Discovering local tastes at Bengaluru's VV Puram food street

Tucked away into a busy corner of Bengaluru’s VV Puram area near Lalbagh, is a tiny lane bustling with people who come and are enjoying a typically Kannadiga cuisine.In a city where you can sample cuisines from around the world, Food Street, or Thindi Beedhi in Kannada, has a handful of vegetarian food joints where you can savour dishes that remind you of home, which may be in any part of the state.Paddu at Sri Vasavi ChatnisIt is a testimony to their food and service, that people have been frequenting this area for years, to enjoy timeless flavours and the comfort of familiar aromas in shops such as Shri Vasavi Chatnis, Arya Vysya Refreshment, and Idly Mane.This may also be why these joints have not given in to the temptation of experimenting with modern fusion food combining traditional foods with other cuisines to come up with something like a Chinese dosa.  Curd Kodbale at Arya Vyasa RefreshmentsM. Manikandan of Arya Vysya Refreshment, which is one of the oldest shops here, says, “People still come to us as we serve evergreen traditional food. My father, who started the shop, still prepares the food himself, making our shop unique. Most of the eateries here have been started by people who worked for us initially.” He says that even foreigners come to eat there on weekends.Even some of the biggest political leaders and actors in south India are not immune to the aromas of his eatery which has been around since 1962. Manikandan says that politicians from Karnataka such as B S Yeddyurappa, former prime minister H D Devegowda and superstar Rajinikanth have visited his shop.Akki roti from Idly ManeIdly Mane’s proprietor’s son Dhanush, believes that even though a Bengalurean can choose from a variety of cuisines in areas such as Koramangala, there is still a market for our traditional food. “The area around here has not changed much,” he says. Gajar ka halwa with ice cream from Mumbai Badam Milk and Lassi Centre  Pav Bhaji in the making at Dev SagarThings began to change around 20 years ago, when street food from other parts of the country crept in to the area. Mumbai Badam Milk and Lassi Centre and Sree Ganesha Fruit Juice Centre which were established around 1991, are also very popular. Gowardhan Lal, proprietor of Mumbai Badam Milk and Lassi Centre, proudly says “The Kadhai in which I prepare the Badam Milk itself is 24 years old.”(All images taken by Surbhi Patni)