Kurla is famous for a couple of things - Kalpana theatre for the sleazy bhojpuri movies, notorious car spares market and lastly a meander of miya bhai khana. Seek Kabab (not Kebab - coz kurla mein banta aisa ich bolte hai !) and Paratha is a quite a local hit and you have almost 4-5 great places that do this really well. These kind of eateries are not meant for the hygiene conscious folks at all.
I was introduced to this seek diner some 5-6 years back by a few friends who stayed in it's vicinity. They have a take away stall right at the footpath which shimmers under a white bulb and small branding. Full with heaps of mint leaves, sliced onions and round after round of smoking hot amazingly aromatic kababs arrive straight from their kitchen slash restaurant a few metres inside of that same lane. Usually the take away counter and the restaurant staff don't have a minute to spare but i got lucky last night to catch Mohd. Rafiq Qureshi at the counter as i discussed with him his daily routine at the restaurant and how it came into existence. Probably i'll reserve that lengthy conversation for some other post.
At this time of Ramadan, people are off to the Mohd Ali Roads of town in search of malpuhas, niharis and baida rotis. That makes Nawab's very much inviting and less crowded. What it does is - makes you sit on the bench, break the fried paratha- squeeze a piece of that tender grilled meat in between it- soak it in the runny chutney and live that moment. It's absolute guilty pleasures deal and one shouldn't mind it at all.
It's open till 4 am for now. So no matter how late you are from work do stop under the Kurla east west bridge, find Nawab's on the LBS marg and eat your heart out for 45 bucks a plate !!
*The protein used by them is what we bade ka gosht a.k.a beef.
Your guide to finding the best of Ramzan snacks in and around Bandra.
Continuing from where we left in Part 1 of this trail - I came back after a week to the same area to repeat a few and discover new eateries in this maze of a locality. Hajji Tikka was the first stop. Hajji, undoubtedly is the cleanest and most organized of these places since it's a restaurant and not a round the corner pop up joint. This street is dominated by the Bohri Muslims as the mosque is just a few meters away. We sampled Chicken Tikka which was juicy, small and over charred, Boti Kebab (beef) was rustic and finally a succulent portion of Chicken Seekh. I was tempted for more items off the menu but had to hold my horses as we had another 5-6 places still to go.
Next we move to Bar-B-Que corner which was just 5 steps away from Hajji. Seems popular among the upper middle class formal clad folks. Serves almost all kebabs, tikkas & bhunas from a variety of meat. The Chicken Tikka was much better (tender) than the one at Hajji. The Khiri was neat too. All one needs is a couple of Naans and dip it into the runny green chutney and enjoy it. Hygiene wale folks will surely avoid the chutney as they are ones who's thought process is "pata nahi kaunsa pani use kiya hai chutney mein' ? So dip it or leave it, it's just upto you. I was doing fine the next day so i guess i'll give it a thumbs up.
Next stop was a even more sketchy lane called as Handi Wali Masjid, where there are a couple of shops that just do Biryanis. There are 3 consecutive shops that serve these huge degs (vessels) of aromatic delhi style biryani. We stopped at 'Hotel Salman' where I had a look into each one of them and found it was more Kepsa resembling rice than Biryani. It's made up of long grain rice cooked in it's own meat stock with just a subtle touch of spices. At 30 bucks a portion, it is stunning and just plain understated in that area. People who are familiar with Zarda can enjoy that this delicacy too at this place.
Further coming out to the main Mohd Ali Road, we wanted to sample the famous Valibhai Payawala but sadly all the sukha, nihari, paya, khamiri roti etc was only gonna be served past 11 pm. We were early by an hour. So Nihari was relished at Noor Mohammedi which is more famous for it's MF Hussain painting and our very own 'Chicken Sanju Baba'. Then on, Burhanpuri Mawa Jalebi, Malpuha & Firni from Tawaakal and Suleman Mithaiwala was repeated.
There are a few more places that you can try in the nearby vicinity if you're in the mood to walk. Chand Harissa at YMCA basketball court, Mastani Talao serves it's famous Hyderabadi Khichda and Sarvi, opp Nagpada Police Station serves some even more lip smacking Seekh Kebabs.
So now that the information is all laid out on your screen, go create your own trails. It really does't matter where you start and where you end. Just remember you want to sample the dishes and not feast, else you will end up with a overflowing stomach right at the second joint.
It all begins with those frantic phone calls and whatsapp messages from friends "Kabhi jana hai Mohd Ali Road ?" Mohd Ali Road remains the people's choice of word and the actual hub for street food but this time we started a bit different.
Walking from Dongri, we hit MS Ali Road which has places like Zaika and JJ Jalebi. Zaika serves great Tangdi kebabs & various tikkas topped with chatpata salt and Naan. Next Door, JJ Jalebi serves the quite obvious of sweets. Walk another 50m straight from here and take left to reach another joint - Jilani Corner. You can feast into some good Baida Roti and Rolls here. We tasted some delicate Chicken Cheese Baida Roti & spicy Gurda Tawa. Note that next to it is the dessert hub - Tawakkal. One of the best Mango Firni and Kesar Firni is to be found here. Dig into your earthen katori and you will find a very ampoli-ish solidified pulp bits and small slices of mango in it. Malpuha is available in eggless, single and double style. Straight and left from Jilani comes Bara (12) Handi. Cooked in various containers and always simmering are various stews and curries. Nalli NIhari is a hit here and it differs well from the one you get at Noor Mohammedi. They also have bade & chote ka paya, Mutton Harissa, Sukha & Bhel (interesting combination of all the containers).
Walk out from this lane and get to Mohd Ali Road where you'll go past Shalimar & Noor Mohammadi. Continue straight and the brightly lit heavy guarded junction of Minara Masjid is here. This has basically everything. From Chinese Grill (restaurant) to Suleman Usman MIthaiwala and the n number of street side stalls. One can sample Mawa Jalebi's to Sandal's and again Malpuha's to Sutarfeni. The Mawa Jalebi is one off and simply cannot be missed. The particular stall to look for is the 'Burhani Mawa Jalebi'. All in all this particular area is a feast street but with way too much chaos and crowd at peak hours.
This is my coverage from the first trip. Second trip is due next week. Nawab Kebab, Sarvi, Chand Harissa, Noor Mohammedi & more in the next.
