There are very few food joints in the city, which serve Chole Bhature, a popular food item from North India. Annamayya, a year-old eatery, located opposite Gold Building, Dhanori, serves this lip-smacking dish. Started by brothers Abhishek and Animesh Shukla, Annamayya also serves Pav Bhaji, Dosa and Tawa Pulao. “We haven’t focused on too many items. We wanted to sell Chole Bhature along with a few other items,” says Abhishek.
Abhishek, who hails from Chattisgarh, is a talented cook and always wanted to start his own restaurant. He realised his dream in 2018. “I wanted to sell non-vegetarian food, especially Sheekh Kebabs and a few vegetarian dishes. But after moving in, the owner of the place did not give his consent to cook non-vegetarian food. We did not want to compromise on the location, so we dropped the non-veg items,” he says adding, “Now that we are doing good business, we are searching for another place to serve what we want to.”
On a busy day, Annamayya, which is a spiritual name, sells around 100 plates of Chole Bhature. “On weekdays, we mostly get family crowd. But on weekends, it’s a mix of family and students,” he says, adding, “We also get a lot of party orders. Those who come to us, like to give us party orders. They like the food, I guess (laughs).” Located at the busy location of Dhanori, they open shop at 7.30 am and close around 11 pm.
As cooking oil plays a major role in preparing Bhature, Shukla says that they do not compromise on its quality. “After preparing a certain number of plates, we throw away the oil. We do not reuse it as we keep the health of our customers in mind,” he says.
Their Dosa is also prepared in white butter or loni. “The taste of our Dosa is also very different,” he adds.
