Street Food of Hyderabad: The Bandis and Their Delicious Tiffins

Guest Post by : Raj Vuppala

Raj Vuppala is an enthusiastic food addict based in Hyderabad. He has huge interest in occidental cuisine, as well as the local food from Andhra Pradesh. A database expert by profession he is usually one of the first persons to visit a newly opened food outlet in the city.

Part 1 | Part 2

Hyderabad has a decent list of roadside Tiffin stalls (bandis) spread all over the city. Over the years I have been frequenting a large number of them. In this post, we talk about some of the street food joints (or bandis as they are called) that are definitely worth visiting.

Laxman Bandi

Dosa being Prepared at Laxman Bandi

Located at Gyanbhag colony, near Gosha Mahal (behind Nampally) this bandi is normally very crowded, and they do not have a token system, so you will need to push your way in to ensure you are served. Laxman does not keep track of what you eat so he bills you for what you said you had.

Dosa at Laxman Bandi

Coming to food, they mainly offer idli, dosas and upma. The USP of this place is their green chutney. I have not had this chutney anywhere else in Hyderabad. Though you might not be floored with the chutney during the first visit, it grows on you with each visit and soon you will be extremely addicted to the chutney.

The idlis here are very soft and are topped with gunpowder when served (like Guntur idli). Coming to dosas, the most popular dosa they offer is called the chatpat dosa. The chatpat dosa is topped with upma, tomatoes, onions, gun powder and lots of ghee. Though it might scare the health conscious, it is a delight to your taste buds.

Purna Tiffins

Purna Tiffins

This tiffin center is located in Krishna Nagar (near Srinagar Colony). The ambience of this place is not great, yet I keep frequenting this place for the yummy food! This place use to be very crowded until one of their former employees started his own tiffin center in the vicinity, offering the exact same items for a better price. Now the crowd here is more manageable. They provide for a token system for dealing with the crowds; you need to buy a token before you are served food. They also offer service to your car (provided you can find a place to park).

Idlis at Purna Tiffins

They offer idlis, dosas, poori, pessarattu, mysorebonda, etc. The USP of this place are their butter idlis. They serve one of the best idlis in Hyderabad and combined with red chutney, the taste is divine! The dosas at this place are nothing to rave about. They also serve delicious poori – subji.

Govind Bandi

Dosas at Govind Bandi

This is one of the most popular bandis in Hyderabad which is located near Charminar. The first time I visited this place, I was surprised to notice that the crowd here was more manageable unlike some of the other bandis.

Idlis at Govind Bandi

The USP of this place is there butter dosa. The butter dosas are topped with upma, tomatoes, onions and real cubes of Amul butter. The taste is truly outstanding and justifies all the hype about this place. This bandi is much more hygenic compared to other bandis. They also offer idlis and tawa idlis which are just mediocre and nothing special.

Iyer Tiffins

Idli at Iyer Tiffins

This restaurant is located in DK Road, Ameerpet. Run by a team from Tamil Nadu, they offer some great tiffins Tamil style. As it is run from a small room, it can get cramped at times owing to the huge inflow of the crowd which causes most of their items to be sold out by 9:00 AM.

The tiffins here are served in a cone made from banana leaf. Their coconut chutney makes an awesome combo with idlis and vadas. They also serve decent upma and pongal here.

Read Part 2 of this post The Hyderabad Bandis and Their Delicious Tiffins  - Part 2

Addresses:

Laxman Bandi: Near Mangalhat Road, Gyanbagh Colony, Begumbazar
Phone: 9866687835

Purna Tiffins: 8-3-231/158, Sri Krishna Nagar, Yousufguda, Hyderabad
Phone: 9949809980

Govind Bandi: Near GulzarHouz, Ghansi Bazar, Hyderabad
Telephone: 9246522078

Iyer Tiffins: DharamKaram Road, Opp MCH Ground, Ameerpet

Also See: Street food around Charminar

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Numaish at Hyderabad: A street food lover's delight

Numaish or “All India Industrial Exhibition” is the biggest fair of Hyderabad held in Nampally during January and February. With around 500 stalls selling all kinds of items, it is thronged by Hyderabadis of all hues. While my wife looks forward to it for interesting bargains on clothes, cutlery, durables and lot of other things, I look forward to the  Hyderabadi street food which it offers in the same campus. Numaish reminds me of my childhood, and the winter fairs at Calcutta Maidan – stalls, people, dust and food.

Like the last 20 years, I just could not wait to sample the offerings this year, and soon found myself queuing up at the large ground on a Friday afternoon.  The entrance fee is now Rs 20 per head, and a long queue is omnipresent.

Pista House Stall at Numaish

The first good reason for any foodie to visit the exhibition is the stall Pista House puts up at Numaish, selling their famous haleem (Rs. 120 per plate) for the entire period. Except a few small joints and star hotels, it is difficult to get haleem in Hyderabad outside of the Ramzan period. The huge stall from Pista House thus comes as a God sent opportunity in the Hyderabad winter.

Haleem at Pista House

The stall is a somewhat empty in the late afternoon but picks up crowd at sundown and it is difficult to get a place after 7 pm. Maybe it has something to do with the psyche that Haleem is normally eaten only after the breaking the fast in the evening during Ramzan. Other Hyderabadi delicacies like Double Ka Meetha (a dessert made with bread), and Qubani ka meetha (an apricot based dessert) are also available.

Next to Pista House, is Bade Miyan Kababs (Ismail Restaurant). The restaurant has shifted from its earlier location in the exhibition and is now on an open air rooftop next to Gandhi Auditorium. The place is fairly big too with close to 40 tables.

Pathar ka Gosht being prepared at Bade Miyan

My favorite here is the Patthar Ka Gosht (Rs 170 per plate). Their kitchen is on the outside so you can actually see the gosht(mutton) being slow cooked on the patthar(hot stone).

Seekh kababs at Bade Miyan

I have a particular liking for the seekh kababs (Rs 150) here which are soft and succulent. The boti kababs, and chicken tikkas available here are good too when eaten with rumali rotis.

Chicken Tikka at Bade Miyan

For vegetarians, the most sought after place is the New Agra Diamond Stall, well known for its namkeens and sweets. Huge mirchi bhajis, a specialty of Hyderabad is the first thing which will draw your attention.The Paneer tikka sandwich (spicy pieces of paneer with masala sandwiched in between, served with chat masala and onions) is another favorite.

Paneer Tikka at New Agra Diamond stall

The Aloo Toast and the dhoklas are the other popular dishes which are available here. The sweet section has kesar milk, served in earthen glasses, large gulab jamuns and gajar ki halwa.

Aloo Toast at New Agra Diamond

The regular chaat counters are the other attractions. I visited two of them – Rajasthani Chaat Bhandar near the gate, and the New Gokul Chaat at the place where the Bade Miyan Stall used to be. Both are mammoth stalls with plastic tables and chairs, serving all the chaat items like papri chats, panipuris, sev puris and pav bhajis.

Khajla

The New Gokul Chat additionally has Khajla, a baqarkhani type of sweet dish, and pethas from Agra.
For South Indian snack enthusiasts,

Ruchi stall has the normal fare of idlis and dosas as well as delicacies like the Tiranga Dosas and Palak Paneer Dosas. Junnu, a cow milk based pudding which is speciality of Andhra Pradesh is available in the DWCRA stalls.

Egg Muttabaq

Another thing worth trying is the stall specializing in egg based preparations - Egg Fast Food. The highlight here is Egg Muttabaq (Rs 100) – the egg version of the folded stuffed paratha which originated in the Middle East, and is now extremely popular in Hyderabad. Muttebaq reminds me of the Bengali street food – Moglai Paratha, which is prepared in a similar manner. Egg Lukmi is another innovative dish worth trying out.

Apart from these, there are hundreds of juice stalls, ice cream stalls, frankies and normal street food all over the fair.

The Numaish is a must visit for any food enthusiast. As the weekends are unbelievably crowded it is better to hit the fair on a weekday evening if possible.

Address: The All India Industrial Exhibition, Mukarramjahi Road, Exhibition Grounds, Nampally
Duration: 1st January to 15th February (every year)
Timings: 3 PM to 10 PM

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Theos, Noida : The Finest Confectionery In Town

Initially starting off as a small-time confectionary from the basement garage of the head chef, Theos has grown many fold over the last few years owing to their yummy pastries and their delicious breads. Derived from the Greek word 'Theobroma Cocoa' which literally means 'Foods for the Gods', they serve a wide selection of continental cuisines from Lebanese to Italian.

Theos is pretty well known at Noida and due to their huge fan following and always crowded stature, they have recently renovated their older restaurant at Sector 50 though their Sector 41 restaurant is the more famous one. It has a confectionery section right at the entrance which sells pastries, cakes and quiches; the dining area is located just beside it and is comparatively smaller. The interiors are lavishly decorated with rich paintings and furnished with glazed wooden tables and chairs.

Fruit Trifle

Though Theos boasts of a wide spread of continental dishes, their divine confectionary and bakery items are more or less the reason why people frequent the place. Not only will you be floored with the number of options presented but the exquisite quality and thick cream used will guarantee that you pay a second visit to this place.

Mutton Sheekh Roll

Made in multiple layers and topped with cream cheese, Theos' Red Velvet Cake is really fluffy and soft. The red coloring in their cake is a bit more pronounced than that of the other restaurants but the taste is twice as better. These are sold out extremely fast and even on a weekday, a regular office goer just might get the last remaining piece of this wonderful delicacy.

Red Velvet Cake

Their Mutton Sheekh Kebab Rolls and Monkey Mushroom Rolls are also different from the everyday fare. The Sheekh Kebab inside the roll is really huge and meaty, made from minced meat and is nicely marinated with salt, pepper and other spices giving the roll a delightful taste.We also tasted their Chicken Caesar Salad Sandwich.

Chicken Caesar Sandwich

Monkey Mushroom Roll

Theos also serves the best Blueberry Shake and Hot Chocolate. With the freezing winters of Delhi, the Hot Chocolate, topped with molten cocoa brings a certain degree of warmth in the body while the cold blueberry shake soothes and numbs the nerves.

Blueberry Shake

Hot Chocolate

Alternating between sweet pastries and salted bakery items, we then moved onto their Banana Toffee Pie, Chocolate Mud Cake and Pineapple Pastry. Known more often as the Banoffee Pie, the English dessert is made from bananas, cream and toffee from condensed milk. It is made into three layers, with cream on the top, banana in the middle and the Graham Cracker crust at the bottom.

Banana Toffee Pie

Pineapple Pastry

Chocolate Mud Cake

If you are in the mood for a small bite and have a sweet tooth, Theos cannot disappoint you. Their wide variety in pastries and cakes are astonishing and even quality wise they are fabulous. A treat to all the dessert and sweet lovers.

Cost for 2 - Rs. 600/-

Address : Aggahpur, Main Dadri Road,
Near HP Petrol Pump,
Sector 41, Noida
Telephone : +91-8750252225
Website : http://www.theosfood.com/

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New Kritunga Restaurant, Hyderabad – Affordable Rayalaseema Cuisine

New Kritunga, the Rayalaseema restaurant chain in Hyderabad is known for serving the cuisine of the Palegars or local chieftains of the Rayalseemas. Offering to serve Rayalaseema food at a budget, they have a no frill décor with metal chairs and tables in a café style ambience.

New Kritungs at Panjagutta

The menu has a lot of specials from the Seema region such as Ragi Muddha, Gutti Vankaya, Natu Kodi Pulusu, Gongura Mamsam and Kamju (or quail) preparations.

Their specialty is Raagi Muddha (or Sankati) or balls made out of cooked Ragi (finger millet) flour and rice  which goes well with sambar, pappu (dal) or ghee. We tried it first with the peanut chutney served alongside and were really satisfied. When eaten with a traditional pulusu, the ragi soaks in the curry giving it a divine taste.

Ragi Muddha with peanut chutney

Natu Kodi Pulusu or country chicken curry is another of their sought after dishes. This spicy curry is not for the faint hearted, as one may have to drink gallons of water to douse the fire caused by the hot chili powder. However, the flavour of the fresh masalas used in the preparation comes across very well. The curry can be tried with any combination such as rice, mudda, jowar rotis or the pulao.

Natu Kodi Pulusu (Country Chicken curry)

Gutti Vankaya Koora is traditionally brinjal stuffed with masala and then cooked in a thick gravy. The brinjals were also soft and without seeds in a curry that tasted sweet and tangy. A signature dish of the Rayalseema, it is a favorite among vegetarians of the region.

Gutti Vankaya Koora (Stuffed Brinjal Curry)

We asked for the traditional Andhra Pulao, but were informed that it is available only in the weekends. So we opted for the special Chicken Biryani is basically bagara rice covered with spicy boneless chicken pieces and masala. It tasted extremely delicious in combination with the pulusu as well as the brinjal curry. The raita however was too watery for my liking.

Boneless Chicken Biryani (Andhra style)

Service is very fast. It is a busy restaurant with many loyal customers. All tables are occupied by lunch time, and many people patiently wait for a table. The takeaway also does brisk business.

Overall, a budget restaurant chain offering decent food at a price suitable for all pockets.

Meal For two: Rs 350.

Address and Details:
Lane next to Model House, Punjagutta, Hyderabad
Telephone: 66664979

New Kritunga has branches all over Hyderabad including Ameerpet, Kukatpally and Madhapur.

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