Street Food at Kukatpally, Hyderabad

Guest Post by : Vishnu Kompella

Vishnu is well known in the local foodie circles in Hyderabad as a person who has vast knowledge of street food in Hyderabad. He is one of the top reviewers of Zomato for Hyderabad, and a regular participant in the various food meets organized by the foodie clubs here.

KPHB or Kukatpally Housing Board Colony, a suburb, is one of the fast growing locations in Hyderabad and has the highest number of apartments in Asia. The place is generally inhabited by the population from Seemandhra region and you will find various types of food, some of which are generally unavailable in other parts of Telangana and Hyderabad. Though KPHB has several food outlets starting from bandis to 3 star and 4 star restaurants, the people here have a lot of interest in the street food. This has resulted in mushrooming of many street bandis and introduction of several new items for the street food lovers of this area. Here is a glimpse of some of the few notable food joints which attracts huge followers throughout the week. Whenever you are passing by these places, stop and just enjoy the real taste of street food.

The Chicken BBQ at Shekar's

1) Shekar’s BBQ

After the closure of Mama Chicken at Madhapur, my quest for the BBQ chicken led me to a place called “Shekar’s BBQ". Located near JNTU RyuthuBazar, this kiosk has so many varieties including chicken legs, wings, tadka, chest, boneless seekh. They serve these with the mint chutney, which is extremely tasty. Since the area is inhabited by a lot of youth and bachelors, this place is doing brisk business. The spice levels in the food items are moderate and can be customized as per the customer’s requirements. One of their operators told me that they also supply on order, and they do provide live counters for bigger parties. I find that the mobile BBQ concept is becoming very popular in this area and has huge business potential for the near future.

Location: Near Visakhapatnam Cooperative Bank, Road Number 2, KPHB Phase I, KPHB Colony, Kukatpally.

The Chicken served with onions and mint chutney

2) Sri Balaji Roti Shop

Sri Balaji Roti Shop is one of the oldest roti selling places around the KPHB area, and they are located near Ramya ground. They specialize in rotis, especially plain roti, phulka, jonna roti (jawar) but their signature dish is the famous Gunta Ponganalu. They operate in the evenings from 4 to 10pm. The kiosk is owned by two ladies, they started with only rotis and then  moved on to make Gunta Ponganalu.

Gunta Ponganalu

Gunta Ponganalu being prepared

They make it on a semi-circular mould which is filled with the batter and then cooked evenly. The ponganalu are served along with onion chutney and groundnut chutney. The spice level is very high, so a normal person should always have a water bottle with them! The place provides only a couple of chairs to sit and many make themselves comfortable by having a seat on the ground itself.

Location: Sri Balaji Roti Shop, beside Ramya ground, KPHB Phase 3, Kukatpally. Telephone: 8801856346, 9393310539

3) Annapurna Muntha Masala

Muntha Masala a.k.a. spicy puffed rice snack is a concept which is popular in Seemandhra. Earlier, they used to sell them in palm leaves along with a stiff spoon made from the leaf itself. The snack became popular in KPHB in early 2000s and was available only in limited varieties. Soon, people found it suitable as a snack to go along with drinks too which made the whole concept a big hit and presently there are almost 100 such kiosks in and around KPHB, slowly spreading to other regions of Greater Hyderabad. One of the oldest muntha masala centres is the Annapurna Muntha Masala. He has a special menu which is not available at other kiosks in KPHB.

Muntha Masala

My favorite at Annapurna is the tomato masala, brinjal,egg and mirchi bajji. Made with a variety of puffed rice mixed with proportionate amounts of salt, chili powder, roasted peanuts, coriander, garam masala, lemon and some special masalas it is extremely delicious. They also prepare the wet version of the masala by mixing it with wet chana dal. They make frequent changes and continue to bring in a lot of new varieties in their menu.

Location: Annapurna Muntha Masala, Opposite lane to Olive Mithai, KPHB Phase3, Kukatpally. Hyderabad, Telangana-72. Phone: 9985552601, 9666250375.

4) Chicken Pakoda Galli

The population of KPHB has a lot of non-vegetarians whohave migrated from different parts of Andhra. They prefer the special Andhra snack - Chicken Pakoda, which is different from the regular chicken pakodas at other locations. Made with dough which is very crispy outside, the meat inside is soft and juicy at the same time. The chicken pakoda bandis are present on the E-Seva road, which is beside the Cinepolis Complex. You can see several of them serving chicken pakoda, chicken legs, chicken wings and some other boneless stuff. They operate in the evening time, mostly around 5 to 10 PM.

Location: E-Seva Road, Lane beside Cinepolis Complex. KPHB Phase 3,  Kukatpally, Hyderabad-72.

5) Uggani and Karam Dosa

Uggani Bajji

Uggani bajji (BorugulaUpma) is a snack or a breakfast which is widely available on the borders of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. They are made by tossing the puffed rice in a pan with curry leaves, onion, tomato, green chili, chili powder, coriander leaves,mustard, oil and some haldi. Fried gram dal powder (called Putnalu Podi) is served alongside with bajji.

Ragi Sangati

The bajji is super spicy maintaining a balance of gun powder and uggani. This snack is available for the breakfast at a tiffin centre which is adjacent to the Ramya ground, in which they do serve the regular tiffins along with Ragi Sankati, along with chicken curry and brain curry.

Karam Dosa

Another of their special items is the Rayalaseema Spl Karam Dosa. It is made the same way as the regular plain dosa, along with the karam which is made from the raw chili powder from Guntur. It is then mixed with onion paste making the dosa super spicy. They operate in the morning time from 7 to 11 am.

Location: Lane beside Ramya grounds, KPHB phase 3, Kukatpally, Hyd, Telangana-72.

Also see: Street Food Around Charminar
                Street Food of Hyderabad Part 1 and Part 2