Balaji Chat Karnar

You can find us in Rohini Sector 15 at Manav Chowk, C-1/2. It’s a lively corner of the neighborhood. We focus on snacks like gol gappas and aloo tikki. The water for the gol gappas has to be just right, not too spicy but with enough kick. I wake up early to start preparing the different types of flavored water and boiling the potatoes. By the time evening rolls around, the chowk is full of families out for a walk. We have a few benches, but mostly people just crowd around the stall. It gets a bit noisy with the traffic and everyone talking at once. I usually have a couple of boys helping me out with the serving because one person can't handle the rush during the weekends. We go through hundreds of plates on a good Sunday. The weather affects us a lot; if it rains, things slow down, but then everyone wants hot pakoras instead. We just adapt to what people want. It’s a modest setup with a couple of big umbrellas for shade. We’ve been here long enough that we don’t really need a big sign. People just know where the Balaji spot is. We keep the counters as clean as we can and just focus on getting the food out fast so nobody has to wait too long. It is just a regular part of the evening for most folks living around here.