TAKEOUTSTANDING!

Takeout masala dosa, sambhar and chutney from Tirupati in Aurora, Ontario.

By SHAGORIKA EASWAR

Driving back from dinner at one restaurant is an odd time to get excited about another restaurant but I was guilty of just that, an excited yelp.

We had just left Vintage Spice in Aurora – sadly, now closed – when I spotted the sign, Tirupati.

I have long bemoaned the absence of good restaurants near us in GTA North as compared to the plethora of choice available to those who live in Mississauga and Brampton. While the situation is improving, with several new eateries opening up in the recent past, they all provide North Indian cuisine. And there are days when I crave a good dosa or an idli-vada.

Tirupati is a quintessentially South Indian name. I googled the restaurant and saw that they do, indeed, do South Indian cuisine also. As they are takeout only, we placed an order the next weekend.

It’s a modest location, with a counter in front of the kitchen.

Dosas are best eaten as soon as they are made as they don’t travel too well and who wants a limp at best, or worse, soggy dosa?

I mitigate the risk by ordering the masala on the side and am happy to report, our dosas made it back in somewhat good level of crisp. The masala, chutney and sambhar were authentic in taste and our vadas (they had run out of idlies that day) large and dense, but crisp.

Since this was a trial run, one that I was rather pleased with, we agreed to return soon for their utthapams. Also, their range of chaat items, for even a woman craving a dosa can’t walk past pani puri and tikki chaat without wanting some!

A subsequent visit didn’t start off too well. We came home with our takeout only to discover that we had the dosa and the filling on the side, but the sambhar and chutney were MIA. I called to ask if they weren’t doing those anymore and the lady sounded surprised.

“No, no, dosas come with chutney and sambhar!”

Well, ours hadn’t, I pointed out.

“Arre bhai, where did they go?” she asked. I was about to ask how was I to know just as I realized she was talking to someone in the kitchen.

Back on the phone and this time addressing me, she asked, “Where do you live?”

We weren’t coming back for just the sambhar and chutney, I said, adding that it was okay, I’d just called to check for future reference.

She was going to have them delivered as it was their fault, she insisted. The missing containers had turned up on a corner of the counter. And sure enough, within minuted the doorbell rang. And there was someone from Tirupati with the missing sambhar and chutney – and a complimentary order of vadas with more sambhar!

I can’t think of too many restaurants that would have done that. Oh, they’d have apologized, and maybe even offered to reverse the charge for the dosa or make good on the next visit whenever that might be. But send someone out just to deliver the sambhar and chutney? I don’t think so.

On our next visit (not too long after), we added alu tikki chaat to our order. I think of tikkis as the litmus test of any place offering chaat. Because one can douse papdi with chutneys or fill golguppe with spicy, tangy paani and pass it off as chaat. It takes skill to do tikkis. Crisp on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, and many places stuff them with all kinds of dals and peas which no self-respecting tikki would mingle with.

“Spicy or extra spicy?” asked the friendly lady at the counter.

“Er, normal?” I replied, with some hesitation. This is always a tough one to answer until one has physically experienced a particular restaurant’s version of spice levels. Because sometimes “normal” is dumbed down to such an extent that it stops resembling desi cuisine. But then at the other end of the spectrum, you have “spicy” that is so super hot that I for one end up with a serious case of heartburn.

Our tikki chaat, with yoghurt and chutneys, was one of the best I’ve had. Perfect in texture and the chutneys, divine. It is going to be one dish I will always order here, no matter which cuisine I am craving that day, north or south!

• Tirupati is located at 15531 Yonge Street, unit 7 in Aurora and their phone number is 905-727-2727.

DESILICIOUS!

TAKEOUTSTANDING!