Hot samosas ma'am? Fresh fruit ma'am? Kebabs? What will you have?”
When you step onto Broadway in Shivajinagar, that's the million-dollar question: “What will you have?”
Your senses are in a tizzy with the aromas of fresh samosas straight from the frying pan, piping hot seekh kebabs, spicy tandoori chicken, steaming chicken kebab rolls and a multitude of other dishes.
Everywhere you look, colours of every hue hit you.
There are tantalising kebabs in red, green and shades of orange, people vying for the vendor's attentionto get their order in first, fruit carts with cut pineapple, papaya, pomegranate, banana, watermelon and dates for the health conscious, pushcarts with ‘Fruit Shaik/Falooda' painted in bright colours. To get into the spirit of things, you need to sample as many dishes as you can.
The favourites
There are perfectly marinated chicken kebabs displayed to catch your eye. Seasoned meat-eaters will love the ‘phal' — tender strips of beef marinated in a spicy sauce and grilled to perfection.
Seekh kebabs and beef curry served with ‘idiappam' (string-hoppers) are favourites too.
Biryani, though popular, takes a back seat to the kebab spread.
The star of the evening is undoubtedly abowl full of ‘haleem'.
This broth is a staple during the holy month of Ramzan. It is traditionally an Afghani dish made of minced meat, broken wheat, spices and ghee. The ingredients are stewed for half a day and served topped with fried onions, chopped coriander and lime juice.
The secret
The secret to great haleem, according to one of the storeowners, is that it should be mixed by hand and not by machine. One bowl of this broth helps fortify those who break their fast.
Broadway has a limited variety for vegetarians, such as potato and onion samosas, vegetable biryani, fresh-cut fruit and sweet tea.
The street may not be clean, and the smells a tad too strong, but brave them all for a special treat.
