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Street-eating is a classless affair in Indian cities. A humble food stall, the opportunity for that rare space where polarities can co-exist. The haves and the have-nots, the unknowns and the famous, the young and the old–all bonded by a shared appreciation for simple, delicious food. In Mumbai, the antidote to all human heartache (and perhaps the torrential rains too) can be found in a piping hot cup of chai and a samosa between two slices of bread. But it wouldn’t be this city if people didn’t find a way to personalise the familiar through innovation. The simple samosa snack has been fused and re-fused with hundreds of other delicacies be it the Poha Samosa, Samosa Soup, Samosa Chole or others. Yet there’s one man, one stall and one dish that has risen beyond the ordinary to claim a space all of his own. This is the story of Raju Sandwichwala and his very extraordinary Special Samosa Sandwich.
Situated in a green leafy area right in front of Lala Lajpat Rai College, the tiny nondescript stall is usually enveloped by a hoard of students. The lingering smell of the hot fried Samosa and the piquant green chutney is enough motivation for you to make your way through the crowd. From Samosa Sandwich to a Samosa Chilly Toast with delicious cheese variants, Raju Sandwichwala claims to be the first one in Mumbai to introduce the Samosa Sandwich. The creative innovation is courtesy of Raju Hegde, the founder of Raju Sandwich wala, a jolly 67-year-old man who essentially created an ode to his beloved samosa.
We tried the Samosa Cheese Sandwich and the Samosa Cheese Chilly Toast, and watched hungrily as he covered slices of bread with thick layers of butter, green mint chutney only to smush a hot samosa between them. Topping it off with tomatoes, onions, chaat masala, chilly powder and oodles of cheese, it’s impossible not to salivate as he puts it on the grill. When it’s ready, it cannot be served without another layer of butter on the top. The Samosa Sandwiches remains etched in your memory, reason enough to explain why so many ex-students come back to the haunt. “ I have students back from the batch of ‘73, who still visit me and have their favourite samosa sandwich with their families,” Raju laughs, seemingly aware of his cult-icon status.
Having migrated from Karnataka to Mumbai in 1964 to find a job, he found himself working in a juice centre, and a friend in a sandwich-maker. Intrigued with the ‘sandwich,’ Raju soon learned the skills from his friend and started his business of selling them in 1972. As for the Samosa Sandwich, Raju says it was a matter of chance. “I used to love the Samosas from Gurukripa and would often order them for myself. One day, I just ate it with bread and butter and I was amazed at how yummy the combination tasted. I made a few of my friends try it and they loved it. That is how the Samosa Sandwich was born, back in 1973 and it was an immediate hit” he says excitedly.
Raju feels that he owes his business and the popularity of the Samosa Sandwich to the college students who have promoted it on social media, so much so that it has also found a place on Zomato. “We’ve had even personalities like Kareena Kapoor eat my sandwich.” he says. Though his old age does not allow him to spend a lot of time at the stall, he still visits whenever he can just for his beloved, loyal customers. “The students say, that when I am there, the sandwich tastes a lot better,” Raju admits with a twinkle in his eye. He then goes on to tell me how his student customers raised funds for his knee operation a few years back.
Today, his son Shivappa Hegde looks after the day-to-day operations of the stall and has a team of four people under him to help out with the business. Despite such high demand and rising popularity, Raju Sandwichwala still remains a tiny stall though. “We have thought of expansion, but we do not want to relocate for we are who we are because of this college and its students. We do not want to open more branches either for I don’t think anyone elsewhere will take care of the brand and the product like we do here,” says Shivappa. Their menu has expanded over time to include items like Nutella Sandwiches, Jain Sandwiches etc. but their bestselling product till date remains their Samosa Sandwiches.
As a crowd of college students gathers around the stall, we see Raju going it. It is lunch time and the scorching heat hasn’t stopped them from lining outside to have their favourite snack. Raju smiles and greets each of them and oversees the demand of every customer personally.
“Do not put in any tomatoes for him, he hates them” he says to his employee after receiving an order from, what we speculate, is a regular. As we bid him adieu, Raju makes another Samosa Sandwich for us. “This one is from me,” he says as he crushes the big mustard samosa onto the thickly buttered bread. Just like his loyal customers would say, it does taste a lot better with him around.
Raju Sandwich wala is open from 7:30 am to 6.30 pm in front of Lala Lajpat Rai College in Mahalaxmi. They do not, however, operate on days when the college is shut. The price of their sandwich ranges between INR 30-INR 70. For more details, you can visit their Zomato page.
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