A pani puri spot in Thiruvananthapuram run by four women grabs attention

Manjusha Das (third from left) and her friends at their pani puri cart, Chashu Mumbai Pani Puri at Paruthippara in Thiruvananthapuram
| Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN

It is half past seven on a Saturday evening. The stretch near MG College at Paruthippara in Thiruvananthapuram has come alive with vehicles stopping by the row of food stalls. Among them is Chashu Mumbai Pani Puri, where two women are at work. Soon two others join them. They are Manjusha Das, P Niwetha, John Crishma Mole and Asiya D.

Chashu was opened early this year on this stretch, which is fast emerging as one of the popular spots for street food. The venture is Manjusha’s idea, thanks to her soul connect with Mumbai and its street food culture. “Although I am from Poovar here in Thiruvananthapuram, I was born and brought up in Maharashtra. After returning to live in the city, I missed the street food of Mumbai, especially pani puri, which is like an emotion for me. Even though you get pani puri here as well, they don’t taste the same. This is an attempt to bring that taste,” says Manjusha.

Crowd at Chashu Mumbai Pani Puri at Paruthippara in Thiruvananthapuram
| Photo Credit:
NIRMAL HARINDRAN

Manjusha, 26, who has done a BTech in Biotechnology and post graduation in food and nutrition, is a dietician. “Others are students of an aviation institute in Thiruvananthapuram where I teach Hindi as a part-time job. That’s how I met them. While Asiya is a Malayali, the other two are from Tamil Nadu,“ she says.

Manjusha manages and supervises the venture as the others take care of cutting and chopping, preparing the food, setting up the cart and attending to the customers. Two other friends help with cooking and transportation, Manjusha adds.

Pani puri is available in five flavours at Chashu Mumbai Pani Puri at Paruthippara in Thiruvananthapuram.
| Photo Credit:
NIRMAL HARINDRAN

Chashu’s speciality is that the pani or water is available in five flavours — guava, mint, sweet, spicy and raw mango. The customer can choose from these flavours as they are kept in separate clay pots fitted with pipes. “Raw mango is tangy; the sweet pani has jaggery added to it. While consuming pani puri, people are always worried about the quality of the water. We have ensured that the water is clean,” she says.

Dahi puri at Chashu Mumbai Pani Puri in Thiruvananthapuram
| Photo Credit:
NIRMAL HARINDRAN

Manjusha says that it took some time for the food spot to take off. “None of us has done this before and so there were some hiccups initially,” says Manjusha.

Besides pani puri, they sell dahi puri, sev puri, bhel puri etc at the stall. “I plan to expand our menu by adding more chaat items and other street food popular in Mumbai,” she says.

So, why the name Chashu? “I wear spectacles and chashu is the short form of the Hindi word chashmish, meaning the girl with the spectacles,” she adds.

All snacks are priced ₹50 per plate. Take-away is also available. Chashu is open on all days from 5pm to midnight.