There’s something really homely about Babai Bhojanam’s setting of their Mana Bhojanam meals — right from the rapid welcome and seating process. I mean, even the name itself gives it away as it means ‘our meal!’ This place gets packed at lunchtime because of the comfortable loving nature of the staff as well.
Get seated and you’re handed small glasses of chaaru , its vermillon shade hinting at the throat-warming feeling of drinking it. Gulp it down, it’s worth it, even in the summer. What follows is a server placing fresh-cut banana leaves on the table in front of you sprinkled with droplets of cool water as they’ve been rinsed for your hygiene and to be kept supple and strong.
Glasses of ‘chaaru’
Then comes the food. But before that come clay pots bearing the in-house podi , a deliciously fiery powder which deserves several dollops of hot ghee to be mixed with rice. As Joey Tribianni from Friends says, “You’ve got to warm up your stomach.”
Then comes a spoonful (two if you’re hungry) of the day’s fresh pachadi , be it beerakaya (ridged gourd), tomato or sorakaya (bottle gourd). Be sure to use this precious stuff up. What follow are the kooralu of the day — these can vary between bendakaya, beerakaya, dondakaya or kakarakaya — made in a number of ways. Then small buckets of chaaru , majjiga pulusu and pappu chaaru . To supplement, one can also expect aloo koora which just takes the cake.
One is, of course, welcome to order sides if you’re missing a dose of non-vegetarian treats. The restaurant has a fast-moving dish of the avvakaya mutton which has the kick of raw mango but with plenty of masala .
Hospitality is everything
Just as your favourite grandmother would do, the staff comes up to your table with a large basin of tella annam , urging you to take more. “You haven’t tried the pappu chaaru with the bendakaya , madam,” is one of the permutation-combinations of their thoughtfulness. Be sure to nibble on the crunchy homemade vadiyalu for some fun texture time.
We’re in an age where we are so used to our own bowls hosting our pappus , kooralu (curries), and perugu (curd) but having a meal on a banana leaf is just a wonderful way to return to the earth. This way, the restaurant cuts down on the water needed to clean dishes, they’d otherwise have used to serve the thali. The banana leaves can safely head to a compost heap which really does make you feel good!
‘Mana bhojanam’ at Babai Bhojanam in Punjagutta is currently priced at ₹160
