It’s a
Chinese invasion out here. The Mughlai mutton korma, kababs, raan and chaaps
have lost their places to chicken lollipop, rice Singapori, chilly chicken and
chicken manchurian. Bhattiyaar gali — Ahmedabad’s most popular haunt
for Mughlai non-vegetarian food — has succumbed to Chinese hegemony.

Ashwaq Sheikh, who runs a
popular food laari at Lal Darwaja, said: “Mughlai food requires a lot of skill
and time to prepare, while Chinese stuff is easier to cook and takes less
time.” Besides, he feels it is getting popular among the young who frequent his
joint.

Gone is the tradition of
marinating meat in exotic spices from the Middle East. The iftaar is now done by
digging into fast food — which is middle-eastern cuisine improvised to
suit Gujarati tastebuds.

Mohammad Zubeer, owner of a
restaurant in Bhattiyaar gali, adds: “Mughlai food is now restricted to the five
star hotels because its ingredients have become very expensive.” His excuse for
experimenting with Chinese cuisine is plain economics and strangely, the
customers seem to prefer
it!

Chinese food is widely
available in almost every street corner of the Walled City, rues Farooq Zalal,
who runs a shop in Bangla market in Jamalpur, another food haunt. “It’s
now very expensive to get chefs who cook Mughlai food and we cannot afford them.
It is a job that needs highly skilled people. Moreover, Mughlai preparations
need more time and spices, which can all be avoided by turning to Chinese
items.” Zalal also says that he improvised on the raan and other Mughlai dishes
to make them “less expensive”.

Source by timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad