ITP Indian Travel Places: Food, Travel, Tourism Business Events and Trade Shows
Phone: 044 24661512, +91 9791272888
Address: 60, Luz Church Road, Mylapore, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Time: 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Meals for two: Rs. 400
Cuisines: South Indian
Facilities: Breakfast, Home Delivery, Vegetarian Only, No Alcohol Available, Indoor Seating, Table booking recommended
Thaligai, Mylapore, Chennai: Decor
On my way to Thaligai, I wonder what exactly the word means. I discover, Iyengars call food made with passion, dedication and cleanliness Thaligai. It is the food that is offered to the Gods before being served as prasad.
Simple, clean decor makes sense. For here is a place where food the prime focus. All food is served on banana leaf. That in itself is a positive for me. This is an “eat, pay, leave” space. Straightforward furniture: wood-topped tables and metal-framed chairs. Nothing distracts one from the home-style Iyengar food, that is good for the health and is made with ingredients sourced locally. Another aspect is that the traditionally cooked food is completely devoid of onions or garlic and uses no artificial colours or additives.
Thaligai, Mylapore, Chennai: Food
My meal begins with some cooling Panagam served in a steel tumbler. The jaggery sweetness blends nicely with dry ginger. Then, I’m presented with Elai Vadam: fresh Vadam dough, steamed in a banana leaf and accompanied by Tamarind Thokku. All the Vadam contains is rice flour, asafoetida, salt and jeera. The Tamarind Thokku plays the key role of adding tang, and elements of texture.
The crisp-looking Mixed Vegetable Pakodas taste as good as they look. The rice flour and besan coating make them crackle happily as I crunch through to the vegetable inside. Mostly, I find myself gravitating towards the cauliflower, because the florets inside the coating have retained their inherent personality.
Time for the proper meal. Again, there’s a twist here. On Saturdays and Sundays, they serve Kalyana Thaligai in a space meant for this particular purpose. The meal includes all 27 items served at weddings. The ambience is different, more classy with golden light, large, wooden tables, wooden chairs, and brass lamps suspended from wooden frames. I look at the space, but, as I’m here on a weekday, I eat the regular meal, beginning with Kasi Halwa and going through each course the way it is meant to be eaten… Chapati with Kootu, Sambar Rice, More Kozhambu, etc. When it comes to the Curd Rice, I’m told the rice is cooked in milk till it becomes one homogeneous mass of white. It then gets cooled before the starter curd is added.
I end my meal with a hot, fluffy vada as it is almost tiffin time, and decide to try it with the Payasam. A first for me. Must admit that was a good try, I think as I end the Saatvik adventure with Vethalai Chaaru.
Plus & Minus:
Committed to serving the best food they can, the owners constantly monitor every aspect of Thaligai. One of their guests, a 92-year-old gentleman, comes here twice a week to enjoy their Puris, a testimony to their commitment to providing the best they can to their customers.
