Savour Rangooni snacks in Rander

SURAT: On the corner of Teen Batti crossroads, across the Taiwada Mosque at Rander, is a kiosk that serves piping hot breakfast delights from dawn to dusk. Even as the azaan is made at 6 am, hot and delicious aroma from 'Nakhuda Nasta Centre' laces the air. The whiffs stay on through the day and by the evening azaan, the business for the day is done.
After a failed attempt to settle abroad, Aiyub Nakhuda's brother returned to take over the family's shoe business. Aiyub set up this kiosk serving just samosas, chicken rolls and aloo-puri. But the success made him enhance the menu to more than 10 dishes. "These recipes have been taught by my grandmother to my mother and wife. They are local Burmese fare adapted by our community of sea traders once settled in Rangoon," he said. The food here is prepared by Aminabibi and Shaheen at their kitchen down the lane.
From 6.30 am, one can relish a breakfast of vegetarian and non-vegetarian Khow Suey, made in gravy based of coconut milk thickened with cashew nuts, peanuts, melon seeds and gram flour for texture. The noodles used are prepared locally. Toppings for this lip-smacking broth are uniformly chopped spring onion greens, thinly sliced garlic pods fried crunchy-golden in colour, fresh coriander leaves, a sprinkle of fried chips and quartered boiled eggs (in case one is having the chicken version). "Khow-sa is our most popular hotseller. We sell at least 750 dishes of it daily. Next in line is aloo-puri of which we sell around 560 dishes," says Imran Pathan, the manager.
The famous aloo-puri is made in four flavours - chicken, cheese, egg and ghotala cocktail. The base remains of plain flour puris topped with seasoned potatoes of a tangy flavour with a dash of curried chickpeas.
As the day commences, the cutlets and chaanp come and Haleem follows soon. Cooked over low heat for hours, this an Arabic version with broken wheat (lapsi) added for nutrition and consistency. Those with a lighter appetite can opt for the clear soups with chicken or aloo chaanps instead.
From 2 pm onwards, veg and chicken samosas, chicken rolls are served with a side salad of onions and a Kokum relish. By 3.30 pm chicken puffs and a special 'Khamiri Chicken Puri', a fried ball of yeast fermented flour with chicken filling are sold.
Aiyub reminds, "We are closed on Fridays and 'Chicken 65' is our exclusive preparation for Sundays. All the snacks are priced between Rs 5 and Rs 25, so that everyone can enjoy Rander's Rangooni cuisine."