On the rims of the Johannesburg Central Business District, you’ll discover the vicinity of Fordsburg. With exciting records, the location has long gone through many cycles of renewal and degradation. The area is now home to a thriving immigrant food subculture emerging from one such cycle. On simply one block, you may locate Pakistani, Turkish, Palestinian, Indian, and Syrian food courtesy of the immigrants installed in Fordsburg.
SHAZIA EBRAHIM and FATIMA MOOSA explored Fordsburg with empty bellies and open minds. We commenced off at Mandi Palace on forty-eight Park Drive. A huge signal outside the eating place reads, “Mandi Palace. Authentic Arabic Braai.” You’ve come to the right location if you’re looking for Yemeni meals. Mandi is a Yemeni meat and rice dish cooked with a mix of spices known as Hawaij, which is gradually cooked in an underground pit. Biryani for who? ‘You’ll also locate an expansion of different dishes on the menu, including lamb handed, fowl curry, and Masoud (a Yemeni banana bread pudding). Once we controlled to tear ourselves away from Mandi Palace, we were ready to stroll.
We walked left onto Albertina Sisulu Road from Mandi Palace on Park Drive. After the Mint Road robots, we determined Taj Mahal BBQ on your left-hand side.
Taj Mahal BBQ
Don’t be fooled by the modest indoors of Taj Mahal BBQ. The small restaurant, which capabilities makeshift, outdoor grills, and plastic tables and chairs, is busy from as early as 10:00. By lunchtime, it’s teeming with hungry clients, all waiting to get a flavor of the highly spiced hen tikka. A regional fowl tikka meal at the Taj Mahal can price you as low as R20! But we carried on strolling; it’s time for something sweet.
House of Baklava
Rows and rows of delicious syrup-soaked pastries greet you as you enter the House of Baklava. The popular Turkish sweet treat in all its special paperwork lines the store’s counters. There are round ones, square ones, and all kinds of delicious shapes. The store is probably quite new—it’s been around since November 2017—but it seems to be an established part of Fordsburg’s fabric.
Wandering around the store and searching at all the thrilling baklavas and desserts will make you feel like you’re walking down an avenue in Istanbul. There’s even a wide selection of only South African snacks like dried fruit and meerbos if baklava isn’t your vibe. Lined on the wall shelves are olive oils and Palestinian spices to offer the shop a sophisticated blend.
Walking out of the store, our subsequent forestall changed into Pakistani candy.
Lahore Falooda Palace
The first thing that catches someone’s eye when they walk by the Lahore Falooda Palace is a huge spherical machine. This machine includes smaller bins wherein malai kulfi is made. This is a sort of ice cream eaten in South Asia. Ali, the shop’s proprietor, told us he made the device himself because it isn’t to be had in South Africa. While the shop’s important draw is honestly the ice cream that is scrumptious in any flavor, it also makes many other Pakistani desserts – all freshly made daily. If you’ve got a sweet enamel, you won’t be leaving the store anytime soon.
If you’re keen on meat, our subsequent forestall became the area to go to.
House of Shawarma
Syrian fast meals store House of Shawarma has stood on the corner of Central and Albertina Sisulu Street for seven years now. The proprietor says he doesn’t cook dinner; he sells Syrian rapid food. “Nothing cooking, handiest rapid food right here,” he says while we ask what’s cooking. The restaurant has large rotisseries wherein meats are being slow-cooked. When you order shawarma, your pita bread could be filled with salads, pickled greens, hummus, yogurt, and succulent beef — or falafel if you’re not a meat eater. The restaurant additionally has clean juices and laffa bread (Middle Eastern flatbread) served with chocolate or cinnamon, coconut, and syrup for dessert. Ali says every person loves the meals at House of Shawarma, and it isn’t difficult to see why.
If the dessert at House of Shawarma didn’t whet your appetite, we’ve got a deal for you. All you need to do is move the road to the alternative side of Albertina Sisulu Road.
Shalimar Delights
When you step into Shalimar Delights, it’s an attack on the senses, from the sparkling show of colorful sweetmeats to the smells of cardamom and rose syrup in the air. Boasting freshly organized Pakistani and some Indian sweetmeats, Shalimar Delights has stood on its keep corner on Albertina Sisulu Road because of democracy. All the popular sweetmeats consist of burfee, chana manage, and jalebi. Everything is made using ghee and milk and plenty of patience, love, and dedication. Just looking at the intricacy involved in developing the confections is an adventure.
