What’s good street food that’s not relished on a roadside, and Pakistanis have a special place for such snacks that define their culture and lifestyle.

Muhammad Haroon, 57, started selling gol gappay on a pushcart 30 years ago in Bilal Gunj and five years later introduced laddu peethi also – the two most popular and the quintessential street snacks. A few years into the business he rented his first shop inside Garhi Shahu’s main bazaar, followed by one on the main road in the same town just six years ago and a third near the iconic Shalamar Gardens.

A foreman at a steel factory, Haroon turned to food on the suggestion of his father-in-law who was in this business. “I followed his advice as I knew I could make more money from it.”

Summer or winter, day or night, gol gappay are a favourite across the Indian subcontinent and their popularity surpasses social class and age. Many restaurants have introduced this roadside delicacy on their menu, but gol gappay – that as per legend are said to have originated in India’s Uttar Pradesh around the time of Emperor Shahjehan’s reign -- are an experience that’s best had along a street or in a busy bazaar devoid of the sophistication of dining tables.

Part of the experience is watching a vendor prepare plates moving his hands mechanically across bowls of chickpeas, and in some cases spiced potato and phulki, and the earthen pitcher (gharra) full of spicy, sour water. He pokes a little hole in the crisp, hollow, thin puri (fried discs of dough), packs it with your choice of filling and presents it to you to dunk it in the spicy water and pop into your mouth before it bursts. There’s a method and precision to be followed in devouring this snack the correct way.

Laddu peethi although equally traditional is a little underrated, and has yet to be mainstreamed the way its contemporaries dahi bhallay, gol gappay and various chaats have been. It comprises a fried patty that’s crunchy on the outside and soft and airy inside made with assorted daals, sprinkled with julienned white radish and served with sweet and sour chutneys.

Haroon used to make the gol gappay at home in the beginning and only introduced laddu later for winters only, but now he says the laddu are more popular. “I make the khatta water myself daily after reciting Bismillah and Darood Sharif because of which I believe it doesn’t affect the throat, rather treats it,” a contented Haroon tells Dawn at the Garhi Shahi main road shop, called Molvi Gol Gappay and Laddu Peethi.

“Since I can’t meet the growing demand and have to manage 50 workers in all three shops, I get the gol gappay prepared by a home-based business in Dharampura.”

The perfect gol gappa despite containing imli (tamarind), mint juice, black pepper, cumin, ajwain (carom seeds) among other ingredients is the one that doesn’t affect the throat, he adds. A plate of a dozen gol gappay is sold for Rs180.

The laddus are prepared by soaking channa, maash and moong daals in water for around seven hours that are then mashed through a machine, salt and ammonia added and fried in fresh oil. They are accompanied by apricot and imli chutneys and a raita, while most vendors only offer the two chutneys. Fresh batches of laddus are fried thrice a day and a pair sold for Rs100.

During the first lockdown last year, Haroon says he paid all his workers from his pocket and didn’t let any of them go despite the shops being shut. “I lost around Rs1.5 million in those two months, but I didn’t stop paying anyone because most of them depended on this salary,” says the burly middle-aged man, sporting a beard and a skull cap.

We met way past midnight, yet customers were sauntering in almost every minute, most of them families, into the large courtyard at the rear side of the shop. Haroon claims to have a loyal customer base with the daily footfall being at least 600 to 700 people -- some of them visiting since they were kids.

“In the early ‘80s, a dozen gol gappay cost Rs2 and a pair of laddus Re1,” he reminisces.

All three branches of Molvi Gol Gappay and Laddu Peethi, open from 3pm to 2am, are managed by Haroon’s sons and he visits each for a couple of hours only to oversee.

Inflation and the rising prices of essential items have hurt businesses and Haroon has felt the pinch too. “There has been a lot of difficulty since this government came to power. A canister of oil I bought for Rs2,200 is now sold for Rs5,300 and a sack of apricots I’d get for Rs6,000 is now four sacks for Rs96,000. The price of sugar has also doubled in the past one year. Because of these reasons the footfall has decreased otherwise from evening till night we’d be out of space.”

Until two weeks ago, Haroon discloses, just the shop we sat at was making Rs150,000 daily, but now the maximum sale is Rs80,000. He cites dengue, TLP’s sit-ins and inflation as the reasons affecting the business. “Even I voted for Imran Khan, but since he came to power, everybody is suffering, nobody is happy. Taxes have been imposed on everything, electricity rates have increased, oil is expensive,” he complains.

However, he is hopeful, ‘this too shall pass’. “Darkness is always followed by light. Every difficult phase passes.”

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2021