by Victoria Breeden and Ray Smith
Without doubt, the man most proud of the stall on which he works is Nasim, who takes great pleasure in showing us around Karuna selling traditional Indian street foods. Gujarati recipes have been sold from here for 24 years.
He has worked here since Covid and says they originally only providing Vegan and Vegetarian Menus, but since the pandemic added chicken dishes including the tantalisingly aromatic sizzling Tandoori Chicken tempting us on the giant griddle under our noses.
He insists we look at their Islington Council license and explains that they had been featured in the Edinburgh Arts Festival and Flame Festival selling Gujarati food.
He tells us that a few years ago their vegetable wraps sold for £1 each but now they have risen to £7. But adds: “that is because there is a lot more in them now as people want more variety of food.”
Nasim discloses that it just takes an amazing twelve minutes to dismantle and pack away the unit when it closes. Not a small feat. Perhaps the most endearing comment he makes is in describing the family atmosphere between the stall holders, helping each other out should they run out of staple produce.
You can find out more about the food units in Whitecross Market here.