Jalandhar: Here is a busy highway eatery on the outskirts of Jalandhar city that attracts over 300 people an hour - or 7,000 every day!

Clients savour everything Indian, from makki di roti and sarson-da-saag to dal tadka to sleep-inducing lassi at Haveli, a private enterprise offering five-star comforts that has changed the way people look at roadside dhaba culture.

What's more, in a state where butter chicken and tandoori chicken find undisputed favour, the eatery has succeeded by serving only vegetarian food cooked in desi ghee.

It took Haveli owner Satish Jain, 39, just a bit of enterprise and a calculated risk in 2002 to tickle the Punjabi palate and create a brand name even as thousands of dhabas line up the highways and roads.

Haveli, which means a big, traditional bungalow, is not about 24x7 food alone. Located on one of the busiest roads in Punjab - the Ludhiana-Jalandhar-Amritsar national highway (NH) 1 - it is an example of the rich and even flamboyant Punjabi tradition and culture.

Right from the actual Tata truck parked inside the air-conditioned expanse of the restaurant here to traditional household items, agricultural tools and other simple things found in villages - the décor of Haveli takes people on a virtual tour through the heart of Punjab.