Experience the pulse of the city at Murugan Idli Shop

Nothing screams ‘Madras’ more than having ‘Idlis at the beach’. It is a city where you can have eggs made your way. You name it and they have it! A place where you get myriad variety of fried and crispy fish, stir-fried shrimps and diced raw mango dusted with red chilli powder.
Sounds like a beach, you say? Spot on! Chennai it is! Chennaites connect themselves to the sea shores more than anything.Edward Elliot’s beach, also known as Bessie beach, has a shoreline covered with glittering golden sand along with varied choice of gastronomic delights that draws thousands of residents on any given day.
While having a stroll on the beach, I came across a south Indian eatery, Murugan Idli Shop. It is a place where no cutlery is available and everyone eats with hands. Here, one can experience the pulse of the city. The experience would be strange yet fruitful. Strange because your hands won’t resist to stop and they will keep transporting scrumptious food to the mouth. At any time of day or night, you are most likely to find long queues outside that extend to the main road. A waiting time of half an hour to 45 minutes at peak times is just normal. Such is the demand!

All food is served on banana leaves and waiters (fondly called as Anna) offer you unlimited quantities of chutney and sambhar, just the way your mother serves you at home. You call the Anna and he will give you an eye boggling list of dishes that get served in the restaurant. To start with, they served us with four kinds of chutneys (coconut, coriander, tomato and mint) on the banana leaf, each of which had a distinct and strong flavour.

The joy of watching sunset at the beach with piping hot idlis in your hand is euphoric. The idlis are soft and one can almost feel the tip of the other finger while pressing the idli from both sides. The highlight of our meal was soft and flavourful salty Paniyarams which were dipped in gunpowder (podi) soaked in ghee. Their Onion Uthapam is a burst of flavours. This savoury delight is a treat and has bits of onions charred to perfection. We washed it down with a chilled glass of their traditional Jigarthanda, which is an interesting concoction of milk, ice cream and sabudana.
To round it off, this quaint little idli shop has an experience of its own. It was just one of those days when I wanted to spend some ‘me’ time, watching sunset and this place did all the justice. Namma Madras!