Some chaat for thought!

He swiftly diced and chopped the onions and targeted the tomatoes next. His expert hands reached for the coriander and threw it under the sharpened blade as he took more orders. “Sweet or medium?” he repeated for the second time to a customer.

The puffed rice turned soggy as he added the imli chutney and spices and the customer stopped talking to his companions to stare hungrily at his meal. 

This routine is repeated throughout the day, across the City by gaadiwalas making chaat.

An essential part of being a Bangalorean is eating churmuri (or bhel) at one of these mobile eat-outs. Anjanappa owns one such chaat stall and is famed throughout the City.

 Located in the posh area of Sadashivanagar, he gathers a crowd he can hardly manage. 

“I used to own a small hotel but I got badly injured during the Cauvery riots and wasn’t able to manage things. Then I become a driver for a while but I got bored of that. Since then, for the past 10 years, I have been selling chaat,” he says. 

His day starts at 7 pm, when he goes to the market to buy vegetables. By 3 pm the gaadi is ready and rearing to go.

 Anjanappa can be found diligently cutting and mixing away at the chaat until almost 10 pm. Sadashivanagar has its fair share of gaadiwalas but none of them are fair competition for him.

 Even though his prices are slightly higher than the usual gaadis, people throng to him. “He makes the best chaat I’ve had in Bangalore,” says Anindhita Ramachandran, who travels all the way from Indiranagar to have his chips masala. 

Maitri Vasudev makes it a point to eat his tomato masala whenever she can. “His chutneys are really great and he makes the spiciest churmuri I’ve ever had.”

He gets people to swear allegiance to him after their first time. Jitender, who was there to pick up his son from basketball camp says, “We’ll be coming to eat here regularly for the rest of the year.”

The students of Poorna Prajna Education Centre are his most loyal customers.

 Former students come to visit him because they can’t get enough. Anushka says she has been eating there for the past two years. He’s even had a celebrity visit him.

Sandalwood superstar, Puneet Rajkumar used to eat his yummy mixes. He believes that educating his children is the most important thing, even if it means he has to work a couple of extra hours.

 “I have two children: the elder son is studying hotel management at Ramaiah and the younger one just joined Seshadripuram College for Commerce.

They help out when I ask but I don’t want them to come here so I let them study. Some customers tell me that there’s no use to putting them through school but I know better,” he says. Anjanappa can be found in front of Poorna Prajna Education Centre, Sadashivanagar. His mobile number is 99029-73144.