If you are longing to gorge on a variety of dosas with coconut chutney, spicy tomato-mint dip and delicious sambar, Sri Kanaka Durga Parlour near Saraswathi Park offers a whole range of South Indian tiffins every morning.
The sizzle of more than 30 varieties of dosas such as twin, two-in-one, three-in-one, mix dosa, upma-dosa, onion-rava, masala-rava and onion-masala makes for a perfect breakfast. The couple behind the food counter is S. Deenadayalan and his wife D. Lakshmi, who have been serving a clientele of doctors, contractors, businessmen and food connoisseurs in the city for more than 10 years. “We have a group of people who call up and tell us to pack breakfast on a daily basis,” says Deenadayalan.
The duo owes the long-standing success of the eatery to the quality they have been maintaining for years. “It started off in the year 2003 with a small investment. As we have come up the hard way, we understand the tastes and preference of the people in the city. We want to give preference to value for money without compromising on taste and quality,” explains Deenadayalan. “All through my business, there was never a compromise on quality of the food prepared. We are very particular about the oil (sunflower oil) we use and never reuse it for any of our recipes,” he asserts.
The batter is fermented naturally using sugar and salt, and no yeast, baking soda or baking powder is added. That soon turned out to be the USP of the eatery and people started streaming in.
Value for money
Deenadayalan started his professional life at the age of 12 as a cleaner. He then worked as a supplier and as a cook at Dolphin, Green Park, Daspalla and other star hotels in the city and at the Indian Garden Restaurant in Macau. With sheer hard work and perseverance, he started his own restaurant. “It was a dream come true for me as I always longed to run my own eatery and hear people saying awesome after eating,” he says.
In his working experience of more than three decades, he came to understand the nuances of tastes in the city. Throughout, the master of dosa focused on the customer’s delight. “I used to observe what made people happier when they dine out.” He felt the answer was simple food presented in a neat fashion. “We worked out the concept and tried to give our customers the best of breakfast in a hygienic manner at an affordable price,” he explains.
The day for the duo at the parlour starts in the early hours with cleaning and serving. Though their signature dish is rava dosa, ravenous customers also look forward to steaming hot idlis accompanied with crisp and fluffy vadas, golden-brown puffy puris with potato-kura, the divine upma-dosa, colourful tomato-bath and other delicacies served on banana leaves.
Sunday special
On Sundays, people have an extra reason to throng the parlour as sweet pongal and hot pongal are served. On weekdays, 70 per cent of the people prefer eating at the counter, whereas 30 per cent like parcel service. But during weekends, it is vice-versa.
Sri Kanaka Durga Parlour has recently started vegetarian meals at an affordable price of Rs.60. Diners can also ask for their dosas to be customised with minapattu, pesarattu and rava dosa batter or a combination of all. The breakfast session runs from 7 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. all days. Meals are served from 12.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m., except on Sundays.
