Rohit Jain Runs 60-Year-Old Bread Makhan Eatery in Dharampura, Old Delhi
Operating from a wall of the 181-year-old Shri Digambar Jain Meru Mandir in Dharampura, Old Delhi, Jain Pavitra Chach Bhandar has served traditional bread-makhan and buttermilk for over six decades. Current custodian Rohit Jain, 43, manages the eatery established in 1958 by his grandfather, Shri Mandir Das Jain, who initially sold freshly churned white butter and buttermilk carried on his head and later from a pushcart before renting the temple space.
The hole-in-the-wall shop, tucked into a narrow lane between two Jain temples, draws breakfast, brunch, and lunch crowds with its signature sandwiches. Behind the counter, Rohit prepares orders on a thin plywood board balanced across two jars used for mixing buttermilk. He scoops freshly churned white butter with his bare hands onto a scale, placing exactly 22 grams on a slice of bread before spreading it to the edges, adding roasted jeera powder and kala namak, and topping it with a second slice.
For customers wanting a larger portion, the shop serves a double sandwich containing 46 grams of white butter between two slices of Dernier bread. Rohit also prepares buttermilk by mixing roasted jeera powder, kala namak, and salt in one jar before pouring chach into another to churn a smooth blend. Even when customers request only a single bread slice, the price remains Rs 35, as Rohit notes they use the same quantity of butter and masala and bread packs arrive with even numbers of slices.
The eatery operates daily until 2 p.m., staying open an hour longer on Sundays. Afterward, Rohit travels to East Delhi to prepare ingredients for the following day. Buffalo milk is sourced from a dairy farm in Ghazipur by 4 p.m. and boiled immediately, after which he sets curd at his home in Shahdara once the milk cools to the proper temperature. The curd is transported to the Dharampura shop the next morning to be churned into fresh butter and buttermilk.
The third-generation business has seen modern updates under Rohit, including white-tiled walls, a refrigerator, and a deep freezer. Two decades ago, Rohit's father, Sunil Kumar Jain, and his elder brother prepared everything at the shop until an accident forced a change in routine. A motorcyclist struck Sunil Kumar while he was preparing ghee outside the shop, and being severely diabetic, he never recovered from the burn injuries.
In addition to sandwiches and fresh buttermilk, the shop sells leftover khatti or sour chach, which patrons purchase to prepare kadhi. The business also experiences surges in demand during religious festivals, with Rohit noting that during Janmashtami, crowds of customers form queues outside the Dharampura shop early in the morning to purchase fresh white butter.
