DESILICIOUS!

THIS THALI IS YOUR TICKET TO NAMMA BENGALURU

Served on freshly washed banana leaf, MTR’s thali comes with an endless procession of dishes.

Part of the famous and much-loved chain in Bangalore, MTR 1924 opened its doors in Mississauga last year, promising the same taste and service. The 1924 in the name underscores the year of launch of the flagship restaurant.

On our first visit, and all the subsequent ones, we ordered rava idlis – a dish that MTR is credited with having invented during World War II, when rice, used in idlis, was in short supply – and benne dosas. The last, for those not in the know, is a Bangalore speciality, with thick but crisp dosa drenched in butter. Owner Raghav, who comes out to greet guests encouraged us to try their MTR Special thali and though I remember the spread of deliciousness from my years in Bangalore, I was in benne dosa heaven. And hence it was benne dosas each time, with idlis, rava idlies or vadas, or just the benne dosa on a pit stop before catching a play.

On a recent visit, however, we expanded our order to include the thali.

And what a thali it is! Served on freshly washed banana leaf, it comes with an endless procession of dishes. It starts off with, as is tradition, with a tiny bowl of ghee, salt and pickle placed on the top left-hand corner of the leaf, followed by mini papadams, kosambri (a cucumber salad) and the vegetable curry of the day. The day we were there, it was a delicious sweet potato, Then bowls of chutney, raita, plain yoghurt, sambhar, rasam, another curry, paruppu payasam (a kheer made of lentils), fruit custard and mango lassi. Mango being the flavour of the day, there was also a bowl of mango rice. Puris, fritters and plain rice round off the thali. There’s so much food that in spite of loving every bit and sip, I was unable to do justice to everything and apologized for having left so much food.

“Did you like it, though?” asked the young girl who had checked in to see if everything was good.

We loved it, I assured her and would be back. Next time, though, maybe do just the thali or the benne dosa, not both on one visit!

MTR 1924 is located at 5120 Dixie Road, Mississauga. They can be reached at 289-687-1924.