Vaishnavaa’s Bangalore Special
This place is popular for its thattu idli. A hole-in-the-wall joint, it’s not difficult to miss it given the crowd that spills out on to the road. They serve one idli per plate and it is rather filling as the size is big — almost as big as an Ambassador’s headlight. Ghee is the first thing you taste when you bite into it and then what hits you is the delicious fiery podi. Open between 2 p.m. and midnight.
Where: 4/9, Ormes Road, (Near Paramount Hotel) Kilpauk
How much: Rs. 30
Tel: 98402 98419
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Mathsya
Are you a mocktail idli fan? Well, you just will have to wait till evening for that. Mathsya starts preparing their popular bite-sized fried idlis post-6.30 p.m. Deep-fried and gleaming with molaga podi and tempered with their “secret podi”, this idli has a steady trail of addicts queuing up even post midnight.
Mocktail idli at Mathsya
Where: 1, Halls Road, Egmore
How much: Rs. 95
Tel: 2819 1900
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Kapila Daasa
The Kadabu idli here has cult status and it stands tall like a rockstar. Shaped like a tumbler, the idli batter is poured into a tumbler that’s coated with oil and allowed to set for about 10 minutes. Served with a bowl of ghee, spicy mango pickle and kairasa, this idli sure is a delight. Available post-noon till 11 p.m.
Kadabu idli at Kapila Daasa
Where: Express Avenue, Third Floor
How much: Rs. 140
Tel: 2846 4642
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Novelty Tea House
Amidst the crowded by-lanes of Mint Street sits this compact eat-out. Things work at a frenzied pace here for most part of the day. They have a variety of idlis but their diva is the molagapodi idli which they start making post-4 p.m. Three pieces per plate with a generous slathering of their “special podi” and it manages to get over 70 clients per day who order this particular dish.
Where: New No: 355, Mint Street, Park Town
How much: Rs. 70
Tel: 2534 1103
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The Madras Kafe
With its heady aroma of piping hot filter coffee, The Madras Kafe isn’t exactly the place you’d head to for snazzy idlis. Tucked into its snack menu, though, are an assortment of Fuzion idlis that spring a welcome surprise. There are fried idlis tossed in barbeque sauce with carrots, onions and capsicum, Indo-Italiano Idli that’s doused in mildly sweet pizza sauce, Manchurian idli with diced vegetables in Chinese spicing and the standard fried podi idli. Your best bet is the Kafe’s fastest-moving special — fried vadacurry idli — bite sized and heavy on the oil, but crispy along the outside, soft within and soaked generously in spicy vadacurry.
Where: Ispahani Centre, Nungambakkam
How much: Rs. 99
Tel: 4201 0809
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Hotel Palmgrove
Just as Palmgrove welcomes you into its old-world charm of arched windows, mirrored walls and square tables, its idlis take you back to simple, traditional goodness. After gorging on a line-up of exotic idli varieties, the plain-Jane, classic idli seems like a bit of a bore, but our waiter is convinced it’s worth our while. Our plate arrives with sambar that borders on the sweet and coconut chutney, with some excellent, sharply spiced onion chutney. As for the idlis, they’re soft and slightly under salted, but wait for those two heft dashes of beautiful ghee to kick in and take you to calorie heaven. (Available only after 3.30 p.m.)
Where: Kodambakkam High Road
How much: Rs. 50
Tel: 2827 1881
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Krishnavilasam
Stories of Krishnavilasam’s Chintamani rava idli have preceded our arrival here, and the restaurant’s signature dish, served only after 4 p.m., proves worthy of the hype. Said to be made just the way traditional homes in Chintamani, Triuchirapalli, prepare it, the idli is built from a roasted blend of rava, mustard, curry leaves and Bengal gram that’s mixed into curd, seated on a garnish of chopped carrots, beans and cashews, and steamed. The result is a fluffy, powdery delight, interrupted by crunchy gram bits, and savoured best with Krishnavilasam’s unusual, but staple, accompaniments of garlic-coconut podi and tamarind-tomato chutney.
Chintamani rava idli at Krishnavilasam
Where: Haddows Road, Nungambakkam
How much: Rs. 55
Tel: 2821 5568
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Ratna Café
Ratna Cafe’s ghee podi idli is legendary enough to warrant a signboard on the restaurant’s wall all its own, separate from the regular menu. Everyone around us, from Gujarati women tourists to the six-year-old school boy next table, has their eyes trained to the kitchen doors as plate after plate of ghee-drenched glory rolls out late afternoon. Ratna’s regular idli is coated thick with gunpowder, roasted on the dosa tava till its bottom turns crispy brown, and its insides become like warm, melt-in-the-mouth butter. Don’t forget to drink the sambar once you’re done!
Where: Triplicane High Road
How much: Rs. 50
Tel: 2848 7181
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ID
Known for making fine dinning out of prosaic breakfast foods, ID’s take on idlis ranges from the plain to the experimental, all served on severe-looking steel plates in white, minimalistic settings. Their special podi, made from roasted and coarsely ground urad dal, Bengal gram, red chillies and asafoetida, has made a name for itself, but today, it’s their unassuming karuveppilai idli that takes the cake. Salted and coated in simple, curry leaf powder, without the overpowering flavour of ghee, this mini idli snack wins just for its clean, basic flavour.
Where: Sathyam Cinemas, Thiru-vi-ka Road
How much: Rs. 90
Tel: 4392 0346
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Kozhi Idli
Head here for idlis that may as well be clouds. Open for just four hours a day, from 6 p.m.-10 p.m., this hole-in-the-wall outlet opposite the AIADMK headquarters, marries simple, light idlis to a variety of chicken curries. Pick from the hot pepper chicken kolambu, or the fiery red chilli chicken kolambu to pair your plate of three idlis for a full, heavy dinner. Build an appetite first with their chicken paniyarams or chicken cheese balls and round off with some good kulfi.
Where: Avvai Shanmugam Salai, Royapettah
How much: Rs. 70
Tel: 4330 2574
