Hot & fluffy: 4 idlis for 5 at Badi Chowdi

nHyderabad: Cannot believe 4 idlis for just Rs 5? Then, head to Badi Chowdi after 7:30 am, and look out for Linghamaiah, 60.

He moves about Ramkote and Ram Mohalla areas between 6 am and 7 am selling steaming idlis, vada and dosa. From 7:30 am onwards, he stays put at Badi Chowdi. This he has been doing since 1979. Along with idli, he also sells 3 piece vada, 3 piece bajji with three to four chutneys for Rs 5.

Venturing into making dosa and idli was accidental, he says. Recollecting his initial days in the city, he reflects: "I came here in 1979 from Mahbubnagar. On August 31, 1979, I started making dosa with the leftover batter that I had prepared for myself. I sold dosa for 5 paise. Since then I have been doing the same."

One can have two crisp dosas for Rs 5. A native of Koyal Konda mandal of Mahabubnagar district, Linghamaiah has been dishing out fluffy idlis and crisp dosas and vada for close to four decades now.

There is not a single person in and around Kubdiguda, Ramkote, Ram Mohalla who have not tasted his morning snack. Ritesh Deshmukh, a resident of Ramkote says, "I really do not know how he manages to provide food at such a cost. I guess he makes money in volume, or there is no way."

No doubt that he is able to survive even after providing food for such low cost as every inch around his makeshift stall, if we may call it one is filled with people. He brings the food on his bicycle.

His son works in ICICI bank also helps him along with his mother before leaving for office. Linghamaiah makes anywhere between Rs 500-Rs 800 per day. "Anyone with hunger can fill their full tummy at a very nominal cost by the Linghamaiah dosas at Badi Chowdi," said Akbar, a daily customer. The best part are the chutneys and the soft dosas, he added.