Wonder what a prawn and crabmeat prata tastes like? You can try that and other combinations atUnlike the roti prata stalls that you find in the heartland stall Prata Lahhh! is special.
Its young owner Ghauthaman Ramanan has established the business as “Singapore’s first DIY prata stall”.
According to dining app Burpple Singapore, customers can go to the BGAIN 121 Eating House in Hougang Avenue 1 residential estate and experiment with the different flavours.
For 30-year-old millennial hawker Ghauthaman, the concept was not difficult to envisage as he comes from a long linefamily of renowned prata makers in Singapore.
His father Ramanan owns Casuarina Curry that has three outlets islandwide; his uncle Elango is behind Springleaf Prata Place which has nine outlets; and his cousin Guna runs Gandhi Restaurant in Little India.
Launched in December 2022, the trendy Prata Lahhh! allows customers to create their own prata by choosing from an array of ingredients such as crab meat, sausage, prawn, mutton keema, chicken, sardine and sambal.
The ingredients are available in the fridge and, after you choose the filling, the chef will create the prata with various combinations that comes with a crispy golden-brown texture prata.
The innovative picks include Bull’s Eye and Eggs Benedict, and prata made with honey, condensed milk and chocolate.
Diners also have other choices on the menu, including goreng dishes, thosai and briyani. And they can customise the thosai and goreng dishes too.
The prata is reasonably priced between $1.30 and $5.
Mr Ghauthaman, 30, told tabla! that he always wanted to live up to his family legacy.
He entered the family business at 14, and learnt prata flipping and dough pinching techniques from his father and uncle. He mastered other kitchen skills gradually.
The marketing and business management graduate also worked in the sales sector for two years, before deciding to run his own food and beverages business. While bouncing off business ideas with his family members serves well for Mr Ghauthaman, his work experience in the sales sectorThis helped him sharpen his finance skills and dealings with customers.
But he feels he is not a prata master yet and there is always room for improvement and innovations.
“Cooking is in my blood,” he told tabla! “Bringing this DIY concept to prata was very easy.
“Prata is always a popular choice among Singaporeans, and letting them choose their favourite ingredients and incorporating them into it is definitely a bonus for my customers.”
Usually a prata is made with ghee, sugar and flour. The pratas at Prata Lahhh! have a crispy texture. Mr Ghauthaman said it is the result of a secret ingredient.
The stall, which is open every day, attracts about 200 customers on weekdays and about 400 on weekends.
“It’s heartening to see some customers come from Holland Village and Woodlands just to taste my prata,” said Mr Ghauthaman. His favourite customer is a boy who visits the stall every holiday without fail and always orders Bull’s Eye prata.
Secondary four student Rebecca is impressed with the range of pratas available at Prata Lahhh!.
“It’s really unique to see such a different concept while ordering prata,” she said. “The owner is super-friendly and caring, and makes sure that we enjoy our meals.”
Mr Ghauthaman likes to innovate and bring trendy food ideas to the table.
His next step is to match wines and pratas.
“There will always be people who are ready to discourage,” he said. “ One must dust them off and Just focus on what you wish to accomplish. Planning smartly is the key.”
With understanding wife Suganthi by his side, Mr Ghauthaman is all geared up to open another Prata Lahhh! outlet at Changi Village later this year with more funky dishes. His eventual aim is to expand his business overseas.
