The popular khau galli, which runs from Midland restaurant on Mahim’s LJ Road to Makhdoom Ali Shah dargah, has been dominated for decades by stalls hawking gooey khichda, traditional sherbet, sheera-paratha, khiri and seekh kebabs and piquant chana-batata
Dargah Street pizza
The popular khau galli, which runs from Midland restaurant on Mahim’s LJ Road to Makhdoom Ali Shah dargah, has been dominated for decades by stalls hawking gooey khichda, traditional sherbet, sheera-paratha, khiri and seekh kebabs and piquant chana-batata.
Today, the street has twice the number of stalls, and almost all now sell a baked flatbread, topped with chutney, cabbage, chicken, a sprinkle of processed cheese and dollops of mayonnaise. They call it a pizza.
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The 'pizza' kiosks, often a flimsy waist-high table holding up an electric oven, are hard to miss as are the crowds that throng it.
The formula
Most offer two dishes, the chicken pizza and the vegetarian. The breads come from local bakeries and are nothing like what you’ve tried at fast food joints. These are robust, not bleached white and carry a mild sweetness that comes from the yeast and sugar that’s added to the dough. Use of cheese is sparse — not mozzarella, just processed Amul. The base sauce is tomato ketchup topped with shredded cabbage and the odd bit of capsicum. The mayo makes this pizza a Mahim special, giving it the same silken feel Dargah Street’s shawarmas carry.
We started our taste-drive at the first stall we encountered on entering the lane from the Makhdoom Ali Shah dargah end.
First pizza stall on the left of Dargah Street (enter from Makhdoom Ali Shah Dargah end)
Price: Rs 50 (chicken); Rs 30 (veg)
One of the more organised, clean and well-lit stalls, it offers chicken and vegetarian pizza and toasted sandwiches. The chicken here is boiled, seasoned, shredded, making the pizza a bit dry but low on calories. Pics/Tanya SM
Adda
Price: Rs 50 (chicken); Rs 30 (veg)
A little ahead, on the opposite side of the road stands Adda. Two tables under a garden umbrella hold an oven and assembly station. The chicken mix is chunky and spicy, and the mayo generous and garlicky, much like the kind used in shawarmas.
Mohammed Asif’s stall
Price: Rs 50 (chicken); Rs 30 (veg)
The stall opposite Adda is run by Mohammed Asif. His business doesn’t have a name because the day we ate here was his first day. An easy way to find the stall is to look for a neon lit weighing machine kiosk. Like your food fiery? Asif’s pizza is the one to order. The chicken chunks come from a stall across the road, selling deep fried chicken. Add to that a fiery chutney he drizzles over before spooning in some mildly sweet mayonnaise.
Sheeba Fast Food
Price: Rs 30 (chicken)
At the fag end of the lane, where it opens on to L J Road, is Sheeba. A brightly lit kiosk that obviously does brisk business offers vegetarian pizza, chicken pizza, vegetarian and chicken pav. The pav offerings carry the same ingredients that top a pizza. We anoint Sheeba’s pizza the best in the lane — rightly spiced with juicy chicken chunks, and capsicum for bite. The best bit, it’s also the cheapest pizza hawked in the lane.
Quba
Price: Rs 50 (chicken); Rs 30 (veg)
Quba is simpler and manned by one. The chicken here is in chunks, juicier and spicier than the first stall. With an added layer of a mildly spicy red sauce, topped with a big ladle of sweet mayonnaise, it’s finished with cheese and a generous sprinkle of a spice mix. The flavour here is more complex and the end result delicious.
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