DP Road, the one in Aundh, is lined up with food joints on both sides. From pani puris to rolls to cakes, there are loads of options for food lovers. And then there’s Kibbeh, the small food joint that specialises in Shawarma, kebabs and grills. It has gained a huge fan following in and around the area.
Surendra Varde launched the place in 2006 after he moved to the city post retirement. “I used to live in Mumbai but shifted to Pune post retirement. Someone had told me about Shawarma and how it’s cooked. I had a shop in Aundh so I decided to venture into this,” he says. But Varde first learnt how to make Shawarma and then got into the business. He is involved in the day-to-day operations of the food joint.
On the menu are dishes like Chicken Shawarma Roll, Chicken Arabic Grill, Chicken Tikka, Reshmi Kebab, Banjara Kebab, Jo Jae Kebab. The kebabs are served on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Till some years ago, Shawarma was a relatively new concept in the city. Originally, this Middle Eastern meat-based dish took inspiration from the döner kebab of Ottoman Turkey but then it evolved over the years. “We don’t serve the original Shawarma because it’s bland and won’t appeal to the Indian palate. We add spices so that people here like the taste,” he adds. Even the method of preparing the Pitta bread had to be altered for Indian customers,” he says adding, “Originally, Pitta bread is cooked in the oven but because we cook it on the tawa.”
It took some time for food lovers to like the dish but over the years, they have developed a taste. “Initially, foreign students, who are originally from the Middle East, mostly visited the joint. Aundh is close to Pune University and Spicer College and both have international students. So we get both foreign and Indian crowds,” he says, adding, “A lot of IT professionals from Wakad too visit Kibbeh.”
He adds that a lot of health conscious customers opt for their Chicken Grill because they do not add butter or oil. “It’s just cooked with the chicken fat,” he says adding that he takes pride in the fact that everything served at the place is fresh. “That’s one thing we never compromise on,” he concludes.
