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Journalism of Courage
Shabana Azmi, known for her brilliant performances in Indian cinema, recently shared her passionate take on Mumbai and Delhi street food. While she acknowledged Delhi’s panipuri as being better, she firmly stood by Mumbai’s sevpuri and bhel puri, declaring them to be in a league of their own.
During a candid conversation with Kunal Vijayakar for an episode of ‘Khaane Mein Kya Hai?’, she humorously recalled an incident from her time in Budapest while shooting for Halo, where she spent four hours trying to cook dal. She called up chef Vikas Khanna for help and when he inquired about the type of lentil she was using, she confidently said it was masoor dal. However, to her surprise, it was chana dal, which explained the prolonged cooking time.
“Four hours I was trying to cook a dal… I rang up Vikas Khanna in New York and said ‘Vikas, ye gal nahi rahi hai’, and he said, ‘Kaun si dal?’, I said, ‘Masoor ki dal’. ‘Masoor ki dal chaar ghante se nahi ho rahi hai? Dikhao’, he said. And when I showed it to him, he exclaimed, ‘Ye chane ki dal hai!’,” Shabana said in the interview.
Azmi also spoke about her love for Mumbai’s street food, especially when comparing it to the chaats of North India. She insisted that while North India has a rich variety of chaats, Mumbai’s bhel puri and sevpuri are simply unmatched. “Forget it, forget it! There’s no comparison,” she exclaimed with enthusiasm.
When the topic of vada pav came up, she admitted that while she loves it, she is completely in love with pav. She even joked, “I’m in love with pav, I can marry pav!”
For her Dabba Cartel co-star Anjali Dinesh Ahmad, the quality of pav is crucial. She stressed that it has to be fresh—soft, fluffy, and warm—not the small, hard, packaged versions. When paired with chicken or mutton curry, she considers it a truly quintessential Mumbai experience.
Shabana’s love for street food and Mumbai’s culinary culture is evident, and her playful remarks have only fueled the age-old debate about which city offers the best street food. Whether it’s Mumbai’s sevpuri or Delhi’s panipuri, one thing is sure—Shabana Azmi’s passion for food is as strong as her legendary performances on screen.
