Savour South Indian delicacies at this restaurant named after a hill station

Finding a restaurant that promises to serve authentic South Indian food is quite easy these days. But a diner that does serve the proper food of the land is not easy to find these days. Among the very few places in Chennai that do offer some of the state's staple dishes is the newly opened Yercaud Kitchen.

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Food historian and chef Shri Bala, who runs the place, said she had to open a restaurant due to pressure from friends and customers (of her cloud kitchen) alike. But she is glad that she did, for the place is witnessing quite a lot of footfalls without much advertisement. Word-of-mouth is the best way, eh?

When one enters the restaurant, there isn't much that puts them in awe. The décor is good, and that is about it. The diner can seat up to around 50 at any given time, which isn't huge. But once we began tasting the dishes, we understood that the current setup of the restaurant does not do justice to the food that is served there.

First up, we were given the Vada Chennai Era Thokku. A dish that contained tender, juicy prawns that were cooked to perfection and not doused in a curry. More specifically, the thokku does not contain garam masala, for the chef wanted the flavour of the prawns to come out.

Then we got something called Apollo Chicken. Nope, this dish has nothing to do with the chain of hospitals but is a very famous street food from Hyderabad. Having not added any colouring agent, the chef has used her own spices, and the meat was cooked in such a way that it melted in our mouths.

While we still hadn't gotten past just how delicious the chicken was, the chef gave us the Vanjaram Varuval. This is a dish every South Indian grows up eating and is quite commonly made in most households. Yet, the fish fry at Yercaud Kitchen was something else. The fish was crispy because rice flour was added to the meat along with a masala made using clove and fennel seeds. Here too, garam masala was given a pass!

Thus far, the dishes have been quite impressive, and we couldn't help but notice that all the plates had banana leaves cut to shape, and the dishes that were served were also on bowls and plates containing banana leaves. However, nothing compares to how banana leaf is used to make and serve the Chicken Kizhi Parotta.

First up, the server cuts open the leaf for the diner, and as it opens like a flower petal, hot steam comes out, an indication that one shouldn't simply dig in unless they want their fingers burned. As the heat settles, one has to pour the salna (made with bone stock, tomato puree, coconut, and sesame seeds) over the dish that contains two layers of parotta with chicken curry on the inside and on top. To top it off, there are some roasted onions and ground nuts, a sprinkle of sesame seeds, and a dash of coconut oil.

Sounds tasty? To be honest, it was delicious! Not bothering about the aftermath of working our way through a very hot dish, we began eating and forgot to think about anything else until the plate was empty, pausing only to take miniscule breaks to enjoy the well-cooked chicken provided in the dish in isolation.

By this time, we had no space in our tummies to try the Yercaud Dora Curry, a British-Tamil food that was created as an aphrodisiac! And it is the signature dish of the restaurant, which is why the place has been named Yercaud Kitchen as well. One can also find Mysore Masala Dosai, or proper meals, among other things, at the restaurant as well.

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The perfect idiom that is apt for this place would be that it is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Filter coffee, anybody?

INR 400. 7 am to 10 pm. At Indra Nagar, Adyar.