Food line

To all those who are wondering about the title of this post – let me put it straight that I am referring to food that happens to be running our life lines 😀

It so happened that around 2 months ago a brand new “Srinidhi Sagar” opened up very close to our place. I am a happy Bangalorean and I feel happy to say that if it’s breakfast, it has to be South Indian. Ever since, I have never been happier. Lazy me! As I say, the lesser I cook, the better cook I become!

The concept of restaurants like Srinidhi Sagar, Shanti Sagar, Sukh Sagar, Adigas, A2B have been derived from something called a “Darshini”. You would be surprised to know that there are around 5000+ darshini outlets in Bangalore serving hot idlis, vadas, dosas, filter coffee and so many other things including but not limited to poori saagu, khara bath, mini idly, bonda soup, sandwiches, and Chinese too! These outlets run on the self-serve model. You get a receipt of what you want to eat and give it to where the open kitchen is. Then go sit if you find a table or there will be certainly a place to stand and eat when your order gets ready.

Darshini outlets have been very open to customizing their menu per the clientage. Today, you can even order chole bhature, north indian thali, stuffed parathas, veg cheese grilled sandwiches, mughlai biryani, kadhai paneer, jeera rice, gobhi 65, chilly paneer, sundaes and what not! Just remember, it has to be vegetarian! Apart from this, the chefs are very understanding – they know what people want to eat, e.g. I order cheese masala dosa with less oil and a very light coffee! Tea/Coffee by 2 is also acceptable. Sometimes, I also get a wheat dosa. Coming to value for money – it is the place to head out for mango man. Reasonably priced servings and unlimited sambhar and chutney make the meal yummier.

Safely, I can say that the success of these outlets is due to good food, quick service and easy on the pocket strategy.

Eating out at any of these darshinis – you can see families, bigger families with kids, gang of girls, single men, couples, and flat mates – people with modest means and people driving in big cars. Whenever I am there (know that I am there every other day), it feels as a melting pot – coming together for what I want to call a food line!

To sum it up, I need to confess that my manager gave me out the recipe for an authentic south indian dosa and idli along with a tangy tomato chutney around the same time Srinidhi Sagar set its shop around my place. And her dosas are super yummy but I find it much easier to walk and order 🙂