This small shop in INA Market is quite familiar to most South Indians living in Delhi.
It's where you go for those little things that you can't do without -
- Bright yellow banana chips, fried in coconut oil and salted to perfection.
- Raw green bananas, for the avial that you crave.
- Green banana leaves, for serving traditional meals on festive occasions.
- Sweet banana fritters, deliciously smothered in jaggery and dusted with dried ginger powder.
- Fresh coconuts, without which no South Indian household can survive.
- The little shallots that all Tamilians call "sambar vengayam", when you want to make the perfect sambar to eat with pongal.
- A crazy bhujia-type thing called "mixture", there is no other word for it, but you'll find it served at 4:00 p.m. along with filter coffee.
- Copies of Kumudam, murukku and ten-kozhal, Kerala appalams, Tamil pappadams.....ah, I could go on and on!
It looks like just any other old shop. But it has its definite place in the universe :)
Not far from the shop, there is this stall, selling medu-vadas. Served hot with chutney and sambar, by a guy wearing a folded lungi, they bring a little dash of South Indian soul into Delhi!
The medu-vada guy. Go around 11 am and you'll find it served hot.
Golden-brown medu-vada, crisp on the outside, spongy on the inside, with tiny bits of green chili, ginger and pepper to surprise you when you bite into it. Sigh...pure heaven.