers other than ice creams, in terms ambience and food,” explains Maqsood Ahmed Afsar, the manager of the shop. Old black and white pictures of the city adorn the walls of the shop, stone walls, high ceiling and big chandeliers add an old charm to the place. A B.com student, Farhan has found a comfortable part time job in the ice cream shop. Apart from occasionally enjoying his favourite anjeer ice cream, he also has the pleasure of entertaining his friends in the shop. “In the evening the place is packed with people. We close only around 12 in the night,” he says.
A little away from this part of the city, tucked away in a narrow lane of Sindhi colony is another ice cream haunt, Sri Radhe. If you judge the place by its name, then you will certainly miss the creamy, natural flavoured ice creams. “Ours are completely natural ice creams. Ice creams made out of custard apple, black plums or chappan bhog are extremely popular among our customers,” says Ajay Mehta the manager of the shop. They have another outlet in Abids.
So this summer, maybe its time to move away from Bavarian chocolates or choco rocco and explore the local ice cream flavours. You will be surprised with what the city has to offer.
Keywords: ice cream parlours
