On an iftar trail in Coimbatore

Kottaimedu’s Eswaran Kovil Street is enveloped in the heady aroma of meat, masalas, and medhu vadais. The narrow street, packed with restaurants, bakeries, and juice shops, is home to the historic Kottai Thareekathul Islam Shafia Jamath Mosque. As dusk approaches, people pour in to buy snacks for iftar, the fast-breaking evening meal during Ramzan. We join the neighbourhood’s festivities, sampling the specials and picking our favourites.

Mini bun sandwiches

While make-shift stalls and push-carts selling crispy vadais, bondas, and bajjis are aplenty, Varna Café’s bun sandwiches are a hit among children. These are small buns stuffed with either egg or mayonnaise-coated vegetables. “We wanted to offer something that is easy on the pocket,” says Salman Tarif, the owner of the six-year-old café.

Every year, Varna sets up a special counter at its entrance displaying iftar snacks. “We are open from 4pm to 6.30pm,” says Salman, adding that the sandwiches sell out in an hour. The sandwiches can be had in three quick bites: the soft, sweetish buns pair well with both the vegetable and egg fillings. The café’s chairs are cleared up in time for the evening prayer, and Salman says that they offer free iftar to 20 people who can use their premises to break their fast.  

Priced at ₹10 and ₹15 for the vegetable and egg variations respectively

Nonbu kanji

Kaima Kanji Shop is the only place selling nonbu kanji in the neighbourhood. Preparations start at around 9am, and the kanji is ready by 3pm. The mild and fragrant kanji is flavoured with a heady mix of spices, and consists of lentils (paasi paruppu), broken biryani rice, and minced beef. “I follow the recipe that has been handed down by my periappa (father’s elder brother),” says P Raja who has been running the shop for the past 12 years.

“We make 15 varieties of snacks such as vadais, bondas, and cutlets that can be had with the kanji,” he says, dropping lemon-sized balls of kaima vadai batter into a gigantic pan of piping hot oil. Raja’s uncle M Ibrahim spent three years with a friend in Kayalpatnam, a municipality in Thoothukudi district known for its traditional Muslim cuisine, learning to make the perfect kanji.

Priced at ₹40 for a serving that can be shared by two.

Mohabbat ka sharbat

Even as the savouries sell like hot cakes, most people also make a beeline for cold drinks and juices. While nungu paal, a milk-based drink with chunks of palm fruit, is the neighbourhood’s specialty, it’s mohabbat ka sharbat that is a crowd favourite. The drink, that consists of milk, sugar, rose petals, finely chopped watermelon, and Rooh Afza, is sold in gigantic cauldrons in front of several shops.

At Fruizy, a juice shop, 30 litres get sold out every day. We try the chilled drink: it is sweetened perfectly, and the small bits of watermelon and rose petals make it perfect for the summer. Nadhir Ahmed, the owner, is packing the drink in plastic packets that passers-by on bikes buy on their way home.

Priced at ₹20 for a glass.

Kebabs and steaks

A fume of masalas engulfs the cramped insides of Bangalore Steaks and Kebabs that is right opposite to the mosque. We are seated by a tiny table inside the two-seater, that mostly does take-ways. The eatery serves four types of chicken and beef kebabs: hariyali, achari, tandoori, and malai. Sayed Idris, who runs the place, says that their USP is spice mixes they source from Bengaluru.

They are open from 3pm to 2am, and cook the meat over a charcoal oven. “This adds a distinctive smoked flavour to our kebabs and steaks,” points out the 25-year-old. We try the tandoori chicken kebab, one of their best-sellers. The meat is cooked right, and has taken on the masalas well. Sayed suggests we pair it with their lace-like idiyappams: a match made in heaven indeed.

Priced from ₹80 to ₹140 a plate.

Arabian egg cake

Tucked away inside Juicy Fort, a small juice shop, is a unique dessert that is not available anywhere else in the neighbourhood. The Arabian egg cake, a fluffy sweet that is served as small cubes, is golden brown and soft to bite into. Abdul Ajeez, who works there, offers us a piece on a piece of paper. The recipe, he says, is known only to the shop’s owner who bakes the cakes at home.

We do get a hint of eggs, flour, and milk, and wonder what else has gone into it. But on that bustling Ramzan evening, as we merge into the crowds of Kottaimedu, munching on the delicate ‘muttai mittai’, it does not matter.

Priced at ₹20 a piece.