Delicious, piping hot dosas, topped or stuffed with a variety of food items – this is what Foods Express offers. The dosa-on-wheels venture which was started a month ago near VUDA Complex at Siripuram has already become a hot spot for foodies. The venture was started by P. Sunil Krishna, who came back to the city to follow his passion after a five-year stint in the hospitality industry in the US. Sunil’s dosa-on-wheels concept with its unique offering of 50 varieties of dosa and five varieties of idlis has become greatly popular in a short span of time.
The dosas from Sunil’s hands come with a variety of fillings such as green peas, capsicum, mushroom, baby corn, paneer and palak but as you take a bite of the offering they become something else - so intriguing, one can actually wolf down as many just to capture the flavours that fuse into one another.
Take the Maa special dosa for instance – it is stuffed with sautéed, shredded vegetables and cheese tossed in paneer and aloo with a spicy, tangy taste. Another delight is the pizza dosas. Very fusion in taste, very American in looks, this variety is topped with capsicum, tomatoes and other veggies like baby corn and a generous spread of cheese resembling a pizza. The paneer dosas and the tawa idlis are the favourites at Foods Express. Tempting the palates are a range of chilli dosas such as allo dry chilli, mixed veg chilli, babycorn chilli, mushroom chilli and capsicum chilli – each lending a delightfully spicy taste to the dosas. The paneer cheese combo variety of dosas is a must-try. Among the other specialties, there is kaaju paneer dosa and paneer mushroom dosa.
Their Guntur idlis has a fiery taste and loved by those fond of spicy flavours. “Our tawa idlis are a specialty. In this, the idlis are sautéed in onion, tomato and karam podi and tossed in butter in the tawa,” says Sunil, who takes care of each and every order and dishes them out himself. To assist him, he has another person.
Being a foodie himself, Sunil always wanted to start his own food enterprise in the city. The obvious choice was the all-time favourite dosas and idlis, but he wanted to do it with a difference. “I initially started with a vegetarian offering that will cater to a wide variety of dosas. In a couple of month’s time I am planning to start another dosa van that will cater to non-vegetarian dosas,” says the hotel management graduate. He started the venture with an initial investment of Rs 7 lakh which included, the cost of van and re-modification of the vehicle – all conceptualised and designed by Sunil.
His van is stationed near the VUDA Complex, behind HSBC, throughout the week from 6.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. He also caters to bulk orders above 50. On an average, he sells 200 dosas and 70 idlis in a day. “The response has been great so far. We get around 30 repeat customers daily. Now I am looking for another spot to start breakfast offerings,” says Sunil.
Timings: 6.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.
Venue: Near VUDA Complex
Specialty: Dosas and idlis
Price factor: Rs 50 to Rs. 80 (per dosa on an average)
