Pind Balluchi

Our place is right at number 13 in Connaught Place, which is a busy area to be in, as anyone who lives here knows. There is always a crowd outside, people walking the inner circle or looking for a place to duck out of the heat. We’ve got the heavy wooden doors and the village-style look going on inside, which feels a bit different from the white pillars outside. It’s usually loud in here, mostly from people talking and the kitchen staff calling out orders. We serve a lot of dal and tandoori stuff, so the clay oven is always burning. The smoke from the tandoor gives everything a certain smell that you get used to after working here for a week. We have a lot of staff because it takes a lot of hands to keep up with the CP crowd. It’s not the kind of place where you’ll find minimalist decor or quiet whispers. It’s more about big plates and sitting together. We spend our mornings getting the marinades ready and making sure the lassi is cold. It's a lot of work to keep a place this size running smoothly in such a hectic part of town. But we've been at it for a while now, and we have a routine down. We just open the doors, let the people in, and keep the food coming out until the last guest leaves at night. It’s just how we do things. It can be exhausting but we don't mind much. That is life in CP.