It is 12.15; still 15 minutes to go before lunch is served at Mani Mess. The small eatery in the heritage fort area on III Puthen Street is barely a few metres away from Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, and patrons are already seated and waiting.
Being an early bird is an advantage if you plan to eat at this modest place, in one of the populated agraharams in the city. This no-frills place has nothing to make it stand out amongst the row of houses here. It also offers you a vegetarian lunch. So, what is it that brings foodies, most of them regulars, to this place? Is it the parippuvada ? Or the lentil/ dal fritters, an ubiquitous hot eat, that makes Mani Mess one-of-a-kind?
S. Krishnamoorthy
I am already inside the joint, to catch up with proprietor S Krishnamoorthy, as the crowd begins to swell in the waiting room, and soon spills on to the road. The well-lit, neat dining room has a built-in shelf holding garlanded photos of deities and an oil lamp.
The dining space extends to another room with a few more tables. The aroma of parippuvada wafts from the kitchen.
K Thangam, Krishnamoorthy’s older sister, is busy frying them in a huge kadai .
The woman behind it all
“That is her domain,” says Krishnamoorthy. “It was my late mother Krishnammal’s idea to have something unique for lunch and she thought parippuvada might click. And she was so right,” smiles Krishnamoorthy.
He adds, “After my father’s demise, it was left to her to take care of me and my sisters. Initially, we used to make uzhunnuvada and karavada (a Thiruvananthapuram special, prepared using different varieties of grams and rice) at home and sell them. Well-wishers suggested we start an eatery, and that is how Mani Mess came to be. Mani is my nickname. ”
Now it is 12.30 pm, time to let customers in. By now, they have been given their tokens. If you aren’t lucky enough to get one, you have to wait for around 15 to 20 minutes. The mess can accommodate 27 people at a time.
Piping-hot white rice is served in steel plates. Side dishes for the day are raw banana thoran , koottu curry and home-made lime pickle.
“A thoran , a curry and a pickle are regulars here. Each day you get a different variety of thoran , curries such as avial, olan or erissery , and home-made mango or lime pickle. We make it a point to include a dish prepared using cheera (amaranthus) at least once a week.”
Sambar , pappadam , rasam and curd are a regular spread. “Curd is also home-made. The rasam is changed daily — if it is tomato rasam one day, the next day it is shallot or black pepper, and another day, it will be a dal rasam . All our curry powders are also home-made.”
Star of the show
But where is the parippuvada? I remember finishing off mine much before the rice is served, during my earlier visits.
“Normally, the vada is the first to be served on the plate... there has been a delay today,” apologises Krishnamoorthy, placing one on my plate.
One bite and wow... it tastes the same as before — crunchy, crispy and slightly spicy. “There is no secret. It all depends on the duration of soaking the dal . It should be ground to a coarse paste and fried well,” shares Krishnamoorthy.
Around 900 vada s are prepared daily. “There have been days when we have fallen short,” reveals 52-year-old Krishnamoorthy, who is proud that he is living his mother’s dream.
“She passed away 22 years ago. By then, I had already taken over the reins of the hotel. I owe the popularity to my customers. We all lead a busy life. Yet, people are willing to wait 15 to 20 minutes to have lunch here,” he says.
The restaurant opens at 6.30 am to serve breakfast —idli, poori, dosa, rasavada and uzhunnuvada. These are available till 11 am. Lunch, priced at ₹60 per plate, is served from 12.30 pm to 4 pm. Mind you, no parcels here.
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