Samosa vendors strike it rich during Ramzan

Sales have shot up to 90,000 pieces per day in Shivaji Nagar area alone; turnover of the market touches Rs 1.35 crore with each vendor making several lakhs during the holy month

Samosa vendors strike it rich during Ramzan

Sales have shot up to 90,000 pieces per day in Shivaji Nagar area alone; turnover of the market touches Rs 1.35 crore with each vendor making several lakhs during the holy month

During the holy month of Ramzan, Muslims across the city prefer breaking their fast with spicy samosas, thus shooting the sales to 90,000 pieces per day. And this figure is from Shivaji Nagar area alone. Last year, vendors made a fortune selling samosas in the area and claim that their profits lasted them six months. This year around, the excited men are lining up outside popular mosques in the city.

"Initially, Muslims use to like breaking fast during the month of Ramzan with a dry fruit mix consisting mainly of dates. The samosa trend started about a decade ago and is still going strong today," said Aslam Qureshi, a realtor in the area.

Spicy hotspots
Earlier, the Savera teashop on Broadway Road in Shivaji Nagar and the Mecca tea joint on Richmond Road were the two hot spots where people went to get samosas. Today however, small-time samosa vendors have become the hot favourites.

"People flock here everyday for our special samosas. Last year we sold about 30,000 samosas every day of the Ramzan month. This year the sales have shot up dramatically," said Munawar Ahmed, owner of the Savera Hotel and tea shop.

Getting rich fast
In just one month, the turnover of the entire market touches Rs 1.35 crore with each vendor making several lakhs. "I work as a part time samosa seller in the evening and make around Rs 30,000 selling samosas for about two hours each day during Ramzan," said Arshad Chowdhury, a construction worker.

Mosque administrators have noticed that these spicy delicacies have bridged the gap between sections of Muslims across the city. "All sections of the Muslim community come together to pray under one roof and then gather outside the 35 mosques in Shivaji Nagar area to munch on samosas with the same spirit of unity," Aslam Qureshi explained.

Tasty bites
> Each small vendor stocks up over 3,000 samosas for the evening
> Apart from vegetarian samosas, mutton and beef are hot favourites during Ramzan
> Samosas are priced at Rs 5 each
> Turnover of the market on the first day of Ramzan was about Rs 4.5 lakh