HYDERABAD:Last few years have virtually seen a food truck revolution in Hyderabad, with stationary trucks at many nooks and corners in the city serving varieties of dishes. Food truck festivals have been organized in some parts of the city to bring the vehicles together, and let the public sample their diverse fares. However, quietly a group of food autos is flourishing in the city, stopping at various designated places during the day, and dishing out some yummy hotdogs.
In 2015, three friends started this new food concept, where they converted three autos into mobile food stalls selling hotdogs. Ashis Emanuel, Urvash Khanna, and Anisha Lioyd zeroed in on autos as they incur lower costs and also can park themselves even in congested bylanes in the city. Christened AutoExpress, the business now has about a dozen colourful autos, each offering variations of a single product - chicken hotdog, as well a few dishes for the vegetarians. You can find these autos at many locations in Hyderabad such as Gachibowli, Madhapur, Filmnagar, KBR Park, Sindhi Colony, Himayatnagar, and Marredpally. Emboldened by the success of the autos, they have now set up a couple of kiosks in Banjara Hills too. Their central kitchens in different parts of the city serve as feeders to these autos. Also, the orders routed through food delivery apps are catered by them. The hotdog buns are baked over there, while the sausages are sourced from Bangalore. The autos have facilities to warm and poke the buns and sausages and the final preparation of the hotdog happens there.
The autos serve quite a few versions of the chicken hotdog – a usual six inch hotdog as well as a mini box of three small hotdogs. There is also a cheesy chicken hotdog where the sausage has cheese added to it. Vegetarians can opt for their crunchy paneer sticks or mozzarella sticks. Initially, they had two types of sauces to go with their hotdogs, which were expanded to four recently. A mustard and ketchup-based sauce named Rebel is popular with most of their customers. Spice lovers prefer Insane, the hot sauce with Indian spices, while people who want a tangy taste in their hotdogs go for the Tripper sauce. According to Urvash, the strict quality standards followed in baking the buns, sourcing the best quality sausages as well as the availability of the autos all over Hyderabad are the factors contributing to the success of this venture.
Last year, Auto Express started their autos in Bangalore too and currently has four autos doing business in the city. Next time you see their colourful autos parked in your neighbourhood, do not miss out on the delicious hotdogs served there.
Sabyasachi is a food enthusiast and blogs at www.foodaholix.in