Burns Road: Street Food on the Go

During the month of Ramazan, activity picks up to an almost frantic pace at Burns Road, with fried food items such as pakoras, kachoris, and samosas, savory and sweet chaats, and refreshing lassi taking precedence as the most sold food items.

Let’s have a look at the multi-faceted aspects Burns Road has to offer.

Green coconuts on display at a stall on Burns Road.

A vendor makes fresh, hot chapatis on the street.

The signboard of the Delhi Rabri House reads “Burns Road Ki Mashhoor Rabri” which means Burns Road’s Celebrated Rabri, and rightly so. It was established on a pushcart in the 1960s by the late Haji Muhammad Ismail Dehlavi, who sold milk in New Delhi and knew how to create Rabri, but soon gained immense fame thanks to the high-quality ingredients used to create this sweet, milk-based dessert.

While Burns Road is most popularly recognized as a food street, there are also vendors who sell products such as clarified butter, milk, yogurt, freshly pressed oils, vegetables and fruit.

Kulfi is a traditional unchurned ice cream enjoyed by adults and children alike in Pakistan, and is served in the form of a popsicle on a stick, or in an earthen cup known as a matka. Kulfi shops are found in abundance all over the country, but Burns Road boasts some of the oldest and authentic kulfi shops.

Immigrants from India set up this well-known Dehli Dahi Barey shop on Burns Road.

Open-air street food comes to life at night, with barbecue meat items and deep fried dishes such as fried fish, chops and kebabs especially popular amongst the locals.

Fish fillets dusted in spices.

Boneless fish fillets, marinated & ready to be fried.

Freshly fried fish coated in chickpea flour batter ready for hungry customers.

Fish being deep fried.

A staple street food snack is chaat. There are many savory and sweet variations.

Common elements tend to include cubed potatoes.

A dry spice mix called chaat masala with black salt (kala namak), garam masala.

Chickpeas, diced onion, fresh cilantro and yogurt.

Other condiments include tamarind chutney.

Many things change in a city as large as Karachi, but one thing that will remain forever as an established food landmark will be Burns Road as Karachi’s most popular food street.