With the COVID-19-induced restrictions easing up and life getting back to normal albeit with safety precautions in place, Old City was the destination of choice for many food lovers. I did the same with an organised group of walkers comprising a few Hyderabadis and some tourists from Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.
The group met at the designated spot-Badshahi Asurkhana. History walker Yunus Lasania gave the group a brief history of the significance of the Asurkhana for the Shia community.
Haleem being divided amongst the participants
When all the members of the walk finally gathered, it was time to begin sampling. We started with haleem from Shadab, but with just a spoonful or two each, since we were looking to explore many other dishes.
In front of Shadab | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Once done, Yunus led us to take a right at Shadab towards the High Court Road that has stalls that are a delight for those with a sweet tooth, or a weakness for snacks including samosa, kachori, dhokla and mixture.
Jalebis being fried | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Jalebi on Court Road | Photo Credit: Prabalika M Borah
Dhokla at Court Road | Photo Credit: Prabalika M Borah
As we headed towards High Court Road, the smell of fried jalebis dipped in sugar syrup from stalls opposite the Court’s Gate No 5 worked on almost everyone’s appetite. So an unplanned pit stop was made to savour piping hot jalebis and dhokla. Until then, I had never understood why ‘hot jalebi’ was so popular. The jalebi shops share space with stamp sellers. Moving ahead, we tried the soft, salted dhoklas at these shops.
Shops with Bengali signboard | Photo Credit: Prabalika M Borah
After that, the group turned left towards Ghansi Bazaar, a hassle-free road with no food stall. Here we discovered a mini Kolkata. The narrow, half-kilometer stretch has sign boards in Bengali. Here we got to see a lot of canteens that sold Bengali food, sweets, provisions used in Bengali households, Bengal cotton clothes, and jewellers who specialised in traditional Bengali designs.
At the end of that long narrow lane, we reached the Ghansi Bazaar-Hussaini Alam road, walked for a couple of meters and reached the place we were most excited about— the famous Sonu Kebab corner. This place has two food stalls, one selling marag, paya, and chicken in different curries, and the other roadside stall selling just kebabs, fried meats, meat on stick, spring rolls and chicken 65.
The thing about eating here is one needs to be a pro at roadside eating, unmindful of the swelling, honking traffic the heat and crowd. A bowl of marag for ₹ 250 comes with at least three pieces of meat and can easily be eaten by three people. You would do well to carry your own soup spoon, the flimsy plastic tableware they provide does not help you get that proper mouthful of marag. This stall makes hot Malabar paratha to go with the marag. The paratha is nutty, neither too salty or bland with a strong kick from pepper.
Meat eaters should try the melt-in-the mouth Pathar ka gosht that is served with a runny, tangy tamarind chutney and diced onion rings.
marag at sonu kebab
The other hot seller at the stall is the crispy chicken featuring chicken bathed in corn flour, and coated with a wrap. The spring rolls are as long as one’s forearm and can be a meal for a person with a small appetite. Also popular is the sheekh kebab.
A kilometer-long walk from here towards Chowk ki masjid can be spent peacefully, reading signboards with quirky spellings and names such as Ganxsta fashion, Nirdosh house, Suspense clothing.
A few meters before Chowk ki masjid is Deewan dhaba. The owner here claims the marag he sells is worth the trip to the Old City from any part of Hyderabad. Since we had already had our fill at Sonu, we ordered more kebabs. Here Pathar ka gosht is put on the hot stone slab only after an order is placed. The customer can see the meat as it gets cooked. The stall also sells skewer meats.
A hop, skip and jump from this stall brought us to the sweet end of the walk. Nazeer Fruit Juice Centre. We were not there for lassi or fruit juice. We were there for what everyone was ordering — mango cream or mango malai and berry malai. Mango malai, the bestseller, was almost like aam ras. The mango cream is a bowl of mango with sweet khoa topped with condensed milk. Looking for a sugar rush? Knock yourself out with this.
