A trip to Mohammad Ali Road during Ramzan is de rigueur for most Mumbai foodies. Every evening during the holy month, the streets around Minara Masjid are heaving with iftar food stalls and with people – those who are breaking their fast and those looking to just relish the meaty delicacies and sugary specials. There are some essential pit stops such as Noor Mohammadi Hotel (shami kebab and Sanju baba chicken), Bismilla (offal dishes), Janta Fast Food (quail tandoori), Noorani Milk Centre (malpua) and Suleman Usman Mithaiwala (phirni), not to mention the myriad kebab stalls and the famous khichda vendor at the end of the road.
“When I came to Mumbai for the first time in 2007, I went to Mohammad Ali Road (for iftar). When I joined [Sofitel] in 2015, I thought why not bring the experience of that street food here during Ramzan,” says chef Shadab Ahmed Qureshi of Jyran – Tandoor Dining and Lounge at Sofitel Mumbai. The restaurant has launched a Mohammad Ali Road food promotion, which will continue until Eid later this month. This is the restaurant’s third edition featuring iftar food. On the menu are several Mohammad Ali Road favourites, albeit with a five-star twist.
Tried and tested
We began with sherbets, essentially fruit juices spiked with masala. While the watermelon sherbet was refreshing, the pineapple one was cloyingly sweet. There’s a long list of appetisers, including cutlets, kebabs, and rolls of all kinds. The chicken achari tikka was a standout for its spicy pickle marinade and the succulent chicken perfectly cooked in a clay oven. The roti pe bhuni roti sounded great on the menu – lamb cooked on griddle, flavoured with red chillies and served on Indian bread. Though the lamb, served taco-style on a tiny roti, was well-cooked, it struck a single flavour note paling in comparison to the other dishes. The macchi tawa fry made with tilapia was competent enough. We tried both the vegetable and chicken cutlets, and the former one far outshone its meaty counterpart; indeed it was our favourite amongst all the appetisers. Not only was the patty juicy and flavourful, the semolina-encrusted top gave a crunchy texture to the cutlet, something that was sorely lacking in the chicken version.
The gloriously meaty main course features bara handi, khichda, kheema pao, and a couple of offal dishes. We picked the gurda kaleji pao – a finger-licking delicious mix of lamb kidney and liver cooked till the organs turn pleasingly soft but not mushy. The fluffy mini paos on the side were warm and glistening with a dab of butter – perfect companions to mop up the spicy kidney-liver preparation. The menu’s pièce de résistance Khichda, the slow-cooked dish of lamb and mixed lentils with its mildly spicy flavours, is bound to be a crowd-pleaser. “Khichda is more popular than Haleem in Mumbai, and if you’re looking to try just one dish, I would recommend this,” says Qureshi. There are biryanis and pulao on offer as well, but we left them for another day.
Desserts galore
Vegetarians have limited options, though the vegetable cutlet is far superior to most we have had in the city. “After fasting the entire day, the body needs energy and protein, so meat is the best option,” says Qureshi, explaining the paucity of vegetarian dishes in an iftar spread. Apart from the food, the restaurant has also gone to lengths to create the right ambience, with servers dressed in salwar-kurtas and skullcaps, and qawwali songs serenading us while we eat. The dessert menu has all the iftar specialities, from sheer korma and phirni to kulfi falooda and malpua-rabdi. The last item really stole the show: a scrumptious mini malpua topped with creamy rabdi; we may have groaned with pleasure.
The Mohammad Ali Road Food promotion at Jyran, Sofitel Mumbai BKC is ongoing till June 26 and is only available at dinnertime from 7 p.m. onwards
