All Nandhini Branches
Nandhini Deluxe is a Bengaluru-based Andhra cuisine restaurant chain founded in 1989. It runs 22 company-owned outlets – 20 in Bengaluru and 2 in Mysuru – serves more than 10,000 customers a day, and is known for its Andhra meals, mutton biryani and gongura pachadi. New outlets are coming soon in Chennai and Dubai, and it is now led by its third generation.
Nandhini Deluxe was founded in 1989 by Shri N. Ananda, opening its first outlet at Minerva Circle in Bengaluru. The brand has served Andhra cuisine for 37 years and is now run by its third generation.
No. Nandhini Deluxe is 100% company-owned with no franchised outlets. Every one of its 22 outlets is run in-house, which keeps the recipes, sourcing and quality consistent across Bengaluru and Mysuru.
Nandhini Deluxe is widely regarded as the first Andhra restaurant chain in Bangalore, founded in 1989 by Shri N. Ananda. It pioneered Andhra fine-dining family restaurants in the city and was the first to scale Andhra meals across multiple outlets – today 22 company-owned outlets (20 in Bengaluru, 2 in Mysuru) serving more than 10,000 customers a day, with new outlets coming soon in Chennai and Dubai. It was also among the first Andhra brands in Bangalore to go onto Swiggy and Zomato.
Nandhini Deluxe was founded in 1989 by Shri N. Ananda, who opened the first outlet at Minerva Circle in Bangalore. A foodie who travelled across South India to taste regional cooking, he spotted that the city had no dedicated Andhra family restaurant and built one. The brand is now in its third generation, managed by his grandson, Dhanush S, who continues the recipes and standards set in 1989.
Nandhini Deluxe is led by Dhanush S (Dhanush Srinivas), the third-generation head of the business and grandson of founder N. Ananda. He serves as Managing Director, overseeing the brand’s 22 outlets across Bengaluru and Mysuru – with expansion underway into Chennai and Dubai – while keeping the founding recipes and quality intact.
Nandhini sources its spices, including Guntur chilli, directly from Andhra Pradesh and has kept its core recipes unchanged since 1989. Serving more than 10,000 meals a day across 22 outlets means the kitchen cooks the same Andhra dishes at volume, every day.
Nandhini Deluxe runs 22 company-owned outlets – 20 across Bengaluru and 2 in Mysuru. Bangalore outlets includes RT Nagar, Jayanagar, JP Nagar, Banashankari, Yelahanka, Kadugodi, Frazer Town and the St. Marks Road flagship, with new outlets coming soon in Chennai and Dubai. Use the outlet finder on nandhini.com to find your nearest one.
Nandhini Deluxe operates 22 company-owned outlets – 20 across Bengaluru and 2 in Mysuru – with new outlets coming soon in Chennai and Dubai. The brand is fully company-owned with no franchising, which keeps the food and recipes consistent across every outlet.
Yes. Nandhini Deluxe is available on Swiggy and Zomato for delivery across Bengaluru and Mysuru, and you can also dine in or order takeaway at any outlet. Check the menu and nearest outlet on nandhini.com.
Yes. Nandhini handles corporate events, weddings and private functions through its catering and banquet service, serving the same Andhra menu at scale. Reach out via the contact page on nandhini.com to plan an event.
Yes. Every Nandhini outlet serves a full pure-veg banana-leaf Andhra meal alongside its non-veg menu. You can have the complete vegetarian thali – pappu, pulusu, kooras, podi, pickle, papad, curd and sweet – without any non-veg items.
An Andhra thali (bhojanam in Telugu) is a complete banana-leaf meal native to Andhra Pradesh. It carries 10–12 items built around the six tastes – sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent. The plate centres on rice with ghee, then pappu (dal), pulusu (tamarind curry), dry and wet kooras (curries), gongura or avakaya pickle, podi (spice powder), papad, curd and a small sweet. At Nandhini we have served this exact plate since 1989.
A full Andhra meal has rice and ghee at the centre, pappu (dal), pulusu (tamarind curry), one or two kooras (vegetable curries), gongura pachadi (sorrel-leaf chutney), avakaya (mango pickle), podi (spice powder), papad, curd or buttermilk and a sweet. Non-veg meals add a chicken, mutton or fish item as a separate serving. The veg meal is usually unlimited.
An Andhra mess is a meals-focused eatery serving the unlimited banana-leaf Andhra thali in a no-frills, value-priced, lunch-led format. The word “mess” comes from the South Indian boarding-house and canteen tradition. A mess centres on one thing done well: the full Andhra meal, served fast and refilled until you are done. Nandhini serves the same mess-style plate in a cleaner restaurant setting.
A mess centres on the unlimited Andhra meal at a fixed price, served simply and busiest at lunch. An Andhra restaurant offers that same meal plus a full a la carte menu of biryani, starters and sides, with wider hours and a sit-down ambience. Brands like Nandhini are hybrids – the mess-style meal served in restaurant comfort.
A traditional Andhra thali carries 10–12 items. Most people can name three – rice, dal and pickle – but the plate also includes pulusu, two kooras, podi, gongura, avakaya, papad, curd, buttermilk and a sweet, all arranged in a set order on the banana leaf.
Most traditional Andhra messes serve a vegetarian unlimited meal as the default, with non-veg add-ons like chicken curry, mutton fry or fish fry priced separately. Some places are pure veg. At Nandhini you can have a full pure-veg banana-leaf meal or add a non-veg side – both are on the menu.
Bhojanam is the Telugu word for a full meal – the complete banana-leaf spread of rice, dal, curries, pickles, podi, papad, curd and sweet eaten together. When Andhra families say they are having bhojanam, they mean the whole sit-down meal, not a single dish.
Lunch, between 12:30 PM and 2:30 PM. That is when the full unlimited meal is served fresh, the kitchen is at its peak and the rush of regulars tells you the food is moving. Some places serve a lighter dinner meal, but a mess is built around lunch.
The leaf is laid with salt, pickle and podi at the top, curries along one side and rice in the centre. You start with rice, ghee and mudda pappu, move to pulusu and kooras, then rasam rice, and finish with curd rice and a sweet. The order moves from rich to light, ending cool.
Sprinkle a little water over the biryani, cover, and warm it on a low flame for 5–7 minutes, or microwave it covered with a damp paper towel in short bursts. The water turns to steam and keeps the rice from drying out. Avoid high heat, which hardens the grains.
Cooked biryani keeps for 3–4 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Cool it within two hours of cooking before refrigerating. For longer storage, freeze it for up to one month. Always reheat until piping hot before eating.
Yes. Cool the biryani fully, portion it into airtight containers or freezer bags, and freeze for up to one month. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat with a splash of water until steaming hot throughout. Freezing works for both veg and chicken biryani.
The classic pairing is raita and salan. Cold boondi or onion raita cuts the heat, while mirchi ka salan – a tangy peanut-and-sesame gravy – adds depth. A side of sliced onion with lemon and a papad completes the plate. With Andhra biryani, boondi raita works better than mint.
Raita is a cooling yoghurt side that calms the spice; salan is a warm, tangy peanut-sesame-tamarind gravy that adds richness. Raita tempers heat, salan builds flavour. With a fiery Andhra biryani, many people serve both – raita to cool, salan to round it out.
A family pack biryani typically serves 3–4 adults as a main meal, or up to 5–6 when paired with sides, starters and dessert. Portion appetite varies, so for a hungry group or a celebration, order one extra pack to be safe.
Dum biryani is rice and meat or vegetables slow-cooked together in a sealed pot. The lid traps steam (“dum”), so the rice absorbs the spices and aromas without drying out. It is the slowest and most aromatic way to make biryani, and the method behind Nandhini’s biryani.
Andhra biryani is drier, spicier and uses more whole spices and Guntur chilli, often served with a fiery gravy. Hyderabadi dum biryani is richer and milder, layered with saffron, fried onion and mint. Andhra leans hot and sharp; Hyderabadi leans fragrant and creamy.
Stir in a little curd, a squeeze of lemon or a spoon of ghee to soften the heat. Serving it with cool raita and plain rice also balances the plate. Adding a few cooked potatoes or extra onion can absorb some of the chilli without changing the dish.
Yes – Andhra food is among the spiciest in India. It leans on Guntur chilli (30,000–50,000 Scoville), tamarind and gongura for a hot-and-sour profile rather than plain heat. The spice is balanced by ghee, curd, papad and a sweet at the end, so it stays flavourful rather than just fiery.
Andhra cooking uses generous red chilli – especially locally grown Guntur chilli – because it is affordable, abundant and culturally loved. The region’s hot climate historically favoured spice and oil, which helped preserve food. The heat is always paired with souring agents like tamarind and gongura for balance.
Guntur chilli rates around 30,000–50,000 on the Scoville scale – sharp and pungent, well above a regular Indian red chilli. It gives Andhra cuisine its signature fiery kick and is grown in the Guntur region of Andhra Pradesh.
Yes, with a few easy choices. Start with the veg meal, ask for less gongura and milder pickle, and begin with mudda pappu, ghee and rice to coat your stomach. Curd, buttermilk and a sweet at the end cool the palate. You can always ask the kitchen to tone down the spice.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are widely regarded as having the spiciest food in India, driven by heavy use of Guntur chilli, tamarind and gongura. The food balances that heat with sour and cooling elements, which is why it stays bold rather than simply hot.
Gongura pachadi is a tangy chutney made from gongura (sorrel leaves), red chilli and tempering. The leaves give it a sharp, sour edge that defines Andhra cooking. It is eaten with rice and ghee and is one of the signature items on an Andhra thali.
Pachadi is the Telugu word for chutney or relish – a fresh or pickled accompaniment served alongside rice. It ranges from gongura and tomato to coconut and ginger versions, and adds the sour-spicy punch that balances an Andhra meal.
Avakaya is the classic Andhra raw-mango pickle, made with mustard, red chilli and oil. It is sharp, spicy and intensely flavoured, and a small amount with rice and ghee is a traditional way to begin an Andhra meal.
Podi is a dry roasted spice-and-lentil powder, sometimes called “gunpowder”. It is mixed with hot rice and a little ghee or oil to add a nutty, spicy kick. Every Andhra thali includes at least one podi.
Biryani layers partly cooked rice with a spiced meat or vegetable masala and finishes them together on dum, so each grain carries flavour. Pulao cooks rice and ingredients together in one pot, giving a lighter, milder dish. Biryani is richer and more aromatic.
