At some point in life, most of us have had evil thoughts about the ‘inventor’ of the idli. White and fluffy are overused clichés of food writers. Dosa lovers outnumber idli lovers; few profess love for an idli. So an ‘idli kada’ (idli shop) sounds like a curiosity. Sitting at the heart of Tripunithura, at Statue Junction is NM Idlikada.
For the last one year, it has been dishing out idlis by the hundreds. At 7 a.m. steaming hot idlis arrive on the shelf till 10 p.m. As breakfast, lunch, dinner, teatime or midday snack…it’s idli all the way. Dosa, vada, samosa, ada, kozhukatta and other snacks are all there, but the star is the unassuming idli- in more than a dozen avatars - pepper idli, podi idli, masala idli, curd idli, ghee idli, chilli idli, sambar idli mini idli, idli upma and more.
Inspiration for the idli kada came from the idli chain, Murugan Idli Shop in Chennai, says one of the partners of the Idli Kada, Hans M.R. “I was in Chennai when I chanced upon this place. It impressed and inspired me.” He and his brothers are part of the NM group which has a number of business interests that includes a couple of restaurants besides this store. The experience in the food business came in handy when they set up the eatery.
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He had no doubts the eatery clicking when he ventured into idlis, Hans says. And he appears to have been spot on. On a working day, it’s surprising how many people step in for a snack of idli. An open kitchen, clean countertops with eye-catching, mouth-watering display of idlis and other snacks make up the eatery. It is a snack place for those on the go and also for those who want to relax and watch life as it happens at Statue Junction.
Served with three chutneys, podi chutney and sambar, these make for guilt-free, anytime snacks or as a meal. “Idli is a healthy, hygienic snack. There is no one time to eat idli,” says Hans.
The idlis live up to their reputation. The pepper idli is recommended as is the podi idli, the recommendations being purely subjective. The kids are to fall in love with the Chinese-y chilli idli. The masala idli is the idli version of the masala dosa, you guessed it right, idli with a masala (potato) filling, it works well with the pudina chutney. The dishes are all made right there, in the open kitchen. A German machine cooks the idlis. The filter coffee, by the way, is a must have, it is pure coffee pleasure.
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The innovations aside, there is regular idli as well and it has its dedicated followers. The idli improvisations have been embraced, even by the traditionalists, “They told me that they never imagined all this could be done with the idli,” Hans says. He now plans to open branches of the brand elsewhere in Tripunitura and Kochi.