Lunch At Fort’s Most Famous Puriwala

Rashi Arora/Homegrown

Half an hour, a big patch of aamras on my jeans, and a 300-rupee bill for the biggest meal I’ve had in a while–Fort’s Pancham Puriwala lived up to the my expectation of a no-frills thali that’s big on taste. The joint that serves up 100 years of puri-making expertise (and, on this occasion, a taste of home to this North Indian writer when she needed it the most), Pancham Puriwala has grown from a small cart into a two-story establishment, that sees a stream of regulars who keep coming back for their famed masala puris. With a hankering for aloo-subji and chaas, we walked to this Fort eatery with a sense of purpose. Partly to beat the queue (my photographer told me that, on some days, hungry diners have waited for as long as 45 minutes for a table) and in part to understand what sets their bhaji apart. Thankfully, we waited for no more than 10 minutes before we were seated on perforated steel chairs with a white table and the promise of a stupor-inducing meal between us.

“A khao-aur-khisko” joint, the service at Pancham Puriwala is speedy, rushed even. Lunchtime is the busiest time of day for Pancham Puriwala and you’re on the clock. The server recited the specials in one breath and I decided to go big. “Do (two) Pancham thali, please,” I placed our order and stretched out my jeans in anticipation. Framed newspaper clippings celebrating Pancham Puriwala’s 100-year-old legacy adorn the otherwise bare, white walls. There are a couple of versions of how this eatery came into being. However, all of them can be traced back to one man–Pancham Das Sharma–and his journey to Mumbai. While some people say that he trekked all the way to Mumbai, from Agra, by foot, another report details how he “hopped on a bullock cart to make his slow way to Bombay.” Pancham Das Sharma set up fort on Perin Nariman street, back when it was called Bazar Gate Street or Bazar Gate, and 148 years later, the recipe of his famed puris are still a closely-guarded family secret.

Speaking of which, you can choose between a few different kinds of puris. The one that’s stuffed with a delicious masala filling was my favourite but there’s a healthier variant that’s made with spinach. The thali includes five vegetables–the matar paneer and chole were my favourite, four puris, a bowl of dahi vada, a dessert (we got the gulab jamun), paneer pulao (which I was too stuffed to enjoy) and chaas or the perennially-perfect and refreshing aamras. If you’re going for the first time, here are some pointers. This isn’t the place for conversation, seats need to be vacated quite quickly and the focus is solely on the food. However, it’s the puri batter, not the banter, that will solidify your relationship with your co-diner, and the establishment. After our thali plates were set down, there was a prolonged silence, broken only by the sound of steel spoons clanking against the tiny bowls, chewing, and setting down our glasses of chaas.

Lunch at Pancham Puriwala is a wholesome experience, pretty much like their thalis, and the appeal is universal. Therein lies the genius of Pancham Das Sharma, a migrant from Uttar Pradesh who left an indelible mark on Mumbai’s gastronomical landscape.

Scroll down for a glimpse into our meal at Pancham Puriwala.