A pani puri spot in Thiruvananthapuram run by four women grabs attention

Manjusha Das (third from left) and her buddies at their pani puri cart, Chashu Mumbai Pani Puri at Paruthippara in Thiruvananthapuram
| Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN

It is half previous seven on a Saturday night. The stretch close to MG College at Paruthippara in Thiruvananthapuram has come alive with automobiles stopping by the row of meals stalls. Among them is Chashu Mumbai Pani Puri, the place two women are at work. Soon two others be part of them. They are Manjusha Das, P Niwetha, John Crishma Mole and Asiya D.

Chashu was opened early this 12 months on this stretch, which is quick rising as one of many common spots for road meals. The enterprise is Manjusha’s concept, because of her soul join with Mumbai and its road meals tradition. “Although I am from Poovar here in Thiruvananthapuram, I was born and brought up in Maharashtra. After returning to live in the city, I missed the street food of Mumbai, especially pani puri, which is like an emotion for me. Even though you get pani puri here as well, they don’t taste the same. This is an attempt to bring that taste,” says Manjusha.

Crowd at Chashu Mumbai Pani Puri at Paruthippara in Thiruvananthapuram
| Photo Credit:
NIRMAL HARINDRAN

Manjusha, 26, who has completed a BTech in Biotechnology and publish commencement in meals and vitamin, is a dietician. “Others are college students of an aviation institute in Thiruvananthapuram the place I train Hindi as a part-time job. That’s how I met them. While Asiya is a Malayali, the opposite two are from Tamil Nadu,“ she says.

Manjusha manages and supervises the enterprise because the others care for reducing and chopping, making ready the meals, organising the cart and attending to the shoppers. Two different buddies assist with cooking and transportation, Manjusha provides.

Pani puri is out there in 5 flavours at Chashu Mumbai Pani Puri at Paruthippara in Thiruvananthapuram.
| Photo Credit:
NIRMAL HARINDRAN

Chashu’s speciality is that the pani or water is out there in 5 flavours — guava, mint, candy, spicy and uncooked mango. The buyer can select from these flavours as they’re saved in separate clay pots fitted with pipes. “Raw mango is tangy; the sweet pani has jaggery added to it. While consuming pani puri, people are always worried about the quality of the water. We have ensured that the water is clean,” she says.

Dahi puri at Chashu Mumbai Pani Puri in Thiruvananthapuram
| Photo Credit:
NIRMAL HARINDRAN

Manjusha says that it took a while for the meals spot to take off. “None of us has done this before and so there were some hiccups initially,” says Manjusha.

Besides pani puri, they promote dahi puri, sev puri, bhel puri and many others on the stall. “I plan to expand our menu by adding more chaat items and other street food popular in Mumbai,” she says.

So, why the identify Chashu? “I wear spectacles and chashu is the short form of the Hindi word chashmish, meaning the girl with the spectacles,” she provides.

All snacks are priced ₹50 per plate. Take-away can also be obtainable. Chashu is open on all days from 5pm to midnight.