Lazeez al-Durbar

Victoria Ganj, Chowk Mohammad Arfad salutes the grit of his father Mohammad Imran Qureshi and uncle Mohammad Ghufran Qureshi, before he tells us their story. The two brothers came and settled down in Lucknow from Sylhet (Bangladesh) via Calcutta. In their journeys, they got to know about the kathi roll, which they served to the appreciative […]

Victoria Ganj, Chowk

Mohammad Arfad salutes the grit of his father Mohammad Imran Qureshi and uncle Mohammad Ghufran Qureshi, before he tells us their story. The two brothers came and settled down in Lucknow from Sylhet (Bangladesh) via Calcutta. In their journeys, they got to know about the kathi roll, which they served to the appreciative clientele of Lucknow. There is a special way of preparing a paratha-like wrap of cheese, eggs, chicken or mutton in Eastern Bengal. Lucknow has made this dish famous as the roll. Arfad says, “We are the King of Rolls, not only in Lucknow, but all over Uttar Pradesh.” Many of his customers who appreciate their roll are of Bengali origin. Arfad’s father now devotes most of his time to social service and doesn’t come to the shop much. Arfad thinks of himself as a Lakhnavi. He recalls, “We never had to face adversity – people gave us their love from the beginning itself. Now the shop is famous, not only in Lucknow but people from Delhi too have heard of us and visit. As you can see, we are doing brisk business.”