Food is served in traditional plates called 'thalis' while lassi comes in big brass glasses.

"We have been sending our staff to villages across Punjab to select and purchase traditional things from there," said Siddiqi.

Buoyed by the success of this enterprise, the Haveli group is setting up two similar ventures along NH-1 at Karnal in Haryana and Rajpura in Punjab.

Besides the main Haveli restaurant and Rangla Punjab, the complex offers a fort-theme based banquet that can accommodate nearly 3,000 people in its covered and open areas.

A Kapurthala town based non-resident Indian (NRI) groom flew into the banquet two years ago in a helicopter to take home his bride after their wedding here.

The nearly 500 staff members include traditional 'maharaj' cooks and waiters dressed in typical Punjabi lungi, kurta and half-jackets. They appear Punjabi but are drawn from all over India and even Nepal. The staff comes from Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and even Karnataka.

"I and four others came here five years ago from Karnataka. We love this place," a butler said.

It is not only the variety of vegetarian food available here that attracts people, especially the NRIs, but also the low price of the items.