Posts Tagged ‘Street Food’

The sight of chat street was something to behold. On one side the cars and bikes were parked and on the other side there was a line of well lit small thelewallahs or gaadiwallahs. Not to mention the crowd which despite the rain was quite huge.

We could hear the bustling sound of the cooking pans and could smell all the possible delicacies. As always i was ready to eat from the first thela i saw but my friends decided to explore before we eat which made me ponder why I did not come all by myself. Anyways finally two of us decided to try Akki Roti (Rice roti) while the calorie conscious decided to go for Raagi Roti. Our chef for the moment was one Mr Chandrashekhar and he had an unassuming smile on his face as he laid out 10s of dosas and rotis on one huge pan. Upon asking Chandrashekhar replied saying that the chat street has been a part of Mysore for around 30 years now. He proudly added that his father who was busy handling customers on an adjacent thela was one of the pioneers of chat street. Akki roti was served with lots of coconut chutney and some red chilli chutney. It tasted heavenly and i closed my eyes several times during my eating session to savor the delicacy. I also wondered how foolish I am not to visit such a lovely place during my 5 year stay in Mysore. Although i must say i am glad that i am growing wiser with age. We talked to Mr Chandrashekhar for some more time and he promptly told us “Sir, as long as you provide quality food, people will come” and how true is that for any business.

Although the thelas start lining up only after 5 pm in the evening the process of preparation for the 5 pm to 11 pm show starts early in the morning. Usually these thelas are family owned and all its members wake up early and start the preparations for the evening. Now i understand why the Mysore main markets like the Devaraja Market open early in the morning.

I was reluctant to leave the Akki roti thela and move on but as mentioned before i was with explorers. The next thing we ate was the Paddu or Paniyaram . These are nothing but small sized semi circular balls made out of rice flour. These are made in a unique pan which has tiny pits in which the flour is put in. With pin drop silence we served our now half filled tummies. The Paddus were so hot that explorer Vinay almost bit his tongue. The food was yummy and reminded me of Paddu made by mom.

Now that our beer bellies were back to their normal sizes we decided to end the escapade by trying out some Gadbad icecream. Ignorant side of my being learnt that Tulsi seeds are used in the preparation of Gadbad for flavor. We enjoyed the icecream and although initially reluctant to eat something so cold on a rainy day I managed to finish one whole serving. Do you remember the calorie conscious person above? Yes, he ate one full Gadbad and also bought one kulfi for the ride back home. So much for his consciousness.

What stuck us most was that each of the thelas had one waste bin and clean drinking water. We realized that street side food can be delicious as well as hygienic. Also the fact that so many different gaadiwallahs co-exist peacefully (they come back to their designated places every evening and never poach on others’ space) brought a smile to our faces. It reminded us that our country is truly incredible!

A visit to chat street is a must if you want to experience Mysore style cuisine. If GTR, Mylari are the cake then the chat street is surely the icing. My quest for hygienic and tasty street side food finally ended here. I must say i agree with Anthony Bourdain when he says “The street side food in developing countries is the most hygienic since its well cooked”.

On the ride back home i kept visualizing Chandrashekhar and his family working hard throughout the day with a smile on the face and pondered “What if every person enjoyed providing quality service as much as they do”. I realized that the smile on his face is that of satisfaction and pride which we all can achieve if we strive for excellence in everything we do.

PS: I am pretty sure my beer-bellied self can be seen on the chat street again soon with unless my weekend schedule changes:).

For the folks who lack the patience to read through here’s a summary:

Place: Food/Chat street behind Marimallappa’s school (http://maps.google.co.in/maps?hl=en&tab=wl)

Specialties Akki Roti (rice roti),  Raagi Roti, Paddu, Icecream, Dosas, Idly, Chat, Dry Gobi etc

Recommendation : Mr Chandrashekhar’s Akki Roti, Dry Gobi

Hours of operation : 5 pm to 11 pm