Street Food of Hyderabad: The Bandis and Their Delicious Tiffins

Guest Post by : Raj Vuppala

Raj Vuppala is an enthusiastic food addict based in Hyderabad. He has huge interest in occidental cuisine, as well as the local food from Andhra Pradesh. A database expert by profession he is usually one of the first persons to visit a newly opened food outlet in the city.

Part 1 | Part 2

Hyderabad has a decent list of roadside Tiffin stalls (bandis) spread all over the city. Over the years I have been frequenting a large number of them. In this post, we talk about some of the street food joints (or bandis as they are called) that are definitely worth visiting.

Laxman Bandi

Dosa being Prepared at Laxman Bandi

Located at Gyanbhag colony, near Gosha Mahal (behind Nampally) this bandi is normally very crowded, and they do not have a token system, so you will need to push your way in to ensure you are served. Laxman does not keep track of what you eat so he bills you for what you said you had.

Dosa at Laxman Bandi

Coming to food, they mainly offer idli, dosas and upma. The USP of this place is their green chutney. I have not had this chutney anywhere else in Hyderabad. Though you might not be floored with the chutney during the first visit, it grows on you with each visit and soon you will be extremely addicted to the chutney.

The idlis here are very soft and are topped with gunpowder when served (like Guntur idli). Coming to dosas, the most popular dosa they offer is called the chatpat dosa. The chatpat dosa is topped with upma, tomatoes, onions, gun powder and lots of ghee. Though it might scare the health conscious, it is a delight to your taste buds.

Purna Tiffins

Purna Tiffins

This tiffin center is located in Krishna Nagar (near Srinagar Colony). The ambience of this place is not great, yet I keep frequenting this place for the yummy food! This place use to be very crowded until one of their former employees started his own tiffin center in the vicinity, offering the exact same items for a better price. Now the crowd here is more manageable. They provide for a token system for dealing with the crowds; you need to buy a token before you are served food. They also offer service to your car (provided you can find a place to park).

Idlis at Purna Tiffins

They offer idlis, dosas, poori, pessarattu, mysorebonda, etc. The USP of this place are their butter idlis. They serve one of the best idlis in Hyderabad and combined with red chutney, the taste is divine! The dosas at this place are nothing to rave about. They also serve delicious poori – subji.

Govind Bandi

Dosas at Govind Bandi

This is one of the most popular bandis in Hyderabad which is located near Charminar. The first time I visited this place, I was surprised to notice that the crowd here was more manageable unlike some of the other bandis.

Idlis at Govind Bandi

The USP of this place is there butter dosa. The butter dosas are topped with upma, tomatoes, onions and real cubes of Amul butter. The taste is truly outstanding and justifies all the hype about this place. This bandi is much more hygenic compared to other bandis. They also offer idlis and tawa idlis which are just mediocre and nothing special.

Iyer Tiffins

Idli at Iyer Tiffins

This restaurant is located in DK Road, Ameerpet. Run by a team from Tamil Nadu, they offer some great tiffins Tamil style. As it is run from a small room, it can get cramped at times owing to the huge inflow of the crowd which causes most of their items to be sold out by 9:00 AM.

The tiffins here are served in a cone made from banana leaf. Their coconut chutney makes an awesome combo with idlis and vadas. They also serve decent upma and pongal here.

Read Part 2 of this post The Hyderabad Bandis and Their Delicious Tiffins  - Part 2

Addresses:

Laxman Bandi: Near Mangalhat Road, Gyanbagh Colony, Begumbazar
Phone: 9866687835

Purna Tiffins: 8-3-231/158, Sri Krishna Nagar, Yousufguda, Hyderabad
Phone: 9949809980

Govind Bandi: Near GulzarHouz, Ghansi Bazar, Hyderabad
Telephone: 9246522078

Iyer Tiffins: DharamKaram Road, Opp MCH Ground, Ameerpet

Also See: Street food around Charminar