Street food in Puran Dhaka: All the delicious food under Tk30!

Under the influence of the Western world and the concept of 'fast food', there is now a proliferation of cafes and restaurants on the streets of Bangladesh. In most of these restaurants, the price of food is high. But Puran Dhaka can be an exception. Many of the traditional delicious dishes are still being sold at low prices in the streets or small tong shops.

These foods have been mainstays on the menu of Puran Dhaka from the 400-year history of the Sultani, Mughal, Nawabi, British and Pakistani period. Along with kebabs and biryani, these foods sold on the streets are equally popular. 

One of the special features of these foods is that they are available at very low prices. Here are some of the most traditional and popular dishes sold on the streets of Puran Dhaka.

Bakarkhani

Tk6 - Tk10 per piece

The food that is most commonly found in the alleys of Puran Dhaka is Bakarkhani. It is now being exported to different parts of the world including the USA, the UK, Saudi Arabia,  Kuwait and India.

With a history of 300 years, this delicious, sprained and soft food is a popular food of Puran Dhakaites. If you visit Puran Dhaka, you have to try this food.

There are several types of bakarkhani found here. Some are salty, some are sweet and some are even cheesy. Meat and spices are used in some of them. They all have a different taste.

You will find this food at almost every road in Puran Dhaka. 

Paneer Samucha

Tk10 - Tk15 per piece

Cottage cheese (Paneer) provides numerous health benefits, it strengthens bone and tooth density, protects against cancer and is good for skin and hair.

While walking on the streets of Puran Dhaka, you will see people selling Paneer in a bamboo basket. It is basically 'Dhakaiya Ponir'. Paneer samucha is one of the ancient Dhaka cuisines that uses this cheese.

Although the demand for this samucha increases a lot during Ramadan, the food is sold throughout the year in various places including Chakbazar, Lalbagh and other places.

In addition to the cheese in flour and butter dough, it also uses onion husk, raw chilli powder,  and salt. You will see the cheese flowing out if you break the samucha a little bit by biting it.

Kalija Singara

Tk20 per piece

As an afternoon snack, we all enjoy eating singara or samucha. And if that is kalija singara, there is nothing more to say. 

You can find this fun singara in the food city at the junction of the Garden Lane on Aga Sadek Road in Puran Dhaka. Usually the shape of the singara is small or medium-sized. 

But the kalija singara here is a little bigger in shape. Eating a couple of them will probably fill the stomach. This singara is made of chicken kalija and potato inside and is very tasty to eat. 

Chicken Loli 

Tk30 per piece

Everyone is more or less interested in the yummy foods made from chicken. You will find these delicious foods in the roadside shops in The Chawkbazar, Nazira Bazar, Begum Bazar, Aloo Bazar areas of Puran Dhaka. In the shops of old Dhaka, the chicken fins are usually given the shape of a stick. 

The spices of kebabs with chicken fins, special process toast biscuit powder are used. The spices of kebab add an interesting flavour to it and are made from the powder of toast biscuits.

Chicken Tikka

Tk10 per piece

Another fun food on the streets of old Dhaka is chicken tikka. In the chicken tikkas here, the vendors use special spices made by themselves. Unique in taste, these chicken tikkas are sold at a lower price in Puran Dhaka than anywhere in Dhaka. 

Four samucha-singaras

Tk10

Another popular food on the streets of Puran Dhaka is the four samucha-singaras. Although very small in size, this samucha-singara is very delicious to eat due to the sprained folds. 

You will see numerous glass carts of Samucha-Singara after a while walking in the alleys of Chawkbazar, Bowbazar, Lalbagh, Siddique Bazar, Bangla Bazar, Bansal roads.

A potato dum
Tk2

It is unbelievable but true that food is available in Dhaka even at this day with Tk2. In Lalbagh, you can get the popular food of Jammu and Kashmir - Aloo Dum - for just Tk2. Although very cheap, this food is very delicious to eat.