“We call this smiley,” says Mohammed Sanofar M, showing me what looks like a mini bun with a white filling in the middle. “There is a filling of egg masala and when you hold it like this, it looks like the smiley emoji!” explains Sanofar with a smile, before rushing to take orders from the swelling crowd at a make-shift counter in front of his bakery, Shajahan Bakery, on SM Lock Road, Puthenpally Jama’ath, Poonthura. An array of snacks and desserts have been spread out on the counter for iftar, the food to break the fast during the month of fasting.
It is the month of Ramzan, the time when the roads, especially those around mosques in the city, are dotted with vendors selling short eats for iftar.
Besides Puthenpally, where there were at least 10 such vendors on both sides of SM Lock Road, there are several such vendors around mosques in and around Thiruvananthapuram at Beemapally, Vallakkadavu, Manacaud, Paruthikuzhy, Kallattumukku, Karamana, Chala and Attakkulangara among others.
