The Great Indian Shawarma
Alright... lets get a couple of things straight here first. It is pronounced as either of the two:
1. Shower-ma
2. Sha-Warr-ma
What it is not called is:
1. Shore-ma
2. Shour-ma
3. Shoor-ma
Right, thats one, so what I am going to write about today is probably an institution. From its humble beginnings to its incredible fan following now.... The Al-Bake Shawarma.
Al-Bake's Shawarma, New Friends Colony
Ok... now the second thing to get right.... Al Bake's shawarma is not exactly a shawarma... infact... its nothing like a shawarma (trust me, for someone who bunked math tuition classes just to eat shawarmas, I would know). Its more like an Indian invention. Like the 'Chicken Tikka Masala' is Britain's gift to Indian cuisine, like the 'Manchurian' is the Indian gift to Chinese cuisine, similarly, Al-Bake's Shawarma is the Indian gift to Lebanese/Middle-Eastern cuisine. A huge mold of chicken is fixed up on a rotating skewer and is cooked all around from the heated filament flames along the height of it on one side. This is how the tradition shawarma is made and here is where all similarities end. Our shawarma is made by cutting off roasted sides of the chicken mold and rotating the fresh side to the burner. The chicken pieces are then mined on the hot plate below the skewer and spices, tomatoes, mayonnaise and garnish are added to it (real shawarmas have small roasted pieces of chicken, 2 pieces of french fries, 1 piece arabic pickle and garlic tinted mayo). It is all mixed up, then, a small maida roti/paratha is smothered with a little more mayonnaise on one face and then our chicken is rolled up into it. Voila... our shawarma is ready. At Rs. 20 per shawarma, its quite a treat. Ofcourse, one doesn't ever cut it for me and I have eaten 5 shawarmas in one go more than once, but even then, it barely comes out to Rs.100!
The only flip-side to all this is the ridiculous rush that always hangs about that shop now. There was a time not too long ago when we used to just walk up and get a seat inside the shop. Once I even stood with uncle to have a shawarma made to my own specifications. But all that is gone... now three people man a lone counter jus to cope with the sheer number of customers. Also to keep in mind is that they keep a whole bunch of shawarmas ready-made below the counter in a hot-box. If you order 5 or its multiples at any time, there is a good chance that you'll get the not-so-fresh shawarmas. I would recommend you insist on just-off-the-hot-plate kinds and also demand some 'extra' mayo to go with that (trust me on this you calorie conscious freaks!).
So if you still haven't eaten this great Indian treat, I say, STOP EMBARRASSING US ALL and PLEASE PLEASE go and redeem yourself at Al-Bake! :-p
Moola Factor: Excellent
Best feature: Its India's gift to Shawarma world
Service: Can get painful in heavy rush
Ambiance: Don't go looking for that
Yummy Tummy Delhi Rating ::::: 4/5
1. Shower-ma
2. Sha-Warr-ma
What it is not called is:
1. Shore-ma
2. Shour-ma
3. Shoor-ma
Right, thats one, so what I am going to write about today is probably an institution. From its humble beginnings to its incredible fan following now.... The Al-Bake Shawarma.
Al-Bake's Shawarma, New Friends Colony
Ok... now the second thing to get right.... Al Bake's shawarma is not exactly a shawarma... infact... its nothing like a shawarma (trust me, for someone who bunked math tuition classes just to eat shawarmas, I would know). Its more like an Indian invention. Like the 'Chicken Tikka Masala' is Britain's gift to Indian cuisine, like the 'Manchurian' is the Indian gift to Chinese cuisine, similarly, Al-Bake's Shawarma is the Indian gift to Lebanese/Middle-Eastern cuisine. A huge mold of chicken is fixed up on a rotating skewer and is cooked all around from the heated filament flames along the height of it on one side. This is how the tradition shawarma is made and here is where all similarities end. Our shawarma is made by cutting off roasted sides of the chicken mold and rotating the fresh side to the burner. The chicken pieces are then mined on the hot plate below the skewer and spices, tomatoes, mayonnaise and garnish are added to it (real shawarmas have small roasted pieces of chicken, 2 pieces of french fries, 1 piece arabic pickle and garlic tinted mayo). It is all mixed up, then, a small maida roti/paratha is smothered with a little more mayonnaise on one face and then our chicken is rolled up into it. Voila... our shawarma is ready. At Rs. 20 per shawarma, its quite a treat. Ofcourse, one doesn't ever cut it for me and I have eaten 5 shawarmas in one go more than once, but even then, it barely comes out to Rs.100!
The only flip-side to all this is the ridiculous rush that always hangs about that shop now. There was a time not too long ago when we used to just walk up and get a seat inside the shop. Once I even stood with uncle to have a shawarma made to my own specifications. But all that is gone... now three people man a lone counter jus to cope with the sheer number of customers. Also to keep in mind is that they keep a whole bunch of shawarmas ready-made below the counter in a hot-box. If you order 5 or its multiples at any time, there is a good chance that you'll get the not-so-fresh shawarmas. I would recommend you insist on just-off-the-hot-plate kinds and also demand some 'extra' mayo to go with that (trust me on this you calorie conscious freaks!).
So if you still haven't eaten this great Indian treat, I say, STOP EMBARRASSING US ALL and PLEASE PLEASE go and redeem yourself at Al-Bake! :-p
Moola Factor: Excellent
Best feature: Its India's gift to Shawarma world
Service: Can get painful in heavy rush
Ambiance: Don't go looking for that
Yummy Tummy Delhi Rating ::::: 4/5
Labels: Cheap, NFC, Shawarma, South Delhi
posted by Ahmer Hasan @ 5:18 pm
1 Comments
1 Comments:
Hey,
I know this place ...Al bake ..tht use to be my fav place to eat in college .Its very nice , u actually put up something on Al-bake.People in delhi might eat in any of the "it" restaurants .I think Al -bake is the best.
Out of all things ,i miss Shawarma the most.
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