30 July,2023 06:14 AM IST | Mumbai | Gautam S Mengle
Devi Krishna Poli Bhaji Kendra in Kurla started with simple non vegetarian items on the menu and now their meaty fare sells more then the vegetarian one, prompting them to add more variety. Pic/Satej Shinde
Every day at 9 AM, Shraddha Zagade puts out a list of the breakfast menu for Siddhivinayak Poli Bhaji Kendra at Thane on her WhatsApp group. Within minutes, orders start pouring in. By the end of the hour, the existing stock is almost depleted, but her work for the day is far from over
By 11.30 am, the bhajis for lunch are ready. Zagade trains her mobile phone's camera on each pot, carefully clicking a picture while ensuring adequate light and clarity, before sending them to the same group, accompanied by the name of the dish. Chapatis are being made by the dozen and bhakris are rolled as per order. Vrindavan Society, among Thane's oldest residential localities, is home to families, bachelors, working professionals sharing houses and retirees who enjoy the quiet life in the peaceful complex.
Trimurti Poli Bhaji, the first such outlet in Dombivli
Siddhivinayak is one of the many poli bhaji centres that cater to this diverse clientele, forever trying to keep up with the changing tastes of its customers. It was started by Mohan Zagade, a former employee of Siemens who took voluntary retirement and invested his retirement package into the business. By the time his son Rajesh took over, technology had changed the game. "When we created a WhatsApp group, our reach grew exponentially. Even we didn't know that there were so many senior citizens staying alone in this complex who needed food delivered at home. The group was of great help during the pandemic too," Rajesh says.
Back in the day, the city's humble poli bhaji kendras were small establishments with a fixed menu of simple home-cooked fare and a strict take-away policy. Over the last three decades, they have undergone a sea change. This writer, who grew up in Dombivli, remembers queuing up outside Trupti Poli Bhaji Kendra, patiently inching towards the counter so that the day's offerings in deep steel pots could be ladled to be taken home. The vegetables would go into plastic bags secured with a string, while chapatis would be wrapped in thick sheets of paper.
Trupti and its predecessor, Trimurti, are the oldest poli bhaji kendras in Dombivli. The latter was started by Vishwanath Kanetkar 40 years ago, who, on a trip to Bengaluru, saw a man selling homemade idlis on the street and came away wondering why there was no concept of selling home-cooked food in Maharashtra. He set up Trimurti on the popular Phadke Road and in no time, it became a runaway hit.
In 1992, his son, Rajay, started Trupti at Chaar Rasta junction, now run by his son Ajay. "Today, we have Punjabi sabjis, Chinese fried rice, a vada pav stall next to Trimurti, and a separate outlet only for various kinds of laddoos. Trimurti now has four branches in Mumbai and Thane," Ajay says.
Over the years, these establishments have diversified not just their menu but services as well. Most poli bhaji kendras in the city have turned into mini-restaurants, with two or three tables where the customers can eat their meals, and they have also tied-up with food delivery apps. Apart from chapatis and subzis, poli bhaji kendras now offer snacks such as pohe, chivda and laddoos, soft drinks and home-made beverages such as solkadi or aam panna. Besides, festive goodies like modaks during Ganeshotsav and puran polis for Holi are always available.
Trimurti Poli Bhaji, the oldest one in Dombivli
For the people who run these businesses - often a family affair - they were catering to the need of the times. Siddhivinayak, for instance, had a limited, basic menu when it started in 2004. Three years later, the Zagades were able to buy their own space and soon, the menu expanded to include Maharashtrian favourites such as kobi wadi, alu wadi, kothimbir wadi, surnache kaap, bharleli mirchi, thecha, taak, kokum sarbat and lemon sarbat.
While the bigger ones in Mumbai have got onto the Swiggy and Zomato game, the smaller ones in the Thane district stay on humble WhatsApp groups and their own delivery boys. "We had to start home delivery because of the increasing demand," says Purva Zagade who, at 19, is the third generation Zagade to be involved in the family business, adding, "Working professionals were simply too tired to come out of their house after returning from a long work day. It seemed too much effort to wait in a queue for the order before taking it home to eat. Even senior citizens couldn't always come to our centre."
And because the home delivery option was available, groceries followed and profits grew. Siddhivinayak, like most others, doesn't deliver orders that are worth less than R100, simply because it is not viable. Customers understand and abide; most of them order a mix of cooked food and essentials such as eggs, bread and milk.
Most poli bhaji kendras that once had strictly vegetarian fare, slowly added chicken, mutton and fish curries to their menus. When Nanda Tari started the Devi Krishna Poli Bhaji Kendra in Kurla, she had a largely vegetarian menu with only a couple of non-vegetarian dishes. Today, she says, the non-veg food sells more. "We started with a basic chicken curry," says Tari, "but now make chicken liver, prawns and several kinds of fish, both in gravy and fried versions. We used to have a basic seating arrangement but stopped when COVID hit; but our clientele continues to be loyal. Those who work nearby flock to our outlet around 1 pm and take back parcels to eat in their canteens. We don't have a WhatsApp group but recently, we tied up with Swiggy."
Most poli bhaji kendras were family affairs - Purva and her father were the delivery people while her mother handled the kitchen. With growth came cooks, attendants and human resource management. "Sometimes attendants are so careless that they sit scrolling through their phones while customers wait, or the delivery boys leave us suddenly," says Purva, adding, "Our cooks have their own terms and conditions. But with competition coming in, you have to deal with niggles; we do whatever it takes to keep the trust of customers intact."
