Hidden in the heart of crowded and chaotic Malleswaram, Iyer Mess is a traditional food joint dating back to quaint fifties. As you walk in, you notice that the long wooden tables with accompanying stools in the small, homely room are already laid out with plantain leaves, as if they were expecting you, true to the hospitality that is typical of so many Indian households.
The food too, is in keeping with the same spirit, simple and wholesome unlike the rich food savoured at weddings and death ceremonies, the only times you get to scoop out thayir sadam from a vazhai ilai (plantain leaf) with your fingers and eat it with slurping noises.
Brahmin traditions
But, of course, service is the essence. First of all, waiters patiently wait till you sprinkle your leaf with water and wipe it off to start serving you with salt and pickle. Then come the beans poriyal and raitha sans onion in accordance with the no-onion-no-garlic Brahminical custom. An appalam is finally followed by rice in a huge cake-like mound.
Muzhangi (radish) in toor dal spiced with powdered red chilli, coriander and fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, turmeric, cinnamon and asafoetida gives off a strong flavour of the vegetable. Rasam, a more watery accompaniment to rice, follows. With its tangy taste of tomato and tamarind and the aroma of hing, it is the ordinary yet irreplaceable item on the daily menu.
The blend of sambar or rasam with soft hot rice and the fragrance of the ilai (banana leaf) is a gustatory delight. The poriyal, cooked beans seasoned with coconut and moong dal, is slightly saltier than the hot rasam and sambar that it is to be eaten with.
The meal ends with curd rice and lemon pickle, an ideal combination to ‘settle the stomach’.
Lacking variety
But someone who is trying the cuisine for the first time, the food can come across as bland. Tasty at first, the rice and sambhar combination becomes insipid towards the end. You are left craving for more variety and flavour. Also, people with a sweet tooth will be disappointed. No meal is complete without a syrupy delight on the side. To spice up the food, the owners should be a little more liberal with the pickle, which is served only once.
But the touch of ghar ka khana cannot be missed. And the regulars sure swear by the food's authenticity. And why not, when it is religiously cooked by an Iyer (the owner's wife).
“We are planning to introduce other rice items and chapatis from next month,” says Venkatesh, the present owner of the eatery whose father started it.
Hailing from Palakkad on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, Venkatesh says that they specialise in cuisines of both states, mainly meals. The joint also offers an annual Onam special, with two varieties of payasam and avial, which is to be served on Sunday.
If you are fond of everything traditional, then Iyer's Mess should definitely feature on your wishlist. And for those who can't do without the spice, try this joint anyway. The experience is worth it.
m chetana@newindianexpress.com,
saloni@newindianexpress.com
