Tandooriwalla
Puran Singh A former Welcomgroup chef makes a modest living by catering chicken tikka to Baroda�s adventurous foodies.

Nobody makes a chicken tandoori in Baroda better than Puran Singh. The old, grizzled tandooriwallah was once a chef with the ITC Welcomgroup Hotels, a Big Daddy til 1996. He then left to start a �larry� of his own... which is a food cart plied in the evenings. From this humble start, after six years Puran Singh made enough money to start a small eatery and takeaway place called Khana Khajana. In it, singlehandedly, he can cook chicken tandoori for upto 150 customers at a time. And he gets them as well, big flashy cars draw up to his modest little restaurant and Baroda�s foodies spill out for Puran Singh�s chicken tikka, anaar tikka, malai tikka and green tikka. He serves these with naans and rotis made plain or with cheese, and with jeera rice. He is a largehearted man and eager to share his recipes with anybody anxious to know them. �The anaar tikka is made by marinating the meat with fresh anaar juice and a ginger-garlic paste,� he reveals, grinning toothily. �I have no fears of losing customers," he says,"God is great, he sends me all the people who came to me for food at the ITC hotel".