Sri Venkateshwara Hot Chips

If you walk toward Chikkabommasandra Cross in Yelahanka New Town, you will probably smell the hot oil before you even see Sri Venkateshwara Hot Chips. We spend a lot of time standing over the big iron vats of bubbling oil, especially in the evenings when everyone is coming home from work. The heat from the burners is pretty intense, but you get used to it after a few days on the job. We have these large metal slicers for the potatoes and bananas, and the sound of them clicking away is constant. The glass counters are always getting steamed up from the bags of fresh chips we just packed. It’s a small space, so we are often bumping into each other while reaching for the salt or the chili powder. The floor can get a bit slippery with all the bits of peel and oil splashes, so we have to sweep it down pretty often. When the rain starts, the shop gets really crowded because people like to wait under our awning and grab something warm to eat. We don’t have much room for sitting down, so most people just stand near the edge of the cross and eat while they talk. It’s a busy little corner of Yelahanka and there’s always someone stopping their scooter to yell an order. We just keep frying and bagging until the big tins are mostly empty at night.