Whether you are a collegian and missing home-cooked food or a visitor to the city and want to taste some traditional Andhra meal, this quaint little café at Lawsons Bay Colony is the place to head to. Bake My Wish has recently launched an Andhra special mini thali for lunch that dishes out some mouth-watering vegetarian dishes of the region.
The delicious and simple meal consists of ‘pachchadi’, a vegetarian curry, papad, sambar or dal and curd served with steaming hot rice, ‘kandi podi’ with a spoonful of ghee and a dessert. Prepared with love by Vijaya Lakshmi Challa, whose family runs the café, the mini thali is a complete solution to the hunger pangs that hits us on lunchtime.
It is a particularly great option for those who are not too fond of very spicy food and craving to relish Andhra delicacies. While at most other city restaurants, Andhra meals are quite spicy, Bake My Wish’s mini thali comes as a delightful exception.
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I chanced upon the mini thali quite accidentally when on a sultry week day I stopped by the café cum bakery, giving in to my sweet cravings. The dishes came neatly arranged on a banana leaf placed over a plate with some appetising dishes. I started with the coconut and mango ‘pachadi’, one of the special Andhra chutneys that this region is famous for. The mildly tangy flavour mixed with coconut was a perfect start to thali. It almost felt like being served from the traditional Andhra family’s kitchen. On other days, there are different varieties of ‘pachadi’ made from cabbage or beetroot or other fresh vegetables of the day.
No Andhra lunch is complete without the famous ‘kandi podi’ or ‘gunpowder’ made with equal measures (about half a cup each) of toor dal, moong dal, and chana dal, red chillies and one teaspoon of cumin seeds. It’s best served with a pouring of hot ghee atop steamed rice. Some of my best friends from this part of the region swear by the taste of ‘kandi podi’ when prepared in the right way. And this one was simply perfect. The thali included a delicious bowlful of sambar accompanied with cashew and drumstick curry, curd and butterscotch pastry.
The mini thali is priced at Rs 100 and is served from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
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