Its hard to believe how something wrapped up in a non descript Roomali roti can attain an almost cult status over the years. Since 1976, when Fanoos started feeding hungry Iranian students and bachelors, it has remained Bangalore’s favourite late night chomp. Till today loyal customers return for a whiff of nostalgia and a large bite of its trademark Sheekh kabab.
Fanoos started out in an old car shed at a time when Roomali rotis were still confined to 5-star kitchens. Aijaz Ahmed was one of the first few to turn it into a street performance of sorts. Over the years, he’s managed to keep the street performance alive and people satiated till the wee hours of the morning.
The plump Sheekh kabab has always been the piece the resistance at Fanoos. To this day, the Sheekh roll is everyone’s fat favourite and comes in different sizes- Single, Jumbo, Mumbo, Rambo and Sambo! That’s 1,2,3,4 or 5 fat Sheekh’s rolled up in one brave Roomali! With the onset of polygamy, the Roomali has since been romantically entwined with mutton, chicken, paneer, egg and even (God help us all!) veggies.
While the roll revolution is at an all time high across the city, no one has been able to steal Aijaz’s thunder or his loyal clientele and that’s because the masalas and marinades are a closely guarded secret. The spices come from Avenue road and Hyderabad. He makes the masalas at home, marinates the meats himself and supervises the rest like a hawk. “It’s been worth treating Fanoos as my first wife all these years”, he says, his eyes getting misty as he talks about the love and affection he gets from old “Fanoos-ians” who return from different parts of the world. Media persons who gorged on rolls in their struggling impoverished youth now return to pay tribute to Aijaz and his masterful creation with articles, publicity and heaps of praise.
Fanoos rolls get chomped on by at least a 1000 people a day and have been on picnics, flown executive class (well concealed in cabin baggage) across the country and form a juicy part of generations of Bangaloreans.
Aijaz has suffered a stroke, has lost most of his hair and his gait has considerably slowed down. Talk to him about his “first wife” and his eyes still gleam. Here is a man who will continue to roll it out ensuring that Fanoos occupies as large a space on the map of Bangalore as Vidhana Soudha.
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