If you take a left from Business Recorder Road while coming from Guru Mandir and turn on to Nusserwanji Road in Garden East, you can’t miss Shams Chaat House. It’s been there since 1970.

There’s been a shift in management after Shams, the founder/owner of Shams Chaat aka Don’t Mix Chaat, moved abroad and sold his business to his brother a few years ago. But everything else remains unchanged and in original form and taste.

What makes Shams Chaat House so popular is the layers of chickpeas, barras, sauces and seasoning topped with chopped, boiled potatoes. This makes it easy for the customer to taste and relish all the individual flavours that go into the making of a plate of the sweet and savoury snack.

In fact, Shams Chaat House is so particular about their layered style that the server tells you not to mix the otherwise ‘mix chaat’ when handing you your order. Follow the instructions, if you truly want to sample the real flavour of their chaat.

Prepare to be absolutely smitten by the ‘mix chaat’ at Karachi’s Shams Chaat House aka Don’t Mix Chaat

Shams Chaat House opens for business every day at 1pm and remains operational till 8pm. They offer all kinds of chaat and savoury treats such as bun kebabs etc. But it is the ‘mix chaat’ that is the real hero of the menu, and it does roaring business.

Traditionally, Karachi’s patented ‘mix chaat’ comprises sufaid chana (boiled chickpeas), moong ki daal kay barray (deep-fried balls made from a thick paste of mung pulse), raita (seasoned yoghurt), a generous helping of a wide variety of chutneys such as meethi imli ki chutney (sweet tamarind sauce), aaloo bukharay ki chutney (plum sauce) and hari (green) chutney, finished off with thinly sliced fresh onion, very finely chopped fresh coriander and mint leaves and green chillies, chaat masala and bite-sized boiled potatoes topped with fresh yoghurt.

If this doesn’t get your taste-buds salivating then I don’t know what will!

It’s customary to wash down mouthfuls of chaat with any ice-cold soft drink of your choice. Don’t ask me why, but not doing so somehow sounds sacrilegious.

With every last morsel of the chaat polished off, it’s time for the grand reckoning, ie the food bill and, boy, are you in for a surprise! It’s a pittance, or a fraction of what it would cost you at any of the popular chaat shops in and around the affluent areas of DHA and Clifton.

I asked our waiter why they closed shop in Clifton some years ago. That shop was located right next to the much-frequented Flamingo Snacks, a stone’s throw from Boat Basin’s food street. His answer literally had me jumping out of my seat.

The waiter claimed they did not do good business there — which makes Shams Chaat House a hidden gem that not many people know of.

Well for the sake of street foodies like me, I hope it remains that way.

The writer is a member of staff.
X: @faisal_quraishi

Published in Dawn, EOS, September 10th, 2023