The story goes back to September 2022, when stand-up comedian Abhishek Upmanyu walked into Delhi Se in Chembur’s Camp area. Upmanyu, after eating at the restaurant, shared his recommendation on Instagram.

“No. 1: Delhi Se. Location: Chembur. Yahan sab kuch mil raha tha. Amritsari choley, paranthe, everything. I only tried chole bhature. Maza aa gaya,” Upmanyu wrote in his Instagram story.

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At the time, Jaspal and Mahinder had no idea who Upmanyu was.

“On September 13, Abhishek Upmanyu came to eat chhole bhature. We didn’t know him then. On September 14 and 15, our walk-ins started increasing. We were surprised. Then we came to know that Abhishek Upmanyu, who is a stand-up comedian, had posted a story on Instagram about our chhole bhature,” Jaspal told Pinkvilla.

That recommendation soon reached Anushka Sharma, who had been searching for authentic Delhi-style chole bhature in Mumbai for Virat Kohli.

Call from Anushka Sharma’s home for chole bhature

Anushka had discovered Delhi Se through Upmanyu’s Instagram story. On October 5, 2022, she shared a series of Instagram Stories celebrating her discovery.

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“Today is a BIG day in our home!” Anushka wrote at the time, saying her seemingly never-ending search for “ekdum-Delhi-jaise-Chole-bhature in Mumbai” had finally ended.

She added that he was finally “feeling like Mumbai has done it.” Anushka also credited Upmanyu for introducing her to the restaurant.

But before that Instagram post, the restaurant owners had another memorable interaction.

“Anushka Sharma had seen the post of Abhishek Upmanyu. We received a call from her house asking for two plates of chhole bhature to be delivered to Juhu,” Jaspal recalled.

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Delhi Se in Chembur. Express Photos by Akash Patil

The brothers were not convinced that the call was genuine.

“At that time, our outlet was in Chembur. A plate was Rs 120, so two plates were Rs 240. The cost of travelling to Juhu and coming back would have been around Rs 400. So I said our travelling cost would be more than the order,” he said.

The caller assured him that the additional cost would be paid.

“I thought, ‘Who is this person? Someone is definitely playing a prank on me.’”

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When the caller asked him to share his bank details for the payment, Jaspal became even more suspicious.

“I told her, ‘Ma’am, we need the full payment in advance.’ She said, ‘Okay, send me your bank details and I’ll transfer the money.’ I said I could send a QR code, but she said they wouldn’t make the payment through a QR code and asked me to send my bank details.”

Jaspal said he subsequently called Mahinder.

“I told Mahinder, ‘This woman is troubling me. She has called eight times and is asking for my bank details.’ Mahinder said, ‘What’s the problem? Give her the bank details.’ I said, ‘What if she hacks the account?’ Mahinder said, ‘The account balance is already negative. There is hardly any money in it.’”

The calls continued for several days.

“I was frustrated. I said, ‘Ma’am, you’ve been calling me for 10 days saying you want chhole bhature. You’re not paying, you’re asking for my account details, and you’re not telling me the time or date.’”

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That’s when the caller finally revealed that she was calling from Virat Kohli’s home.

“She said, ‘Please calm down. I am calling from a celebrity’s house. I am calling from Virat Kohli’s house.’”

Jaspal still wasn’t convinced. “I said, ‘Ma’am, please don’t say things like that. Where is Virat Kohli and where am I — a small chhole bhature shop in Chembur? How am I supposed to believe that you’re calling from Virat Kohli’s house?’”

The response was: “You have to trust us, otherwise you will lose the opportunity.”

The delivery was eventually fixed for October 5.

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‘We went to Virat Kohli’s house’

The brothers took the chole bhature to the address they had been given. “We went in, and I apologised to the staff because I had been rude to her over the phone.”

But Jaspal had no idea what was about to happen next. After returning to the restaurant, he received a call from the staff member.

“She asked me, ‘Are you on Instagram?’ I said yes. She asked whether I followed Kohli or Anushka. I said no. Then she said, ‘I have something to share with you.’”

The staff member sent him Anushka’s post.

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Mahinder Singh Khalsa co-founded Delhi Se with his elder brother Jaspal. Express Photos by Akash Patil

‘Within half an hour, there was a massive crowd’

According to Jaspal, the effect on the restaurant was almost immediate.

“After her post, there was a massive crowd at the restaurant. Within half an hour, such a huge crowd had gathered that we were completely blank.”

The sudden rush was so unusual that neighbouring residents began asking whether the restaurant was giving away free food.

“Our phones were ringing non-stop. The manager’s phone was also ringing. There was so much crowd that the police came and asked what was happening.”

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The restaurant wasn’t equipped to handle the sudden demand.

“Someone would order six plates, someone else would order 10. We didn’t have enough stock. We didn’t know this was going to happen.”

The brothers began sourcing ingredients from people living around the restaurant and by the third day their production had increased more than 10 times.

“We told people living nearby, ‘Please soak chhole at home. I’ll come and collect them.’ Some guests waited for more than two hours just to get two or three plates of chhole bhature. By the third day, we had gone from eight kilograms of chhole to 100 kilograms.”

Delhi Se was almost shut before the celebrity connection

Delhi Se was launched on October 15, 2021, in Chembur’s Camp area. The original restaurant occupied a roughly 250-square-foot space with three tables and nine seats.

The brothers were struggling financially and had reportedly accumulated around Rs 18 lakh in debt by September 2022.

“From January, our sales started declining. By September 2022, we were planning to close the restaurant. We thought we would pay the last month’s groceries and rent and then shut it down,” Jaspal said.

Chole bhature, rajma chawal, Amritsari kulche and lassi at Delhi Se. Express Photos by Akash Patil

Interestingly, the turnaround came within weeks of that decision.

On September 11, the brothers had even prayed during Ganpati Visarjan for enough to be able to make an offering. A few days later, Upmanyu walked into their restaurant. Less than a month after that, Anushka’s Instagram posts brought an unprecedented crowd to their doorstep.

Delhi Se now has four outlets, including locations in Chembur, Mulund, Andheri West and Vashi. According to the brothers, the brand now sells more than 3,000 plates of chole bhature every day across its outlets.

“Earlier, we used to soak half a kilogram or one kilogram of chhole. Now, across our four outlets, we soak around 125 kilograms of chhole, which becomes almost one tonne after cooking,” they said.

The brothers also claimed that monthly sales, which were around Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh when the restaurant wasn’t even breaking even, have now scaled to around Rs 2 crore.