A guide to the most legendary street food at Mohammed Ali Road

To experience the best and worst of Ramadan in Mumbai, one has to go to Mohammed Ali Road. This lane behind Minara Masjid is filled with delicious food and dubious people (well not all of them). You must know that there are only two types of people here - the ones who do not give a damn and the ones who give. The ones who "do not give a damn" are actually better because they will just serve you and get lost. The ones who "give a damn" are dangerous because they only give a damn about your belongings. But first, about the delicious food. While this area is home to famous restaurants like Noor Mohammadi Hotel, Shalimar, Jaffer Bhai's Delhi Darbar, Ruhani Restaurant, Chinese N Grill and many more, the street food on stalls is the real star. So here is a guide to the most legendary street food at Mohammed Ali Road.

Best quality dates

A quick source of energy and nutrients, eating dates after a long day of fasting can help the body's glucose level quickly return to normal. When not fasting, eating dates before a meal will satisfy hunger, which helps avoid overeating. This is why muslims open their fasts with dates.

Dates stall, Mohammed Ali Road

Juicy fruits

Just kidding! Nobody bothers to eat fruits in Iftar.

Fruits stall, Mohammed Ali Road

Halwa puri

The mere color of this delicacy is enough to pull you towards it. This halwa is topped with crushed coconut, cherries and jujubes and the puri is probably the biggest I have ever seen in real life. Having said that I am not the biggest fan of halwa puri because I save my sweet tooth for something better which I will share soon.

Halwa Puri stall, Mohammed Ali Road

Halwa puri stall, Mohammed Ali Road

Chicken tandoori, baida roti and kebab nana

It is criminal to not give all these delicacies their individual space, but I am committing that crime nevertheless. All of the above dishes are my utmost favourite because I am a huge fan of food slow cooked in tandoor. I love the coal flavours and maybe also the fact that its not deep fried. This is what non-vegetarians live for. The meat is marinated for at least 24 hours and always served hot with mint chutney, mint leaves, onion and lime.

Chicken tandoori stall, Mohammed Ali Road

Baida roti stall, Mohammed Ali Road

Nalli Nihari

This is a stew of slow cooked meat with bone marrow (boneless Nalli Nihari is pointless), prepared in ghee, garnished with fried onion, chopped ginger and lime and served with naan. Nalli nihari is one of the most famous dishes of Mumbai and rightly so since it takes a lot of effort and time in preparing this magical potion.

Nalli nihari stall, Mohammed Ali Road

Naan stall, Mohammed Ali Road

Mutton Chaap

This is basically mutton ribs in rich spicy gravy served with either romali roti or ladi pao. If you are the kind of person who likes to savour their food this is the right dish for you as it demands to be eaten as slowly as possible.

Mutton chap stall, Mohammed Ali Road

A1 bakery, Mohammed Ali Road

Sewaiyyan and Khaja

Sewaiyyan is the most popular Eid dish after Sheer Korma and Khaja is basically Muslim croissant. You can either buy raw sevaiyyan tom be cooked at home or the final product from one of the stalls.

Raw sevaiyyan stall, Mohammed Ali Road

Khaja stall, Mohammed Ali Road

Mawa Jalebi and Gulab Jamun

One serving of Mawa Jalebi costs only Rs. 30 and this is not your normal orange Jalebi, this is Jalebi that tastes like Gulab Jamun, just better! If you don't want to try this innovation, you can just go for the good old Gulab Jamun. I strongly recommend this because I love it so much that I always come back home with parcels of Mawa Jalebi.

Burhanpur Mawa Jalebi Shop, Mohammed Ali Road

Burhanpur Mawa Jalebi Shop, Mohammed Ali Road

Burhanpur Mawa Jalebi Shop, Mohammed Ali Road

Firni and China Grass

Here, Firnis have more flavours than fruits available in Mumbai and China Grass (or Pyosi) is like a sweet gelatine milk cake. These are the most easy and durable foods to carry back home as parcel and store in the refrigerator. 

Noorani milk centre, Mohammed Ali Road

Noorani milk centre, Mohammed Ali Road

China grass stall, Mohammed Ali Road

Malpuha

This is basically a deep fried pancake and most people like to eat it with milk rabid. Tip - eat it hot, do not parcel it because it gets rubbery when cold.

Malpuha stall, Mohammed Ali Road

Malpuha stall, Mohammed Ali Road

Shahi Tukda cum French Toast

You will get this in the by lanes of Mohammed Ali Road. It is not as sweet as Shahi Tukda and not as plain as French Toast. It's a cross and it's magical.

Shahi tukda, Mohammed Ali Road

Phreak Jeera Masala Soda

Soda for that final burb and jeera because what about health! I don't really recommend this because I don't consider soda drinkable but then the people who do cannot live without it.

Available at the restaurants and milk centres at Mohammed Ali Road

After this food coma I would like to share my story of the "dubious people" I was earlier talking about. So while my friends and I were busy clicking and gobbling the food, a kid tried to grab my mobile phone from my back pocket and I immediately re-flexed with, "Whoa! whoa! whoa! Kya karr rahi ho? Mobile phone le rahi ho?" To which her mother reverted, "**** apne aap ko samajhti kya hai, **** meri bacchi kya chor lagti hai, **** yahin gadd dungi, ****, ****, ****, ****!!!" Like every other Indian I started talking in English to conceal my embarrassment and said, "But she grabbed my phone! Look her hand was in my pocket! See it for yourself!" But Aunty wanted to show off her vocabulary so she continued abusing all of us and right when I prepared to enter the Dangal and show Aunty her right place, my wise friend stepped between us and asked her to leave and the shopkeepers said, "yahi hota hai, bacchon ko laga dete hain kaam par aur phir dangga karte hain" and I walked away thankful for three things - my phone, my friends and my modesty. So one pro tip that I have for all of you is that, "please take care off your own belongings."

P. S - This incident made our trip even more memorable.