Watch out: Pani puri's filthy' affair with feet in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Delhi's famous ‘Kake- da-Hotel’ at Connaught Place was raided on Wednesday after a video of its cook kneading dough using his feet went viral. But, this is very common here too, mainly with those making pani puri and small samosas, and possibly hotels and restaurants too.

It is said that unless the feet is used to apply more pressure on the dough, the puris do not blow into shape in boiled oil. This is done here by wholesalers who supply pani puri in packets across eateries.

These wholesale shops are located at Mahankali police station in Secunderabad, Abids, King Koti, and Charminar. They operate from small rooms that are not registered with the GHMC, and escape the eye of food safety inspectors who anyway make money and make a mockery of their job.

A member of the small hotels association of twin cities, who didn’t want to be named said, “Numerous units of wholesalers of pani puri and small samosas are functional, and their kitchens are tiny rooms called bhattis.

The workers use their feet in kneading large quantities of dough. These products go to hundreds of street vendors. It is said that unless the feet is used, the puris don’t blow into shape. Large quantities are kneaded in bhattis.

“This is generally not possible in hotels or restaurants because, the roti-batter, especially rumali, is mixed with sugar and egg. After a few hours, the dough turns hard and cannot be kneaded. So the workers time and again keep kneading small quantities of dough (less than 10 kg), just before it goes for cooking,” he said.

When checked with confectionaries, a majority of them said they preferred dough-making machine. “Machines replace workers and are time-saving. A rotary moulder is found common in all bakeries. This helps in biscuit-making too.”

Delhi’s Kake-da-Hotel was inspected for unsanitary dough-kneading techniques by the Department of Food Safety after a twitter-user uploaded a video in which a man on the roof of the restaurant was seen standing with his feet in a utensil.

It was evident he was kneading dough with his feet. This video stirred up the anger of many visitors who loved the non-vegetarian treats at Kake –da-Hotel.