HYDERABAD: Pick an Osmania biscuit, dip it in a cup of hot Irani chai, take a bite. The feeling when it melts in your mouth is like no other. “There is no better experience than having Osmania biscuits with Irani chai,” says A Shashank in a candid chat, seated at Cafe Niloufer that is run by his father A Babu Rao.
Having been there for close to 50 years, the cafe got it’s name from Niloufer hospital that is located nearby.
It has become a house-hold name ever since for Hyderabadis for its relishing and flavoursome biscuits.
There is a story that goes around that these biscuits were made by dieticians in Osmania General Hospital because they considered them to be an energy solution to supplement the diet of patients. Shashank agrees to it and shares once the biscuits became popular, every baker came up with a recipe of his own. “The four basic ingredients remain the same -- milk, sugar, flour and hydrogenated vegetable oils. But additional ingredients like flavours, chemicals and baking essence varies,” explains Shashank stressing that the biscuits they sell are without any added flavours.
“They also contain lesser fat compared to the others,” adds the 27-year-old.
Going back, he recalls that a lot of effort has gone into making the recipe.”My father is a tea blender. He came up with a unique recipe to suit the tea we make in the cafe,” he says. Considering the ingredients used, they may seem like any other kind of biscuits and cookies. But Shashank tells us how biscuits in Niloufer have a unique quality. “The taste of biscuits we make blends well with the tea we serve at the cafe. We have customers who stop by everyday at our cafe and end up eating four to five biscuits,” shares Shashank. He also vouches for their hygiene. “They are completely handmade and are baked in a atmosphere where workers are always reminded to be clean. We have a set uniform and insist on wearing the chef cap at all times. The kitchen faces the East that has good circulation of air,” he explains. He reminds us,”Generally human beings stop eating biscuits after a particular age. But you won’t get bored of having Osmania biscuits no matter how old he you are,” he smiles.
With 15-20 workers on board, they manufacture and sell close to 40,000 biscuits a day and caters to biscuit lovers in places like Guntur, Vijaywada, Ananthapur, Kurnool, Nellore and Kadappa along with many others in Telangana. While the biscuits were initially made according to the taste that suits denizens of old city, in 2011, they incorporated a few changes as they noticed that people from the other parts of the city were also hopping in to get a taste.
“It’s my father’s passion for blending tea that has made the cafe this famous,” says Shashank.
Has the sale of biscuits in their cafe decreased with so many other Osmania biscuit manufacturers coming in? Shashank simply shrugs and responds, “Everyone has their own recipe and nobody can make biscuits like we do,” and goes back to the point he has been making all the while. “To enjoy the real taste of our biscuits one also needs to have the perfect cup of chai -- that has my father’s touch. Our customers always come back to us just to have that chai ki chuski along with the biscuits,” he shares with pride.
Priced at a mere `2.50, the biscuit has brought them fame. Apart from Osmania biscuits, the cafe is also famous for fruit, oatmeal, coconut and salt cookies.
