Chennai’s new Sashwatha Cafe is a posh Karnataka-style darshini, serving masala dosas and thatte idli

Sashwatha Cafe in Chennai proves that the Bengaluru masala dosa, thatte idli and other Udupi favourites, a rage now across the country, can be found close to home too

Do you like the Tamil Nadu-style spicy sambar or prefer its sweeter cousin from Karnataka?

Sashwatha Cafe (the word means eternal in Sanskrit), the new addition to the bustling streets of Nandanam, is trying its hand at finding a balance.

At this bougie new Udupi restaurant where one washes their hands in urulis amidst swanky interiors, one can find akki rotis, Mangalore buns and the crowd favourite, masala dosa, for all those craving a taste of darshinis (small self-service cafes) from the land of sandalwood.

Anitha Sivakumar, the founder of this establishment and her daughter Shivani who heads this operation, seem to have had quite the adventure during their trials. “We tried different dishes from the smallest of hotels to the most famous ones in the State and then curated the menu. My head chef is from Karnataka so we went through several iterations of the food to ensure that ghee and butter, a central part of the Karnataka tiffin cuisine, are not overwhelming. We want people to come and eat here everyday,” she says.

Among the most staple of food items in Tamil households, is the idli. Here, its iterations — thatte idli, podi idli and rava idli — are soft like sponge, waiting to be soaked in the three accompanying chutneys: coconut, mint and tomato. The podi, with a generous heaping of ghee crowning the hot thatte idli, is homemade, says Anitha. “We will have to scale up the batches,” she says, laughing. The rava idli is mild and light while the podi version serves as quick finger food.

The dosas, made fresh from their open-kitchen across the tables, arrive before one can finish this first course, urging the table to quicken its pace. While the rava dosa is forgettable, the one that elicits most ‘ooo’s and ‘aah’s is the masala dosa. Though this dosa is not laden with the quintessential red paste made of soaked Byadagi chilli and garlic, the homemade podi and a heaping of the tempered potato mash, calls for another plate.

The restaurant also has other popular darshini staples like akki roti, ragi roti, karabath, chow chow bath, bissibele bath and Mangalore buns — all making for interesting meals to try post work or workout.