Enjoy a meal exploding with Pakistani flavour at Thela – Boxpark Croydon

BY PALOMA LACY

When Thela joined Boxpark Croydon recently, it arrived with an explosion of colour.

Easily one of the most eye-catching units, it brings the sights and tastes of Karachi’s street food dishes, lesser-known in London.

Thela simply means ‘stall’ in Urdu, and they are common place in modern-day Pakistan.

As reasons go, owner Uzma’s yearning for the cuisine of her homeland, and lack of availability in her new home capital, were the driving force behind opening the restaurant.

She believes in cooking from scratch, with fresh ingredients, eschewing shortcuts, which she believes interferes with flavour.

For example, all spices are ground by hand.

The signature dish is paratha roll, and it offers up a rather nice alternative to the humble sandwich.

I tried one with a chicken tikka filling. Flaky, layered, hand-rolled dough, pan-fried in clarified butter and stuffed with a choice of chickpea potato, aloo tikki, butter chicken, lamb seekh or chicken seekh kebab – all under £8.

There’s also a range of chaat dishes, that much-loved combination of sweet, salty, crunchy, spicy and savoury ingredients, including channa chaat, samosa and mix pakora.