Iconic Indian eateries and food brands
that have stood the test of time
As we enter the 69th year of
independent India's journey, it's time to celebrate some iconic Indian eateries
and food brands that have stood the test of time and pressures of MNC-led
globalisation
The food at A. Rama Nayak's Udipi Shri Krishna Boarding is enough to convert even a hardcore non-vegetarian. At 73, it is often called Mumbai's oldest and best-known Udipi restaurant, but fans rather refer to it as a heaven for foodies.
The fare—served on banana leaves and eaten with bare hands—includes chapatti with seasonal sabzis (if you're lucky, you'll find raw banana) cooked to perfection in a coconut base and distinct South Indian condiments and three servings of rice (with rasam, sambar and dahi). There's also the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin special, avial, powder chutney with pure ghee and six different payasams for six days (it's shut on Mondays!)…
A balanced diet of rice, wheat, lentils, vegetables, dahi and buttermilk, it won't leave you sluggish. This charming eatery on the first floor of a municipal market, overlooks the Matunga Central Railway station. Quick service, high standards of hygiene and most importantly value for money like only a true-blue Mumbaikar will know, make it special.
A sign above the kitchen door welcomes customers to inspect it, on the condition that they leave their footwear out. This isn't the only sign that draws your attention. A prominent one just above the cashier says, "The owner eats here" and others like "Please buy your tokens in advance", "Unused coupons can be used next time", "Try eating on leaf in Indian way, without spoon" as well as good advice: "After lunch rest a while, after dinner walk a mile".
Rama Nayak began as a cook for bachelors at Santa Cruz's Saraswat Colony and inmates of the Ramakrishna Mission. The menu he set for the Udipi, in 1942, has largely remained unchanged.
Before passing away in 1981, he told his sons, Satish and Saiprasad, not to fiddle with the menu saying it will hold for another 50 years as long as the food was fresh, clean and affordable. And boy have they lived up to their dad's words!
Address: 1st Floor, Lakhamsi Nappu Road, Lal Bahadur Shastri Market, Outside Matunga Railway Station, Matunga East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400019. Phone:022 2414 2422
Parsi Dairy Farm
No brand, international or national, can match the wholesome goodness of the ice creams, kulfis and other milk-based goodies of Parsi Dairy Farm. When Parsis fled persecution in Iran and arrived on the shores of Gujarat seeking asylum in the 10th century, the ruler Jadi Rana pointed to a brimful vessel of milk to show his kingdom was already full and couldn't accept refugees. In response, a Zoroastrian priest added a pinch of sugar to the milk, indicating that the community wouldn't make the vessel overflow, but only make lives of the locals sweeter.
Many centuries later, walk into any Parsi Dairy Farm (PDF) shop and you will know that they have made good that promise—literally. The sweet milky whiff as you walk down the Marine Lines bridge, toward the just-a-year-shy-of-100 flagship PDF outlet on Princess Street, is proof. It's about the quaint PDF charm—long before the Theobramas of the world came into existence—that offers something for everyone from age eight to 80. While many still make a beeline for the best ice cream and to-die-for kulfis, there's shrikhand, mawa barfi, Rajkoti peda, kesari peda and lassis galore, not to mention the famous ghee, butter and paneer.
A personal favourite is the Milk Drops – rich, creamy, melt-in-the mouth goodness of caramel and condensed whole milk toffees with a whiff of ghee. A delight for every palate, it will take a miracle for any big brand to match the goodness of these. Go on, we dare you to stop
at one...
Address: 261-3, Princess Street, Near Marine Lines Station, Mumbai 400002. Phone: 022 22013633
No brand, international or national, can match the wholesome goodness of the ice creams, kulfis and other milk-based goodies of Parsi Dairy Farm. When Parsis fled persecution in Iran and arrived on the shores of Gujarat seeking asylum in the 10th century, the ruler Jadi Rana pointed to a brimful vessel of milk to show his kingdom was already full and couldn't accept refugees. In response, a Zoroastrian priest added a pinch of sugar to the milk, indicating that the community wouldn't make the vessel overflow, but only make lives of the locals sweeter.
Many centuries later, walk into any Parsi Dairy Farm (PDF) shop and you will know that they have made good that promise—literally. The sweet milky whiff as you walk down the Marine Lines bridge, toward the just-a-year-shy-of-100 flagship PDF outlet on Princess Street, is proof. It's about the quaint PDF charm—long before the Theobramas of the world came into existence—that offers something for everyone from age eight to 80. While many still make a beeline for the best ice cream and to-die-for kulfis, there's shrikhand, mawa barfi, Rajkoti peda, kesari peda and lassis galore, not to mention the famous ghee, butter and paneer.
A personal favourite is the Milk Drops – rich, creamy, melt-in-the mouth goodness of caramel and condensed whole milk toffees with a whiff of ghee. A delight for every palate, it will take a miracle for any big brand to match the goodness of these. Go on, we dare you to stop
at one...
Address: 261-3, Princess Street, Near Marine Lines Station, Mumbai 400002. Phone: 022 22013633
THIS GOING TO BE CLOSED SOON
Motilal Masalawala
The last line on Jagdish Patel's visiting card is an apt description of his life—'adding spice to your life for the past 100 years'.
The 77-year-old is the third-generation owner of M Motilal Masalawala, the city's, and likely the country's, first branded masala company. Patel's grandfather, Mangal, started M Motilal Masalawala in Bhuleshwar in 1912, selling basic masalas such as turmeric and red chilli powder. Starting with a pickle spice-mix, he soon pioneered the concept of ready masalas that he sold under the Mangal brand name. Not only did he believe in sampling and incorporating customer feedback, he was among the first to package these dry masalas in plastic and cartons to retain their freshness. "The litho printing was especially done in Germany," says Patel.
Today, they sell nearly 100 different masalas, including rajma, balti curry, Hyderabadi biryani and even dabeli and taco masala. How their range grew to a variety of masalas, spices, readymade pastes and pickles is a telling narrative of Mumbai's socio-economic prosperity.
"In the early days, the Parsis and the Bhatias were among the city's wealthy so we catered to their cuisine," says Patel. "After the family split in 1966, M Motilal Masalawala moved to Grant Road. Here, we began catering to Bohris, Muslims and Iranis in the neighbourhood." Gradually, as the city took in its fold people from different geographies, M. Motilal Masalawala documented their tastes with a Mangal masala mix for their dishes. Their Banarasi UP masala (high on turmeric and coriander, but low on chilli powder), especially for immigrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, is a testament to the city's ethnographic history.
So what is Mangal masalas' recipe for success? "Best-quality ingredients," says Patel, adding that sourcing them at the right time is key to manufacturing masalas that infuse flavour and aroma to food. "Be it chillies or jeera, we procure our ingredients from the very first harvest," offers Patel. "And we source ingredients from practically every state in the country."
It is this attention to detail combined with constant innovation by Patel that has given Mangal masalas some of its most loyal customers over generations — not just in India, but also in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. "In the UK, curry restaurants swear by our masalas," he offers.
Here in Mumbai, customers rave about Mangal's kitchen king, dhansak and pav bhaji masalas among others. And even if you don't cook dhansak, adding a bit of the dhansak masala to dal lends it a delicate flavour and a fabulous aroma.
Address: 405, Grant Road, Opp Novelty Cinema, Mumbai 400007. Phone: 022 2385 1144
The last line on Jagdish Patel's visiting card is an apt description of his life—'adding spice to your life for the past 100 years'.
The 77-year-old is the third-generation owner of M Motilal Masalawala, the city's, and likely the country's, first branded masala company. Patel's grandfather, Mangal, started M Motilal Masalawala in Bhuleshwar in 1912, selling basic masalas such as turmeric and red chilli powder. Starting with a pickle spice-mix, he soon pioneered the concept of ready masalas that he sold under the Mangal brand name. Not only did he believe in sampling and incorporating customer feedback, he was among the first to package these dry masalas in plastic and cartons to retain their freshness. "The litho printing was especially done in Germany," says Patel.
Today, they sell nearly 100 different masalas, including rajma, balti curry, Hyderabadi biryani and even dabeli and taco masala. How their range grew to a variety of masalas, spices, readymade pastes and pickles is a telling narrative of Mumbai's socio-economic prosperity.
"In the early days, the Parsis and the Bhatias were among the city's wealthy so we catered to their cuisine," says Patel. "After the family split in 1966, M Motilal Masalawala moved to Grant Road. Here, we began catering to Bohris, Muslims and Iranis in the neighbourhood." Gradually, as the city took in its fold people from different geographies, M. Motilal Masalawala documented their tastes with a Mangal masala mix for their dishes. Their Banarasi UP masala (high on turmeric and coriander, but low on chilli powder), especially for immigrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, is a testament to the city's ethnographic history.
So what is Mangal masalas' recipe for success? "Best-quality ingredients," says Patel, adding that sourcing them at the right time is key to manufacturing masalas that infuse flavour and aroma to food. "Be it chillies or jeera, we procure our ingredients from the very first harvest," offers Patel. "And we source ingredients from practically every state in the country."
It is this attention to detail combined with constant innovation by Patel that has given Mangal masalas some of its most loyal customers over generations — not just in India, but also in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. "In the UK, curry restaurants swear by our masalas," he offers.
Here in Mumbai, customers rave about Mangal's kitchen king, dhansak and pav bhaji masalas among others. And even if you don't cook dhansak, adding a bit of the dhansak masala to dal lends it a delicate flavour and a fabulous aroma.
Address: 405, Grant Road, Opp Novelty Cinema, Mumbai 400007. Phone: 022 2385 1144
From the land of the mishti doi and rasagulla, comes a brand that has been weaving magic with their sweets since 1885. Balaram Mullick and Radharam Mullick, as the brand is named, is possibly one of the biggest mishti brands in Kolkata. The City of Joy, known for its sweet delicacies is famos for the rasagulla, the mishti doi, the chamchams and a lot more. But have you ever tried a baked rasagulla? Balaram Mullick and Radharam Mullick have figured out new ways of presenting age-old, traditional favourites in a contemporary manner, their innovations spell gluttony like nothing else does. From sandesh to mudpies, from muffins to pastries, the brand has been catering to Bengali households for about one -and-a-half century now.
Their biggest plus point? While most of its contemporary brands have stuck to traditional ways, they have created a fusion of sweets. So you are as likely to find muffins and mango doi (during summers) here, and even rasagullas baked with kheer in different flavours. Their chocolate mudpie (to die for), the kesariya kulfi or their iconic nolen gurer sandesh are some items that set them apart They also have an assorted range of chocolate sandesh, prepared by automatic machines, that they put in place decades ago.
Puddings, truffles and soufflés are now common in the Bengali mishti market, thanks to the brand which has also been recognised by Forbes magazine. Blending the old world Bengali sweets with a European twist, the brand has carved a niche in the national market as well.
Address: 2, Broad Street, Ballygunge, Kolkata, West Bengal 700019. Phone: 033 2290 3964
India Coffee House
Though it's no longer the quintessential coffee shop it used to be, India Coffee House still draws crowds to its affordable brew. Steel benches, chairs with torn upholstery, a stinking urinal and watery coffee—India Coffee House on Mohan Singh Place shopping complex in Delhi is a far cry from the happening place it was in the 1960s and 1970s, when the likes of MF Husain and Indira Gandhi visited it.
Back then, India Coffee House, part of a chain of around 50 spread across the subcontinent, was a place where poets, painters, professors got together and measured out their lives with coffee spoons, to quote Eliot. With its double height ceiling, the Kolkata Coffee House, opposite the city's firebrand Presidency College, is the most photogenic, but the one in Mumbai was the oldest, set up in 1936. The Delhi one, which has a lovely terrace looking out on busy Connaught Place, is simply gone to seed. No one visits the once iconic eatery any longer, but for a few who are attracted by the throwaway prices—"coffee" for Rs 38.
If coffee houses were perceived to be dens of radical thought back in the days, then it was probably because they were an early success of communist political activism in India. It was Kerala communist leader AK Gopalan, who encouraged the workers in these coffee houses to form cooperatives to run them when the Coffee Cess Board, which started and ran them, decided to shut them down.
"I come here very often with my friends. There's no AC and the food is really bad, but we can sit here for hours, smoke freely and chat without burning a hole in our pocket," says Rohan Sharma, a college student.
Address: Mohan Singh Palace, 2nd floor, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Cannaught place, New Delhi, 110001. Phone: 011 2334 2994
Though it's no longer the quintessential coffee shop it used to be, India Coffee House still draws crowds to its affordable brew. Steel benches, chairs with torn upholstery, a stinking urinal and watery coffee—India Coffee House on Mohan Singh Place shopping complex in Delhi is a far cry from the happening place it was in the 1960s and 1970s, when the likes of MF Husain and Indira Gandhi visited it.
Back then, India Coffee House, part of a chain of around 50 spread across the subcontinent, was a place where poets, painters, professors got together and measured out their lives with coffee spoons, to quote Eliot. With its double height ceiling, the Kolkata Coffee House, opposite the city's firebrand Presidency College, is the most photogenic, but the one in Mumbai was the oldest, set up in 1936. The Delhi one, which has a lovely terrace looking out on busy Connaught Place, is simply gone to seed. No one visits the once iconic eatery any longer, but for a few who are attracted by the throwaway prices—"coffee" for Rs 38.
If coffee houses were perceived to be dens of radical thought back in the days, then it was probably because they were an early success of communist political activism in India. It was Kerala communist leader AK Gopalan, who encouraged the workers in these coffee houses to form cooperatives to run them when the Coffee Cess Board, which started and ran them, decided to shut them down.
"I come here very often with my friends. There's no AC and the food is really bad, but we can sit here for hours, smoke freely and chat without burning a hole in our pocket," says Rohan Sharma, a college student.
Address: Mohan Singh Palace, 2nd floor, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Cannaught place, New Delhi, 110001. Phone: 011 2334 2994
DNA 16AUG15
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