Agra men take Modi's 'pakoda' advice to heart

Three friends from the Taj city all in their 50s have taken Prime Minister Narendra Modi's suggestion about fritters to heart. They have opened a shop here to sell "Modi Pakodas".

They draw quite a crowd selling "moong daal pakodas", stuffed with chillies, potato, spinach. The big draw is of course the fritters shaped in Hindi as "Modi".

The shop has opened at the famous Noori Darwaza area and has historical significance as it is in the same house which once was the bomb-making factory of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and others for a brief period during the Independence movement.

Last year the Prime Minister had suggested that even selling fritters was a good way to earn money. Salig Ram Agarwal, who along with the others opened the shop here, said: "There is no harm in selling pakodas to make a living, and there is already a big demand for these." 

Noori Darwaza, which is close to the Agra Medical College, is known for its "Petha" factories. The fritters are priced at Rs 120 per kg, with generous helping of 'chatni' and the shop is open from 12 noon to 8 p.m. IANS