South Indian Food

This shop is over at Bhikaji Cama Place, right at number 6. If you know the area, you know it’s full of office buildings and people in a hurry. South Indian Food is just a simple name for a simple spot. We open up early because the office crowd likes to have their idli or vada before they head into their buildings. The smell of sambar usually fills the corridor by nine in the morning. It’s a small space, so things get cramped during the lunch hour. We have a few standing tables and some benches outside. The steam from the idli containers makes the windows foggy when it's cold out. I spend a lot of time just refilling the chutney bowls and clearing away the steel plates. We don’t use any fancy plates, just the metal ones that are easy to wash. The kitchen is cramped, but the guys know where everything is kept. We’ve been at this spot for a while now. The tile on the floor is cracked in the corner, but nobody seems to mind as long as the food is ready on time. We get a lot of the same people every day. They don't even look at the menu anymore, they just tell us what they want and find a spot to stand. It’s a repetitive job, making the same batter and pouring the same tea, but it keeps us busy. We just keep the stoves running until the evening when the offices close down.