South Indies, which positions itself as a premium eatery for South Indian vegetarian cuisine, hosts a festival or two every year to throw light on little-known details and dishes from the various cuisines of the region. This year, a Tamil Brahmin food festival coincided with Navaratri. The festival menu — comprising more than 30 dishes — kicked off with two options for soup: a tangy Paruppu Rasam, whose warmth and spices hit the right note on the rainy night we were there; and a little-known Carrot Soup from the kitchen of the 90-year-old matriarch who once stumped Bhat with recipes for ‘english vegetables’ like cauliflower.

The carrot soup — a strained broth of the root vegetable, dal, cumin and ginger — was the surprise of the meal as it had no traces of asafoetida, curry leaves or coconut which are commonly used in this cuisine. The Keerai Vadai and Kuzhi Paniyaram served with the soups were good — the former crunchy and oil-free, the latter with a wonderful sweet-sour taste that comes from a rightly fermented batter. The Urulai Vadhakkal (shallow fried baby potatoes) didn’t really grab our fancy. It was instead the homely Ulundu Bonda which stole the show as far as starters went. This lentil-based preparation was light and airy, with a crispy exterior and, importantly, did not drip oil — the sweet, shredded coconut offered one more texture when you bit into the bonda and complemented well the heat of the pepper and green chillies. For the main course, the menu covered the range of sambars, kozhambus and kootus. Of these, the Melagu Kozhambu with drumstick stood out — the roasted and ground pepper sitting well with the tamarind base. The Kathirikkai Rasa Vaangi was also appealing for the freshness of its coriander seeds topping. According to Bhat, this age-old dish is prepared the traditional way at South Indies — which involves using a particular variety of sambar powder, some pitlai powder and then topping with a paste — a method not commonly followed today. The same knowledge of time-honoured cooking techniques could be seen in the Bitter Gourd Pitlai, where the sliced vegetable had been pre-soaked in curd and flash-fried before adding to the pitlai to take away the bitter edge. It was also clear that the powders and pastes for all these dishes had been made in-house — they were fresh and lent the subtle differences in flavour as they are meant to.

These side dishes could be eaten with Adai, which was perfect; Oothappam, sour and crisp; or a rice dish like Lemon Rice or Coconut Rice. But they are best eaten with chutney, papadum, or just by themselves,as it is the plainness of hot steamed rice that helps one savour the kozhambus in their own right.

Among the desserts, it was the Nendra Pazham Varati which was the star. We couldn’t really taste the cardamom mentioned, but the banana and jaggery had come together in perfect harmony. We weren’t asking for more but, nevertheless, didn’t complain when some ‘Degree Kaapi’ came along. Bhat gets his coffee beans from Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, and blends them himself. The beverage is on the regular menu — served, like it is traditionally, in a steel dabara-tumbler set; and they will even do the flamboyant transfer from dabara to tumbler and back for you.

So, what did we think was missing? The right ambience for one — as the food festival was during Navaratri, and the traditional kolu display tucked away in a dark corner near the entrance did little to convey a festive atmosphere. Also, this cuisine tastes best when served on a banana leaf, with waiters speeding by, serving everyone portions of everything before any calorie-conscious diner’s obstructing hand can come in the way. We asked Bhat if this was possible, but he was firm that the idea of contemporary fine dining was as important to South Indies as the authenticity of its food. Besides, it would mean extra demands on the wait staff and may confuse patrons who are trying this cuisine for the first time. We wish though that he would make an exception during festivals like these — just so that we could lick the ghee and spice off our fingers. What could be more fine and authentic?

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