The Great Dhaba: What's on the menu at Khali's restaurant?

After conquering the world of wrestling, Daleep Singh Rana aka the Great Khali has wrestled his way through the world of eateries. The former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestler inaugurated his own eatery called ‘The Great Khali Dhaba’ on Monday (17 October). Visitors will be able to get enjoy authentic Punjabi cuisine at the dhaba from Monday itself, post 2 pm.

Venturing into the world of food, the Great Khali is now part of the club of sportspersons who have owned restaurants in the past. Let’s take a closer look at the details of the restaurant. About the Great Khali Dhaba The dhaba is located in Haryana’s Karnal. The menu will focus mainly on Punjabi cuisine. According to a report by Indian Express, all the items on the menu like dry fruit milkshake, kesar milk, the ‘Great Khali Punjabi Thali’, ‘king-size Khali parantha’ resonates with the personality of the seven-foot-tall wrestler. It’s not just an average dhaba. The eatery is coupled with a sports academy, making it the first dhaba-cum-sports academy in the whole Punjab and Haryana region. The dhaba is spread over 10-acres of land and has a professional wrestling ring inside the eatery. The ring will host live wrestling matches for visitors who can enjoy the match while having food. Apart from the dhaba, the wrestler will also inaugurate the Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE) Sporting Academy, where the wrestler will also provide training to budding wrestlers. The Great Khali Dhaba’s inauguration ceremony will be joined by Union Minister for Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh as well as Haryana’s Home Minister Anil Vij. ‘Good food is extremely necessary’ The Great Khali is extremely proud of his new creation. He told Indian Express, “Good food is extremely necessary for the happiness and well-being of a person, especially an athlete. From ‘king-size Khali parantha’ to ‘Maharaja dosa’, ‘Punjabi dal makhni’ to ‘dry fruits milk’, the menu is a reflection of what I personally enjoy in my diet. Whichever dishes have been named as ‘The Great Khali’, they will be king-size for the entire family to savour.”

Regarding the idea behind having a wrestling ring inside the dhaba, he said, “I just thought of combining food with my sport. Youths will get training in wrestling and boxing in this academy. A ring has been built inside the dhaba so that customers can also watch live matches. We have just experimented with a new concept. It remains to be seen whether it clicks or not, but our aim is to provide sumptuous Punjabi food to people and also train talented youths.” He also elucidated why he chose Haryana for his new venture. “We already have one academy at Jalandhar in Punjab. So, we chose Haryana for this.” Food chains by other sportspeople The Great Khali has joined the list of sportspeople and athletes who have ventured into the food business. In 2002, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar opened a restaurant called ‘Tendulkar’s’ in Mumbai. For this, he partnered with a renowned hotelier named Sanjay Narang. With the help of his expertise, Tendulkar went on to inaugurate another restaurant in Mumbai’s northern suburbs and Bangalore named ‘Sachin’s’, according to a report by SportsKeeda. However, his entrepreneurial journey was short-lived. By 2007, both his restaurants were shut down due to low success. Virat Kohli’s journey in the hospitality sector began in 2017 when he launched his restaurant named ‘Nueva’ in Delhi’s RK Puram. According to a report by Architectural Digest, Kohli partnered with renowned chef, writer and travel photographer Michael Swamy to create this restaurant. The menu features dishes from around the world like Ceviche de Camarones, Spicy mole, La Caja de Pinturas, Peruvian piscos, among other things. A collective venture by cricketers Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena, the Ministry of Crab was opened in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo in 2011. The famous eatery has outlets in Shanghai, Manila and Mumbai. Japan-born celebrity chef Munidasa launched the Mumbai outlet in 2019. Kapil Dev established his cricket-themed called restaurant ‘Elevens’ in Patna in 2008. It is the perfect place for anyone who enjoys both cricket and food as the ambiance provides an ideal space for cricket fanatics. The restaurant offers Indian, Pan-Asian and Continental cuisine. Sourav Ganguly opened his restaurant called ‘Sourav’s – The Food Pavilion’ in 2004 in Kolkata. This was also the time the whole Greg Chappel and Ganguly controversy happened which led Sourav to focus more on the game. Therefore, the business began to dwindle before it finally shut down in 2011. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.