'Set Up Before UAE Was Unified': This Bur Dubai Eatery Sells 35,000 Samosas A Day During Ramadan

As iftar time approaches, Bur Dubai souq's narrow and cobbled streets begin to crowd with residents and tourists, who rush to savour freshly fried snacks sold from a row of restaurants. One of the eateries is Hamad Khalfan Al Dalil.

Selling on average 35,000 pre-made, ready-to-fry samosas per day during Ramadan , this restaurant has customers from all seven emirates of the UAE, including entrepreneurs, celebrities and royal family members. Established in 1968-before the unification of the UAE-this shop has become iconic in its own right.

"This year, the largest order we had was from Al Ain for 9,000 samosas,” said Zuhair, whose grandfather established the eatery.“The furthest order we had was from the UAE-Saudi border, which was more than an 800-kilometre drive for us. We are grateful for the trust people have in us and our food."

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The shop sells eight varieties of samosas, including chicken, potato, keema, and Oman chips, but the most popular ones are vegetable and cheese . According to Zuhair, the popularity of their items comes from the fact that the recipe for the samosas has remained unchanged since they were first served.

"Most of our customers are Emiratis," he said. "They have a very sensitive palate and can detect even the minutest changes. So we keep our recipe intact because that is what our customers want."

He added that many come to buy due to nostalgia.“Many visited our shop as very young customers with their fathers or grandfathers,” he said.“These people keep returning because the taste reminds them of their childhood."

Baputty Haji, hailing from the Southern Indian state of Kerala, landed in Dubai in 1968, arriving in a boat from Bombay. He frequented the Bur Dubai souq, where he met and became friends with an Emirati man, Hamad Khalfan Al Dalil, who used to accompany his mother to sell wares at the market.

"When my grandfather began a restaurant, Hamad always used to come by and spend hours drinking tea and chatting with whoever came by,” said Zuhair.“They had a very deep bond of friendship, which later turned into a partnership.”

In 1971, when the UAE was formed, it became mandatory for restaurants to have permits to serve food.“Hamad immediately applied for a licence for the shop and in honour of his kindness, my grandfather named it after him," said Zuhair.

According to Mustafa, an employee at the restaurant since 1982, the Emirati entrepreneur always considered the shop and its employees like his family.“Every Eid, he would invite us all to his home for breakfast,” he recalled.“Whenever we had any problem, we could just call him, and within an hour, he would be there at the shop to sort it out. He was a gem of a person."

After Hamad's death, his daughter and son-in-law took over the sponsorship of the shop. Today, Baputty's son Sameer and his grandson Zuhair manage the day-to-day running of the eatery. According to Sameer, samosas were a late addition to the menu.

"Once, when sales were low, a shop employee suggested making and frying samosas to attract more customers,” he said.“We started out just frying four samosas. That was such a big hit that we kept adding more of it to our stock every day. We never imagined that we would become known for our samosas."

The preparation to make the ready-to-cook samosas begins approximately 1.5 months before Ramadan.“We have two ghost kitchens where a group of staff take shifts handmaking the samosas with the various fillings,” said Zuhair. "We are able to make about 10,000 samosas a day. Many of these are sold even before Ramadan."

For decades, the eatery's popularity grew through word of mouth and endured due to loyal customers. Over time, it evolved and expanded, adapting to changing trends.

The shop began selling pre-made samosas after 2010. "Once the metro came, our walk-in customers dropped drastically,” he said.“To keep the business going, we started selling the ready-to-cook samosas and they were an instant hit.

"In 2018, we started our delivery services. It kept us afloat through the pandemic as well. During the Covid-19 period, the shop adjacent to ours struggled with no customers and remained empty. We decided to take it over, which helped us meet the growing demand."

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