Gurugramwale: Couple’s thali

A new eating destination in Gurugram, started by an enterprising pair from Uttarakhand

Gurugram, a Futuristic City? Bang on. The hope for a bright future sustains the spirit of thousands of folks who flock to the metropolis from across the country to make a better life.

That’s why Uttarakhand Bhojnalaya stall, despite being a makeshift food cart, is filled with so much meaning. It was started two months back by an ambitious couple from... well, the beautiful Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. Balan Singh Negi runs the establishment with some help from wife, Tara, who is at the moment funding the husband’s fledgling enterprise by “continuing to be a salaried cook in a number of kothis and PGS (paying guest accommodations).”

Until recently, Mr Negi was employed in a shoe showroom but “it shut down and I lost my job.” The crisis sparked the idea of “starting my own business.”

So far the cart is “doing well but it has to do better,” he confesses hesitantly. The daily menu, admittedly, doesn’t have any eyecatching dish specific to the couple’s native region “because Gurgaon doesn’t really have many people from our part of the world,” the wife argues.

It could be true. The city is full of street carts offering the famous litti-chokha staple of Bihar, but to spot anything Uttarakhand is rare. Besides, “people in our region eat more or less the same kind of khana eaten here,” shrugs the husband.

The lunch thali is very homely. This afternoon, it comprises of a filling meal of dal, soya bean subzi, rotis, along with onions and green chilies—unpretentious and satisfying.

“We are hopeful the business will pick up as our regular customers start to talk about us to their friends,” the lady says hopefully, “Until then I will continue to work as a household cook.” The stall opens daily in Civil Lines Old Judicial Complex from 8am to 8pm. The thali is priced at Rs 30.