What’s a few calories after a good run?That was the logic for all of us to head for a scrumptious breakfast,after finishing a long run with my weekend running group.
Since we all were in the mood of something greasy,one of our friends suggested this cult place ‘Pancham Puriwala’.When we arrived there it was a very non-impressive ,small sit out.Later,when I digged in a little bit ,I found out that it had been around forever,not 50,not 80 but for a good 174 years.Wow!
The shop is currently owned and run by Mr.Vijay Kumar,7th generation of the founder,Mr Pancham.Mr Pancham set up a puri (Indian deep fried flour breads) stall ,very close to where Victoria Terminus stands today(though there were no trains in that era). The picture put up in the shop is of Mr Badriprasad ,who was the grandson of the original Pancham and the grandfather of the current owners.
Over the years it became the favoured pit stop of those landing at Mumbai to try out their fortunes.
There was an option of deluxe thalis and for that the seating was upstairs in the mezzanine area. This would have rice, puri and sabzis apparently. We decided to go for what the place is famous for .I mean, why come to a place called ‘Pancham Puri’ and have anything other than puris? We ordered sada puris and masala puris(lentil stuffed,but definitely not kachoris) with aloo curry,chole and kadhi.You have the option of two vegetables in your plate.
The puris were hot and crispy. The veggies were yumm.There were 5 puris and 2 curries on our thali.There were these absolutely chatpata green chillies ,that add the zing to the flavour. It’s a no brainer how fast they disappeared amongst a gang of 7 runners.To feel less guilty we ordered masala chaas,and gulped down the feeling of greasiness,which had now started surrounding us.When we couldn’t finish a few puris and asked them to pack or us ,we were given a newspaper ,basically wrap your own food.The bill was a meagrely sum of 495 rupees, for 7 puri thalis and 7 chaas and 2 bottles of water .What a feast we had!We were all so happy with the place and food that we decided to give the owner an idea to promote his name.We suggested to him to put a huge counter signage outside his shop saying ‘No of puris sold till date’ and with his massive turnaround we were pretty sure the number will be very impressive, very soon.Guess what he said;”Madam,hum saalo se yahan hai ,roz he media wale aate hai.Hum waise hi theek hai”.
The puris were hot and crispy. The veggies were yumm.There were 5 puris and 2 curries on our thali.There were these absolutely chatpata green chillies ,that add the zing to the flavour. It’s a no brainer how fast they disappeared amongst a gang of 7 runners.To feel less guilty we ordered masala chaas,and gulped down the feeling of greasiness,which had now started surrounding us.When we couldn’t finish a few puris and asked them to pack or us ,we were given a newspaper ,basically wrap your own food.The bill was a meagrely sum of 495 rupees, for 7 puri thalis and 7 chaas and 2 bottles of water .What a feast we had!We were all so happy with the place and food that we decided to give the owner an idea to promote his name.We suggested to him to put a huge counter signage outside his shop saying ‘No of puris sold till date’ and with his massive turnaround we were pretty sure the number will be very impressive, very soon.Guess what he said;”Madam,hum saalo se yahan hai ,roz he media wale aate hai.Hum waise hi theek hai”.
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It is these small places that excite me and this is where the ‘taste’ still resides.
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