Roadside Mirchi Shops

It was a cloudy afternoon. Rain was in the air. As i was walking empty stomach towards my home, an aroma tingled my nostrils. Turning back, i saw a heaps of deep fried savories. Pakoda as you would call it in India....Bread pakodas, Aloo bondaas, Gram cutlets and my favorite Mirchis. Looking beyond my eyes popped up. He was frying Jillibis. i had no option but to retrace my steps and stand in front of the shop. I had a wonderful lunch of hot Jillibis and even hotter Mirchis.

I was first exposed to the "Mirchi"s almost a decade back in Hyderabad. Mirchi is made of big Green Chillies coated with Bason and deep fried.

There is definitely something special about these roadside pakoda shops and the tea stalls in India. The energy level with which these shops are bestowed with is something special. The agility and the multi functioning activities that the shop owner shows while handling different customers, frying the mirchis, serving tea and managing the cash all by himself is something awesome. The business in these shops are run by the words of mouth. There is no calculator, no bill receipts, no computers.

Almost all of these shops in rural India are similar in looks. It will have one big bowl in which few fried Mirchis will be piled in open air. There will be a big Kaday with hot oil on an open Burner (rather a Chulla) on one side of the shop. Beside that, the shop owner will sit with one hand busy frying Mirchi and the other managing Tea and Cash. And there will be the customers standing in front of the shop busy in chit chatting and enjoying hot Mirchis and tea. With all probabilities, the tea will be served in small clay cups. However, in modern days cups made of glasses and plastics have made an inroad. And of course there is different dialects depending on the location. For example, in Mumbai, it may be "Ek cutting chai" and in Delhi it may be "Ek batta Do chai". In West Bengal it may be "Ek Half tea"....

Although the glamor of these shops are threatened by sophisticated food joints and the supernatural advertisements of the soft drinks of modern days, but people in India still flock to them. People may complain about these shops being unhygienic and a poor quality oil being used..... But who can resist the delicious spicy Mirchis, sweet jillibies and a cup of tea there?