A whiff of idli-dosa in Shimla

I first tasted popular South Indian staples like dosa and idli — far away from their place of origin but quite near mine — in my hometown Shimla.

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We had returned to Shimla after spending few years in Ranchi where my late doctor father had gone to study for MD.

In the process of settling down, we were staying at a tourist lodge near the now old ISBT. We’d eat our meals daily at the nearby main Ram Bazar. One of our regular breakfast haunts was an eatery called Madras Cafe, run by a bearded Tamilian, helped by his two sons. That’s where my love for South Indian dishes started.

Some years later I left Shimla, but on a visit home a craving for dosa had me searching for the Madras Cafe. I went looking for it but found it replaced by another establishment. On enquiry, I got to know that the Tamil gentlemen had passed away and his sons had shifted to Delhi.

There are other South Indian eateries now in Shimla, including the Indian Coffee House at the Mall Road, but the taste and memory of my life’s first dosa and idli at the Madras Cafe are etched in my mind.

Vivek Mohan, Shimla