Around Town: Want to know South Indian food beyond dosa and idli? Head to Dakshin in Parel

A look at the menu curated by the chef. (Photo: Special arrangement)

The brand Dakshin is not new. It was in April 1989 that ITC Hotels first opened Dakshin in Chennai. The idea was to serve traditional and authentic South Indian food covering all four (Telangana was formed in 2014) southern Indian states: Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Slowly the restaurant expanded to Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Vizag. In Mumbai, the restaurant was opened at ITC Maratha in 2004 as Dakshin Coastal and it was in operation till about four months ago when it was shut to create space for another restaurant, while it found a new home at ITC Grand Central in Parel.

“At the preview dinner in Chennai, everybody was happy except one lady because she didn’t like rasam. She sent a summon for me and was very unhappy with the dish. That day I realised that Iyengers and Iyers are different. While the latter consumes onion and garlic, the former doesn’t, and I learnt it the hard way,” recalls chef Praveen Anand, adding that he was told by that lady that this restaurant is going to be a “glorious failure”. That moment, says chef Anand, who is now a brand custodian for Dakshin, was a humbling experience that made him very serious about South Indian cuisine. He reached out to that lady to understand how food is cooked at her home and learnt from her.

“What we serve is pure replication of what we learnt from various homes. Today if I am serving Chettinad cuisine, I can challenge that a Chettiar having that meal would agree that this is how they eat at home. It is so because we have mastered the peculiar mix of spices that they use and the way they finish a dish from their own homes,” shares chef Anand, adding that each region is also particular about the ingredients it uses in preparing its food. “For instance, Kerala uses coconut oil. Tamil Nadu uses sesame oil, ghee and at times coconut. Andhra uses peanut and sesame oil alongside ghee, and they hate coconut oil. When it comes to chillies, there are about 50-60 varieties of chilli growing in South India, some have sour and sweetish notes. While Karnataka swears by Byadagi chilli, Kerala prefers Kanthari chilli.”

Badam Halwa (Photo: Special arrangement)

While this strive for perfection would appeal to connoisseurs, the brand also understands that not all their guests have a mastery over cuisine or language. It is perhaps why their menu with temple-like doors has been simplified. Not only have they explained each dish but also categorised them in a manner that one can sample dishes from a particular region, say Tamil Nadu-Puducherry, Kerala or Andhra Pradesh-Telangana. For those who are still unsure of what to order, there are chef’s curated menus available for Saivam (vegetarian), Asaivam (non-vegetarian), and Matsam (seafood). The Saivam is now available in two categories, one for vegetarians who consume onion and garlic and another for those who do not, making it the first Dakshin restaurant to do so. It is done keeping in mind the city’s Jain community, we learnt later.

We opted for Saivam with onion and garlic and soon the heavy silverware on our table was filled with dishes. A variety of appalam (papad) and chutneys – coconut, tamarind, ginger, garlic and lentils – tantalised our taste buds. We whipped off these chutneys with vazhai shunti, a speciality of Thanjavur made from spiced raw banana, and crispy vadai made from lentils. We also tried a sweet pancake made from banana and mini dosai from Iyer’s trolley – named after Paramasivam Iyer, a former chef who was known to have never touched any form of meat during his entire time in the kitchen. Manning the counter that served small eats, Iyer was popular among guests for his recommendations.

Patchakari stew is a melange of vegetables simmered in coconut milk with onion, ginger and chillies. (Photo: Special arrangement)

Soon another thali comprising a variety of vegetables, including mildly sour anasi (pineapple) curry, comforting patchakari stew with vegetables simmered in coconut milk, a bowl of tur dal, sambar, rasam, and curd rice was served with appam and veechu paratha (similar to parotta/lachha paratha). The meal which takes about 45 minutes sees a variety of flavours and textures with the staff explaining every dish and even making suggestions. We were told that appam would go well with anasi curry and patchakari stew and we couldn’t agree more. We rounded off this hearty meal with badam halwa and a bowl of basundi, both of which were delicately sweet, just how we prefer.

Price for two: Rs 2,800. Chef’s curated menus start at Rs 1,850