Around Town: On the brink of shutdown, this Chembur eatery found a lifeline after Virat Kohli discovered it

So one fine afternoon when Upmanyu enjoyed a plate of chole bhature in Chembur’s camp area that finally satiated that craving, he put up a story on Instagram: “No 1: Delhi Se. Location: Chembur. Yahan sab kuch mil raha tha. Amritsari choley, paranthe, everything. I only tried chole bhature. Maza aa gaya.”

The story reached actress Anushka Sharma, who had been searching for the perfect Delhi-like chole bhature for her husband and cricketer Virat Kohli. Happy from the taste, she put up three stories talking about Delhi Se’s chole bhature — how it was a big day at her home because her search for “ekdum-Delhi-jaise-chole-bhature in Mumbai” had ended, how she had given her husband who “watches Delhi chole bhature in his free time” “ecstatic joy,” and that finally he was “feeling like Mumbai has done it.” She also put up a screenshot of Upmanyu’s story and wrote: “Jao! Sab Khao! Mazze Manao!”

Delhi Se in Chembur. Express Photos by Akash Patil

That was October 5, 2022. Interestingly, it all happened within a month. Just a month earlier, brothers Jaspal, 46, and Mahinder Singh Khalsa, 39, then under a debt of around 18 lakh rupees, had made up their minds to shut for good. “I remember my wedding was in November, and in September, I didn’t have money to get the cards printed,” recalled Mahinder, adding that he remembers distinctly how on September 11, during Ganpati Visarjan, when everybody in the camp area was offering something to Bappa, the brothers too made a prayer: ‘Give us enough to be able to offer you something.’

Bappa heard, or so they believe. In less than a month, the queue outside their shop was so long that you couldn’t even see the premises. They moved to a bigger space opposite the original one, then opened in Mulund, then Andheri. Coming up next is Vashi.

Before there was food, there was music

The brothers didn’t have a background in food. Before COVID-led pandemic, Jaspal and Mahinder were running a full-scale events and production business, supplying LED screens, sound, truss and lights to concerts and clubs across Mumbai. They worked with 13 to 14 clubs at a time, and had a godown with equipment worth crores and a team of 25 to 30 people.

Then COVID hit. Their business — built entirely on social gathering — had no answer to social distancing. Payments dried up. Of what they were owed from the market, 75 percent turned into bad debt. “We came out the other side completely out of money. Out of everything,” said Mahinder.

Mahinder Singh Khalsa co-founded Delhi Se with his elder brother Jaspal. Express Photos by Akash Patil

The pivot to food was not a calculated decision. It was born from a craving. “Like Mumbai has vada pav, Delhi has chole bhature. And chole bhature was very close to our family — mummy used to make it every second day. At that point, we were missing Delhi-style chole bhature. There is no typical Delhi-style chole bhature in Mumbai — with masala aloo, mirchi, everything. That is where we decided.”

The name came one evening over a couple of beers, with a song playing in the background, “Dilli Se Hu…”. “While we were sitting there that night, we had already decided — Delhi Se… to Mumbai, to Hong Kong, to Dubai… every part of the country and the world. We had manifested the whole thing that night over beer.” The tagline followed naturally: Ab Delhi door nahin. This was 2021.

The recipe, the rejection and the restaurant

The recipe came from home — from Nani, Mami and Maasi, who had all made it together for as long as the brothers could remember. They went back to Delhi, found two people who could cook it consistently and brought them to Mumbai. The money to set it all up came from an unexpected place — Mahinder had applied to study logistics at a university in Montreal, paid the fees of around 23 to 24 lakh rupees, received a rejection and got the fees back. “He said, if not there, we’ll do it here.”

They launched on October 15 2021, Dussehra, from a 250 square foot space in Chembur camp with three tables and nine seats. The usable area, kitchen included, was around 100 square feet.

Chole bhature, rajma chawal, Amritsari kulche and lassi at Delhi Se. Express Photos by Akash Patil

For nearly a year, it did not work. By the third month they were 1.5 lakh in debt. By the eleventh month, 18 lakh. “There were days when not a single plate of chole bhature was sold,” Mahinder recalled, adding that they began quietly making dal, rice and sabji for hospital workers and office employees who wandered in with Rs 150 and asked for a thali. “We didn’t refuse. We had to do some business.” The thali crowd liked it too — the taste was different, distinctly Punjabi, because of the spices. Delhi Se brings around 250 masalas and blends from the North — anardana, kali mirch, yellow mirchi and others. “You don’t get that taste in Mumbai.”

After the queue

Today, across four outlets, Delhi Se sells more than 2,000 plates of chole bhature a day. The menu has grown. Alongside Amritsari kulche and stuffed paranthas, they also have dal makhani, kadhi pakoda, rajma chawal, chaap among other items. “But the philosophy has not,” emphasised Mahindra, adding, “if someone asks for a refill of chole, they get it free. If someone wants a small bowl of dal makhani on the side to taste alongside their kulcha, they get that too.”

“Our dad has always told us — don’t sell food, feed food. There is a difference. When you sell food, you charge for the extra bowl. When you feed food, you feed,” he said, adding that at all their outlets free buttermilk and water is provided for people waiting outside, the same hospitality that existed at that nine-seater in Chembur camp.

The plan ahead, they say, is what they envisioned over beers in 2021: “We want to have our chole bhatures to reach everyone everywhere in the world. The way you get a Mc Donald’s burger, we want to offer everyone an affordable and tasty chole bhature.”

What about the wedding? “We had more than enough — cards, gold, everything we wanted and more,” he laughed.