Chai Waale’s piping hot chairman’s special

Chai Waale has an extensive tea menu that ranges from milk, herbal, black to iced tea. An interesting one is chairman’s special, with a strong flavour of lemon, honey, ginger and chat masala that may remind you of a tangy candy.

In addition to tea, the menu also includes samosas, sandwiches, noodles and khakhras. One of the USPs of Chai Waale is the sale of khakhras that comes in nine flavours including pizza, jeera, chocolate and dabeli to mention a few.  If the cost is slightly above ₹ 35, there’s a chance that people may not visit regularly.” 

Among the business circle, Chai Waale is seen as a direct competition to Chai Kings, another popular tea café in the city. Chai Waale has five outlets: in Sowcarpet, Anna Nagar, Mogappair, Purasawalkam and OMR. The branches are open from 6 am to 12 am. For details, call 7010266755.

crystal ice cream, chowpatty

Miss home  The no-frills crystal has been serving pocket-friendly food to students and working professionals in and around chowpatty since 1966. Crystal begn offering vegetarian foods like dal fry, rajma, alugobi, baigan ka bharta, roti,rice and kheer, as he felt there were a lot of migrants and students living nearby who missed home –cooked food. Crystal combo meal and crystal special rae two sections we added, with offerings such as chole bature, lahori paneer, and some jain items. 022 236901482

Traditional sweetes & savouries

Thenkuzhal murukku, Kambu laddu, and kara mixture from Chinthalavadi. These simple treats and a few lines about the village on the banks of the river Cauvery can turn an ordinary festive gift into a mindful one.

This year, we are seeing more people gifting handmade savouries featuring organic ingredients from farms across the State. Chef and TV host, Rakesh Raghunathan, whose karupatti (palm jaggery) Diwali sweets have been in demand for several years, says he is too busy with his recently-launched TV show, Dakshin Diaries, to take orders this time. But he has a few tips for the resourceful.

“There’s Srivilliputhur palkova from the town’s famous Venkateshwara Sweet Stall, Tirunelveli halwa from the city’s Janakiram Hotel, kara sev from Sattur’s Shanmuganadar Mittai Kadai, and Triplicane’s Dum ka Roat at Basha Halwawala,” he shares.

Think local

Every festive season, Ahalya S, founder of sari brand, Kanakavalli, has Tapestry, the event planning service at her Kingsley address, put together a hamper of traditional sweets sourced from the actual towns where they originated.

This Tamil New Year, has handmade kara mixture from Chinthalavadi, and Inippu Seedai (sweet seedai) made with jaggery from Karukathy, near Vellakoil in Tamil Nadu. “In cities, things tend to get curated for a modern palate, which is why I look at promoting handmade, authentic delicacies,” says Ahalya, who sends these boxes out to clients. In the past, she's had Kallakurichi chinna vengayam murukku, Nellai Nei Karupatti Mysore Pak and thaen mittai from Erode for her Diwali hampers. Details: Tapestry Expressions is at Kingsley, Spurtank Road. 07550022300

Go nuts

Palm jaggery, peanuts, sesame, cardamon and dry ginger from farms across Tamil Nadu go into the delectable peanut candy and sesame, multigrain balls at Madurai-based MotherWay.Set up by B Stalin in 2015, the brand processes its ingredients in clay ovens and all the sweets are handmade. This season, opt for the Celebration Sweet Pack (₹700) comprising 50 palm jaggery and groundnut sweet bars, or the Combo Gift Pack (₹400) that includes the bars and sesame balls.

Terra Earthfood, Abhiramapuram 4th st, Alwarpet phone 4208 8800

Terra is a treatfor conscious food lovers.founder meera maran has your back when you’re looking for organic sweets, snacks or gliten-free breads. Though tere is an endless assortment of millet sweets, my favourites are the granola bars and cookies, and the laddoos that come in flavoursb like karupatti, ellu,kuthiravali, and fig and honey, among other. Since everything is home grown, they never fail to impress.

Sorrel Gardens, Muttukadu, ECR phone 99525 03181
Having a miniature garden at home is like having a little pocket dog. You have to do the watering, and the talking  (minus the walking), and these little beauties grow in on time. Hailing from the same family as the bonsai, the Arelia and syngonium plants add the perfect green touch to small spaces, and are your little go-to pixies after arough day. These are also self-sustaining gardens that require zero maintenance.

Pehelwan lassi

You can eat it as dessert or drink it as a refreshing cooler, but be sure not to miss the lassi when in Varanasi. Pehelwan lassi served in kulhads. Tweaked it with ingredients like, malai, rabdi and almonds. Not only did people like the taste, but they also believed that the wrestler was selling what he himself consumed for his strength. 

Customers started calling it pehelwan lassi, and the tiny eight-foot-by-12-foot shop at Malviya Chauraha on Lanka Road got its name. Over the years, the pehelwan lassi transformed into a brand and the six sons of Panna Sardar expanded their business. They now have two more shops, one at Ravidas Chauraha on Lanka Road and another near Assi Ghat.

Pehelwan ki lassi, Pehelwan’s lassi, Pahalwan lassi bhandar or Pehelwan’s sweet lassi and gained popularity too.

To be fair, he says, everybody in Varanasi makes decent lassi. But what sets one apart is the quality of milk and other ingredients. Says his brother Vijay, “Some shop owners have started using synthetic milk and yoghurt, and also blend sugar and curd in a blender to meet rush hour demand. But we don’t use machines at all.”

Nearby village supplies fresh milk and they have their own marking system to check the standard. About 10-litre batches of milk are boiled with a dash of sugar and reduced to eight litres. The thickened and cooled milk is then set with the jaman in huge clay vessels.

Given the shop’s proximity to the Banaras Hindu University, college goers are always hanging out. “Whenever there is an alumni meet at BHU, former students in their sixties and seventies come to our shop and, over lassi, they recall the old days,”

Pehelwan Lassi is a benchmark He says the lassi is a natural and nutrient-dense drink, with no added flavour or preservative but loaded with probiotics, protein, fat and calcium.“The taste remains deliciously same and is better than any ice cream,” adds the general practioner, “You can indulge yourself and burn it also easily!”