During Ramadan, crowds bring traffic to a standstill in Karachi’s Burns Road

 KARACHI: During the holy month of Ramadan, Karachi residents are told it is best to avoid using Burns Road, the oldest and longest food street in the seaside Pakistani metropolis.
Burns Road is what some have called “the holy grail for foodies”, and especially during Ramadan, it is thronged with crowds getting ready to break their fasts with delectable snacks, making it almost impossible for commuters to pass.
It is also where Fresco Chowk — famous for its Fresco sweets — is located.
What makes this road intersection a favorite among the city’s dwellers is the lure of South Asian fare such as the savory dahi baray, the crispy samosas and kachori, delicious chicken rolls, aromatic Arabian paratha and sweet jalebis made in desi ghee.
Dahi baray or dahi vada is a centuries-old savory snack, made of deep fried lentil flour balls soaked in thick yoghurt and spices. It is also a staple food item for many households during Ramadan.
Ali Hasan, now 25 and a resident of the upscale Clifton locality, says the dahi baray on Burns Road has been mandatory for Iftar Dastarkhwan at his home for several decades now.
“When I was a kid, my father would take me here to buy dahi baray, samosas and other special items for our Iftar,” Hasan told Arab News.
“These items are delicious. One can try to prepare these at home but no one can match their taste,” he said.
“Seeing the crowd, one would think the people believe they won’t get it after today! Everyone is just dying for it. It’s very difficult to buy these items,” said Mazhar Ali, a 50-year-old resident of the garden vicinity, who was queuing up for Arabian paratha at Faseko.
Nearby, the samosas of Hafiz is also attracting an equally large number of people drawn by its unique taste.
“Jalebis are mostly fried in cooking oil. Using desi gee makes its taste special,” Ali said.
The owner of Faseko, Hafiz Faseeh, says his stall has been offering these delicious local delights for fifty decades. Families of Punjabi Saudagaran-e-Delhi, who migrated to Karachi from the Indian capital of Delhi, brought the recipes of these savory snacks with them. One of the most prominent figures from this family is the president of Pakistan, Mamnoon Hussain.
“With each Ramadan, the number of buyers increases,” Faseeh told Arab News in between serving his long line of customers outside his outlet.
“According to our estimates the activities at Iftar in Karachi generates a business of Rs2 billion daily,” Muhammad Atiq Mir, the chairman of All Karachi Tajir Ittehad, an alliance of market associations in Karachi, told Arab News.
“Although Iftar items are also being prepared at our home, we occasionally buy famous dahi baray, samosas, kachori and other special items from the famous outlets,” he admitted.
Burns Road, one of the busiest in the city which attracts customers from all across Karachi, is not the only place where crowds throng during Ramadan from the late afternoons till Iftar. Several food places in the city are equally popular.
Sales of fruits have also increased manifold, and so have their prices.
Despite the price hike, most people are undeterred.
Mir said that hundreds of trucks loaded with different fruits constantly arrive in the seaport city of Karachi, where more than 20 million people reside. Those busy with other errands usually rush towards shops like Pakistani Fruit Chaat — to take home the sweet and spicy cut-fruit salad.

During Ramadan, crowds bring traffic to a standstill in Karachi’s Burns Road