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Rangoli
Where: Pondy Bazaar, Basement in Saravana Bhavan
What you get: Gujarati and Rajasthani food
 Rangoli, a unit of the renowned Saravana Bhavan chain of hotels, was started in November 2001 and serves authentic Gujarati and Rajasthani food.
The restaurant is open from 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. Its tasteful decor complements the type of food served. Small wonder that the cooks are Gujarati. The only thing which reminded us that we were still in Chennai was the tone of the saxophone playing a popular classical
Carnatic piece!
Rangoli was started by Saravana Bhavan for want of a good eat-out serving authentic Gujarati cuisine.
We went around 8 p.m. and surprisingly did not have any hassles parking. We chose to go with the thali, which is the choice of 90 per cent of the diners here. As we have a dekho at the menu of the day, we realise it would have been wise to have worked up a huge appetite before stepping in.
We were served Jal Jira as the welcome drink and Farsan (starters) - Khaman Dhokla, Bhaat Na Muthia and
Moong Dal
Kachori.
 Saag is Gujarati for gravy and we were served a yummy Masala Batata made of potatoes,
Kaju Kismis Karela (all the bitter gourd haters out there can safely check out this tasty option to the otherwise horror-on-the-taste-buds. Fans of bitter gourd may kindly excuse me), Dudhi Wadi (something like Bajjis made of bottle gourd),
Gujarati Khadi (this is sweet), Dal Dhokli and Dal Bati. What came next was Kathol. By the way, these were side dishes. And don’t close the browser window yet. No harm in reading the rest of the write-up.
We chose to have Thepla and plain rice for the main course. We also had a wide range of accompaniments to choose from, like Wagerunda Mircha (this is the big
chilli used in our Bajjis),
Kachumber (salad), Kajur (dates), coriander chutney and
pickles. Chaas is a delicious north Indian version of buttermilk and a must try.
 This is not filling like the
lassi.
And to finish off, we had a bit of
Gajar Halwa and Shrikhand for dessert.
The thali is priced at Rs 120 plus 2 per cent tax. By the way, this is an unlimited thali but sharing is strictly not allowed! The service is impeccable and fast. The result is an amazing dining experience and the taste of the food shall linger long on your taste buds.
Gujarati food is not fattening at all and is easily digestible. And you definitely won’t find any garlic or
onion in your food. No prizes for guessing that Rangoli is strictly vegetarian.
The only minus point is that your
mobile phones will be out of reach. But sometimes isn’t it cool to engage in one of our most important activities with our mobile phones not going ding-a-ling? Just for a change?
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Chinmayi
Published on
28th April, 2004
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