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Idolising idlis
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The idli is the mainstay of this restaurant that has other dishes as supporting cast to this all-time delight
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PRIDE OF PLACE: Idly Bazaar is a celebration of South Indian food. PHOTO K. GOPINATHAN
Indiranagar's newest food find, Idly Bazaar, was set up to give the hardworking dish its due. It may not have the aroma, allure and appearance of the red, roasted masala dosa, but the white steamed dish helps one kick off the day like few breakfasts do.
Idly Bazaar's Ramachandran therefore felt the humble idli deserved special treatment and opened a restaurant where the underrated, unassuming dish plays the lead role with a whole lot of south and north Indian dishes in the supporting cast.
Ramachandran, who has been running Suswaad, mainly catering to bachelors and IT professionals for the last five years says Idly Bazaar achieves two of his objectives: offer South Indian fare in Indiranagar and give the families in the area a place to sit down for some wholesome food.
Idly Bazaar also offers celebrated South Indian dishes like adais, avial, appam and puttu kadala from Kerala, Tamil Nadu's idli sambar, rice, idiyappam with vegetable stew or coconut milk, arisi upma with brinjal gojju, thavala adai, pesarittu from Andhra Pradesh and akki roti and ragi dosas from Karnataka.
Tanjore chefs
While the shining steel plates and tumblers, green plantain leaves and the four chefs from Tanjore accentuate the feel, it is the taste that confirms the authenticity. The 10 varieties of idlis include the standard idli, mini idlis floating in sambar, rava idli, Kancheepuram idli embellished with ginger, pepper, green chillies, coconut and pulses, stuffed idli with a filling of potato, beans, carrot and masala, ragi idli, pudi idli with the sprinkling of chutney pudi that covers the bite-sized pieces of idlis, malli idli shallow-fried with coriander and curry leaves, and curd idli dipped in masala curds — all of which are made with the right consistency and proportions. The chutneys that go with all of them are a treat in their own right.
The Chennai thali at Rs. 25 a plate with rice, sambar, rasam, poriyal, kootu, vatha kolambu, curds and payasam is like the food you get at those little restaurants in temple towns deep South.
Besides the idli range, there is an array of 15 dosas to choose from, including the ghee roast, paper roast, rava masala and onion uthappam. The adai too is made of rice and four kids of dals while the avial is a delightful suspension of five different vegetables.
Southern theme
The Southern theme continues with pongal, sakkarai pongal, bisibele bath and vangibath and of course the price. A sumptuous breakfast for two comes at as low as Rs. 100. However, in keeping with the clientele, the restaurant also offers Gujarati thali at Rs. 30.
Ramachandran serves no soft drinks. So wash down the fare like the dhoti-clad diners do with liquids like carrot kheer, tulasi, nannari or vetriver sherbet, or rose milk and badam milk. The restaurant has plans to introduce more idli varieties like the thatte idlis and others that are peculiar to certain regions and more accompanying chutneys. You can call 51306531 for more on its offers.
M.V. CHANDRASHEKAR
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