During our food tour in Dhaka, Bangladesh we undertook a food walk in the bustling and historic neighboourhood of Shankari Bazaar. It is a Hindu dominated locality with myriad street food options. The name is derived from the word 'shankhari' which refers to the artisans who make shankha a kind of bangle made from conch shell that is worn by married Bengali women. The first stop was a mobile fuchka vendor near Jagannath University. He usually caters to the locals and students of this establishment and keeps changing his location with the passing day. Unlike the Indian counterpart, these fuchka were smaller in size and the thick paste-like stuffing consisted of mashed potatoes, onions, cucumber and spices. They are placed in a bowl and dunked in spiced tamarind water. It was zesty, tart and refreshing. Next we went to a small eatery beside Jagannath University which was named Joy Bikrampur Mistanna Vander. It was full of locals enjoying breakfast. We got our spot at one of the shared tables. Most of the people were having soft and flaky cheka porota with some kind of sweet dish like halwa or rosogolla. Very few of them were having sabzi. We too tried the above combo of porota and mishti. The savoury porota went very well with the dense rosogolla and soft chhana mithai. After this local favourite meal we reached another eatery which is renowned for their fish meal. But first we couldn't resist ourselves from trying a quintessential Bengali shingara that has notes of panch phoron in it. Afterwards we ordered some rice and foli macher jhol which was a light curry made of bronze featherback fish and some veggies. There were many other fish curry options too but we picked this as we haven't had it before. The curry was simple yet hearty. From there we visited Radha Madhav Confectionery in the vicinity which is known for non onion garlic pure veg confectionery items. Since we were full, we opted for a patishapta as it looked really tempting. The gooey khoya kheer stuffing was truly divine. While heading to the next sweet shop, we stopped by a roadside vendor selling homemade kasundi in a huge handi. Locals have encircled him to get their stock of this essential condiment that goes well with many food items. Next at Joy Ma Mistanna Vandar, we first marveled at the symmetrical cutting of a fresh batch of kacha sondesh that came in a tray and then went on to try a piece along with chom chom and ledikeni. All these three sweets are traditional and popular. Kacha sondesh was soft and luscious, ledikeni was warm and delightful while the chomchom was densely and slightly sweeter than the other two. From there we moved to Kashmir Biryani House which is an iconic biryani destination in this locality. The unusual name has a somber yet random story behind it. The genial owner shared some anecdotes about this old local favourite eatery and then treated us to small portions of their best sellers-chinigura kacchi biryani, basmati kacchi biryani and polao and chicken roast. The chinigura biryani was fragrant and delicious and so was the pulao and chicken roast. Around evening we joined our friend Anish from Plates & Tradition at Tanti Bazaar. Here we had some chanachur mix from Jamai Bou Chanachur cart. They are a local snacks chain that serves chanachur mix from these small, tidy and quirky mobile carts. These can be found across Dhaka and Chittagong. With all the zesty and contrasting elements, the chanachur mix was a riot of flavours in mouth. After this we landed up at a cha stall for some milk tea as it was what we were craving for. The frothy tea was accompanied by Potata which is a tasty biscuit by Pran Foods. Made of potato and herbs, it seems to be a cross between a wafer and biscuit. Then we headed to our last destination Jagannath Bhojanalay. The owner was overwhelmed to have it and his enthusiasm was all over. He proudly introduced us to his small yet busy non onion garlic rice meal place where one can have a hearty homestyle meal without burning a hole in the pocket. He served us almost all the dishes from his menu but since we were quite full, we tried just five of them - cholar dal, echor, kashmiri paneer curry dhoka, kochu saag and chatni. But what touched our heart was the warm hospitality of the gentleman. He even accompanied us out on the streets post meal and offered us some murudi, khaja and paan. It was a memorable time relishing the popular street food here at Shakhari bazar in the company of the locals.
