South Indian sojourn

At last, a place to eat well-made and reasonably priced South Indian food which includes both tiffin and meals in the suburbs. Banana Leaf is on the second floor of a shopping centre in Juhu and is a large eaterie that gets full up pretty fast — luckily, it looks like there’s space for expansion.

Banana leaves, as suggested, line the plates, as the menu offers a large selection of snacks — idlis, dosas, vadas, meals — as in vegetables, dals, sambars and rice dishes — bisi bhele, curd rice and so on. The range appears to cover most of South India so it’s not just Udupi.

We ordered Mysore Bondas and Mulgai idli to start. The Mysore Bonda is a variation on the familiar medu vada, except that it did not have the doughnut shape. It was crisp on the outside and felt surprisingly light on the inside — the urad dal was well fermented then — though I am sure that its effect on the waistline will be do different from any other deep fried snack. Hmmm. The chutneys served were all universally superb — the standard white coconut, the hot red one and a green one. The sambar was also excellent — and, yaay!!!, not a hint of sweetness in it.

I thought the mulgai idli would be covered in gunpowder and sesame (gingelly) oil but it was a far more exotic concoction.

Chopped idlis covered in green chutney and garnished with
coconut. This was not the same as the other chutneys but was much heavier and tasted like the sort of mixture you would use with fish. Made for a filling dish with an intriguing flavour.

Next we tried the kara masala dosa, which was recommended for the spicy chutney spread on the dosa. Here again the dry spices on the dosa were out of the ordinary — and tasted like it would do just as well with a mutton curry. This is a new way to eat shudh vegetarian food, where the masalas are redolent with non-vegetarian whimsies. Quite a feat.

Then (you would think by now we had had enough), we tried a mini meal (have to go back for the full thali) of appams with korma. This was the one disappointment because whatever went into the korma just made the gravy taste too heavy and strange.

One of the joys of food from South India is the light and distinctive nature of the spices used. This gravy tasted like it came out of a Mughlai kitchen with a South Indian touch. The appams were very good, though.

For dessert, I opted for the akhrot halwa while rock chick decided to try the brownie with ice-cream. I think I got the better deal because although the halwa was very heavy — generous with ghee, walnut and sugar — it was far more authentic and tastier than the brownie, which seemed a tad synthetic. Better to stick to the selections of payasams and halwas.

On the whole, a very satisfying meal, with excellent service, pleasant enough decor (complete with homilies on the glories of vegetarian food on a mural) and good pricing.

Watch out for the ladies who lunch because it can get very noisy as a result.