The Matunga Effect

Vinaya, Darshan, Vatsa and I had been to ‘Matunga’, the hub of South-Indians in Mumbai last Sunday. This was our first visit to Matunga, although many of our friends had suggested visiting this place for its popular South-Indian delicacies. To be frank, we were lazy to go all the way till there, hehe.

As soon as we reached King’s circle, the aroma of South-Indian Filter Coffee just beckoned us like a mother calling out to her child! Vinaya, tried his best in the beginning not to give in to the temptation of having coffee as he had made a New Year Resolution not to have coffee for 30-days( I don’t see any sense in this one though). While he was walking away, I quickly made an Elevator Pitch to him:

‘Dude, you are running away from the all-famous, tasty South-Indian Filter Coffee. This is the first time we have come here and with just 17 days left to leave Mumbai, we may not even get a chance to come here again. The thought of having not tasted an authentic South-Indian Filter Coffee in Mumbai will haunt you forever!!’.

That was it – Vinaya just did a U turn and so did all of us; we followed the tantalizing fragrance just like sniffer dogs till we reached ‘Café Mysore’--- the name itself was so inviting, and yes, I had made a successful sales pitch( other than the ones I made in my placement interviews :) ).

Our next pit stop was Mani’s Lunch Home which is near Shankar Mutt. We had a scrumptious South-Indian meal – the hapla(papad), uppinkaayi(pickle), chapathi, kosu playa (cabbage sabzi),huli(sambar), saaru(rasam), sajjige(a sweet dish), mosaru (curd) majjige(butter milk) and everything that was served was just so yuuuummmmy that it made us go into 'retro' mode – Vinaya and I, recalled our childhood days and described to Vatsa and Darshan the ‘kayyi-thutthu’ times – an activity in which children are made to sit in a circle and the mother/grandmother makes undey(round shape) of the food and gives it to each of the children turn by turn.

Even after such a heavy meal, Vinaya and I were bent upon having Sakkre Pongal(Sweet Pongal) and another round of Filter Coffee. So we went back to Café Mysore and ordered our stuff and relished it. However, the Sakkre Pongal wasn’t all that great. We then bought some thenglu and kodbale (I don’t know how to describe these – these can be served as entremets as well as with tea/coffee or can be just munched away).

Well, we had just had a great evening out and didn’t feel like going back to the hostel. But yeah, we had to go back. Somehow, I am sure, we will hit upon Matunga atleast twice again before we go back home for good!

PS: Proof of Vinaya breaking his resolution will follow:)