Inside Chennai’s latest all-vegetarian street-food fest

What if your favourite street-style food gets a makeover? Get a glimpse of that at The Great Saiva Festival at Rasanai. The festival is built around South Indian street food, entirely vegetarian, with a section of the menu dedicated to plant-based mock meat and seafood dishes. Now that is either an interesting idea or a gimmick, depending on how well it is executed. We went in ready to find out which.

Great Saiva Festival reimagines South Indian street food with mock meat and soulful classics

The Bunglow saiva meen varuval was the first dish to be tasted in our feast. A plant-based fish substitute marinated in a tangy, spicy masala and pan-fried to a crisp finish, it came close to the flavour and texture of actual fish fry in a way we had not expected. Not identical, but close enough that you stop thinking about the difference and just eat it.

This was followed by the Mock prawn ghee roast, tossed in a buttery ghee roast masala with red chillies and curry leaves. This was perhaps the most ambitious dish, but for us it achieved what it had set out to— to give the prawn flavour, but with a rubbery texture. The ghee roast masala itself was well-made and the flavour profile was recognisably Mangalorean. 

Up next, we were served two cutlets—each different on their own. The Mudhalaali veetu murungaikkai cutlet was well-made, the drumstick filling earthy and rustic inside a crisp golden crust, served with a coconut chutney that was fresh and light. The Kollengode kappa cutlet with kanthari chammanthi featured soft kappa/tapioca inside, which was genuinely good, but we felt that the outer crust had gone considerably crispier. The kanthari chammanthi with its bird’s eye chilli heat was excellent company regardless.

Among the large plates, the Karuppu ulundhang kazhi with mochai kathrikkai kozhambu was perhaps the dish that satisfied our soul the most that day. Consisting of warm and nourishing black urad porridge, beans, and brinjal curry, it felt like it was made by someone’s grandmother when you turned up at their house unannounced for lunch. 

The Mangalore buns with mock chicken gassi was next. The buns themselves, mildly sweet and puffed were excellent. The gassi, a thick coconut-based curry using soya as the mock meat, arrived hot and had a depth that made you want to keep tearing buns to dip into it. 

We ended the afternoon with the pleasing Rose badam kalalandu pongal. Featuring sweet pongal infused with rose and almond, this was fragrant and gently sweet. It is the kind of dessert for people who would rather prefer something warm and mild than something loaded and rich. We were definitely in the former category and loved every spoon of it.

On till September 30. Meal for two: INR 1,900. 12 pm to 3.30 pm and 6.30 pm to 11 pm. At Rasanai, Besant Nagar, Chennai.

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