Indore’s Lal Balti Kachori Has A 60-year Legacy, Even Shah Rukh Khan Loved It

Every city has some place famous for its eateries. Today, we are going to talk about one such place which has a 60-year-old eating joint and is still ruling people’s hearts with its taste. This place is situated in the largest city of Madhya Pradesh, Indore, and is famously known as “Lal Balti Kachori”.

There is an interesting story behind the name of this shop. When the shop first started, the owners used a red bucket (Balti in Hindi) for its promotion, and this bucket gradually became the symbol of the shop. A bulb was used inside the bucket and it was a sign that the shop is open and then people used to come here in long queues to eat the famous kachori. Thus, this shop became famous by the name “Lal Balti Kachori”.

The owner Anupreeta Anand Ranade said that the shop has been in the business for around 60 years now. Today, it has three branches in Indore at Tilak Path, Rajendra Nagar and Silicon City in all three places of Indore. When the shop started, one piece of potato kachori was sold for five paise. Now almost after 60 years, one kachori costs Rs 15.

Further, the owner said that the shop was started by her father-in-law Raghunath Ranade about 60 years ago. At that time, their mother-in-law Mrs Sushila also helped him. Both worked side by side in the shop together and after this, their son Anand Ranade started taking charge of the shop. Anupreeta said that the shop has only sold potato kachori for the past 60 years. The dish has become the trademark of the business and is widely popular among customers. They serve these kachoris with a famous green chutney which they prepare in their home itself.

Anupreeta mentioned that years ago, Shah Rukh Khan had come to Indore for a stage performance. During that time, he tasted their aloo kachori and praised it widely among the audience. Other celebrities like Madhuri Dixit and Nana Patekar have also tasted their kachoris and loved them a lot. The owner further said that her father-in-law Raghunath Ranade shared that when former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee used to come to Indore, he used to visit Shekhar Kibe ji’s house and their oldest shop was in front of Shekhar ji’s house. Thus, they used to buy kachoris from their shop for Atalji as well.