Ratiram Caterers

We spend most of our time at Shop No-22 in the Bareya Complex. It’s right there near the State Bank at Hazira Chowk, so it gets pretty crowded around here during the day. Most mornings start early with getting the stoves going and making sure all the ingredients came in right. Gwalior can get really hot, but we just keep at it because people need their food on time. It is a simple setup, nothing fancy. We handle the cooking and the serving, mostly for local folks who know where to find us. Sometimes the traffic at the chowk makes deliveries a bit of a headache, but we’ve lived here long enough to know the shortcuts. My cousin helps out with the heavy lifting and we just try to make sure the spices are balanced. It isn’t about being the biggest name in town, just about getting the job done properly. If you walk past the bank, you’ll probably smell whatever we are frying up that day. We don’t have a big office or anything, just the kitchen and some storage space. It’s hard work, especially on weekends when everyone seems to have a function at the same time. We just take it one order at a time. The floor gets greasy, the steam is everywhere, and usually, someone is shouting about a missing spoon or a late delivery. That is just how it goes here in Gwalior.