MUMBAI’S ICONIC MOHD ALI ROAD IS CHANGING, AND IFTAR IS CHANGING WITH IT

Most of the food stalls are still there, but in modified form — some are sharing space, others have shrunk, or shifted. Surti 12 Handi and Valibai Payawala have relocated their pots, pans and bara handis.

Not all the change is structural; quite a lot is cultural too.

As the proportion of outsiders to locals changed, the food changed too. There is more of that generic tandoori masala in everything. There are places that call themselves things like BAR-B-QUE and Chinese n Grills — the latter, incidentally and rather ironically, still does the fresh- est kidney and brain.

There are flashes of innovation on menus. Mango phirni started appearing next to the traditional offerings of plain and saffron a few years ago. Now there is blueberry phirni too. I wouldn’t be very surprised if a butterfly pea flower tea flavoured version appeared next.

One not-so-obvious change was pointed out to me by Parvez Diwan, a tech consultant who grew up in Bohri Mohalla and has been eating there for over 40 years.

“When we were children, every place specialised in just one dish; you went to one person only for naan sandwich, another person for kebabs. Today, everyone does everything,” he says.

While the cluster redevelopment will undoubtedly bring order to these streets and safer housing for the residents, I fear that in the process the neighbourhood will lose much of what made it unique.

Once the redevelopment is complete, I suspect Ramzan at Bhendi Bazaar will feel less like a timeless feast in an ancient market and more like an evening out at one of those open-air food courts one sees all over the world.

(Antoine Lewis is a food writer and consultant based in Mumbai)