In a tiny stall tucked away between other brightly lit shops on Thambaiah Street in West Mambalam, boli, the deliciously sweet stuffed parantha, sells as fast as it gets made.
“The shop was set up to provide food for the poor by my father Krishnamurthy,” says Venkatramani, who now runs the shop with his brother, Suryanarayana. The shop has not compromised on the ingredients it uses for boli, made only on a few special occasions at home as it requires painstaking effort. “My mother used to make the boli. We continue to make it the way it is made at home,” he says of the lip-smacking delicacy.
The small structure with a kitchen in the rear opens at 7 a.m. and by 10 a.m. the first batch of boli is ready. By 7.30 p.m., business concludes.
The aroma of hot boli draws crowds to the stall, which now sells other snacks too – potato bonda, pakoras, samosas and milaga bajji. “We do not use garam masala in samosas, but add lots of vegetables,” Mr. Venkatramani says. Rajnikanth had a liking for the boli and bonda, and his manager would buy these for the actor, he adds.
“My father brought the dish as an option for the poor. We hail from a poor family in Kumbakonam and we are content with what we are making now,” he adds. The family has not contested claims about who introduced boli to the city. In the past decade, several persons have set up shops with similar-sounding names with more glitter just across the street but the family has not expanded its business.
“We have enough and more people coming to our shop and have no interest in expanding the business. There are too many customers and I cannot handle anymore,” he explains his position.
