Who wants Bhai Ka Fries?

Salman Khan might do a double take if someone suggested that he chow down a bag of fries, but two enterprising 20-year-olds have several takers for their brand of home-made French fries sold out of a street side stall in Kalyan. There are pizza fries, masala fries and cheese melt fries that are hot favourites of regulars at Fries on Fire, a start-up launched late last year by Jyotirmay Saha and Sushil Vhatkar, both computer engineering batchmates.

The latest variant from their brand is called Bhai ka fries. “They’re basically tandoori fries,” says Saha. Their fries sell out on all days, claims Saha, be it after college hours on weekdays or during the weekends when they set up shop for about six hours. “I saw a YouTube clip, which was a recipe for French fries and it inspired us to set this up,” says Saha, “We were told that no one in Kalyan would want French fries and it wouldn’t work, but the response has been great. We had to take a break for our exams and are just back on track.”

Fries on Fire usually sets up shop close to KM Agrawal College in Kalyan. “Our ideal customers are college students and so it makes sense. We’re also going to set up a stall at a festival in our college next month,” adds Saha. They have a business model in mind and hope to scale up operations to go full time in two years. “We’re also planning for four franchises in the next two years, expanding to Thane, Mulund, Ghatkopar and Kurla.”