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Tomato ‘Ganesha’ blesses British sandwich shop
Rajesh Pattni, who owns the Mumbai Sandwich Station in the Belgrave area of Leicester, says after he came upon the tomato with the unusual shape, his establishment soon got big orders.
A sandwich shop owner in the east Midlands town of Leicester believes that a Ganesha-shaped tomato has blessed his establishment and has helped increase business.
Rajesh Pattni, who owns the Mumbai Sandwich Station in the Belgrave area – the hub of Asian business and culture – found last week while preparing snacks that one of the tomatoes in the fridge had an unusual shape.
He told Hindustan Times on Friday that he was struck by its shape and showed it to customers and his family priest who was visiting from India. The priest thought it looked like Ganesha and blessed it.
Pattni, who sent photos of the tomato to Hindustan Times, said: “It has now degenerated, but the priest said it would bring us luck and help increase business. We are lucky this tomato reached us. It seemed to have worked – we soon got big orders.”
He said his family was mainly involved in gold and jewellery, but he chose to use his background in catering to offer authentic Indian vegetarian sandwiches that make customers feel “like you are in India”.
Pattni added: “We do the traditional sandwiches, like the authentic Bombay, which is a three-layer sandwich with potatoes, cucumber, beetroot, cheese, pepper and a green chutney specially prepared by us.”
His shop is one of many in the Belgrave area offering Indian fare in a town with a large population of Indian origin. Many Indians and Asians expelled from Idi Amin’s Uganda in the early 1970s moved to Leicester, and have since rejuvenated local economy and culture.
Some of the leading restaurants in Leicester are named Chutney Ivy, Chai Paani, Sharmilee, Bombay Bites, Mumbai Inn, The Indian Chef, Shimla Pinks and Masalas.
