Baja: A timely snack
Baja is the hottest selling snack of Venkateswara restaurant at Cherlai Junction, in Mattancherry. It has made this place the favourite hangout of all, be it youngsters or the elderly. This unique snack is available only in Mattancherry..
IT WAS 9 am. The location was Venkateswara restaurant at Cherlai Junction in Mattancherry. Two youngsters aged 21 walked into the restaurant. "One plate baja," they ordered. A 68-year-old waiter placed hot baja before them. Within seconds, they again sought one more plate. And went with a parcel of Rs 30 of the same. This is a usual scene in this hotel for the last 20 years. Don’t think that baja is the only dish available here. But it is the ‘hottest’ selling product of this place.
"Yes, this is a unique snack, available only in Mattancherry. Most of the people residing here prefer baja when they come here. We are also happy that we can deliver their favourite dish according to their demand," says N Nagedran Naik, owner of the restaurant.
Here one plate baja costs Rs 6 and a kg of it is for Rs 150. Customers can experience different flavours of pickles with baja each day. One day it will be mango, next day lemon, and the list goes on. The shop opens at 6 am and closes at 9 pm.Ingredients
Onion, Green chilli, ginger, maida, kadala flour and curry leaves etc.Rush timeDuring weekends and holidays, the hotel will be house-ful as families also come for having baja. "Usually, youngsters and oldies constitute 95 per cent of the business daily. But during the weekends, families have a field day and they take control. Often, baja gets finished before our scheduled time," says 82-year-old Naik."Baja is a timely snack. Even after taking masala dosa and chappathi, we will take baja. During weekends, I come here with my family to taste baja," says 37-year-old Prakash Pai, a staff in Indiainfoline.Vishal, a college student who takes baja from here says, "Along with my friends, I come here and take baja. And this is our favourite hangout. Actually, some of my friends were reluctant to take it initially.Now, they order more than me."Another popular snackIn addition to baja, the restaurant serves ‘chembilla appam’, a typical Konkani style snack. "Appam is the second most popular item after baja here. But it is served only on weekends after 3 pm, as its preparation takes a lot of time," says Naik.
For one piece of appam it costs Rs 6 and for 700 gms it is Rs 30. Only during the Karkida month (the Malayalam month of rejuvenating body and health) people get a chance to taste chembilla appam for 31 days.
"Yes, only during that one month we get chembilla leaves in abundance. The iron content in this food in high," says Naik.
IngredientsRice, mustard, tamarind, asafoetida, coconut, chillies and salt are the ingredients.
It takes two hours for preparing the appam after mixing the ingredients.
Orders from outside KeralaOften, both baja and chembilla appam get orders from Chennai and Bangalore. "During special occasions, we receive orders for both in Mattancherry and from outside Kerala," says Naik.
Secret behind successful business?Naik laughs. "It was the hard work and commitment, which paid dividends for me. Actually, till two years ago I myself used to prepare baja. But as my age has advanced I am now guiding others in the hotel."
Hailing from a remote place in Thuravoor, Naik along with his father shifted to Mattancherry during 1926 for pappad business. "But the business was a damp-squib. So, to survive I started selling tea and snacks in a push-cart. It continued for 18 years. With the grace of Lord Venkitachalapathy (the presiding deity of the Tirumala Devaswom Temple at Cherlai), I started this hotel and business flourished," says an elated Naik. There are three employees in this hotel.
IT WAS 9 am. The location was Venkateswara restaurant at Cherlai Junction in Mattancherry. Two youngsters aged 21 walked into the restaurant. "One plate baja," they ordered. A 68-year-old waiter placed hot baja before them. Within seconds, they again sought one more plate. And went with a parcel of Rs 30 of the same. This is a usual scene in this hotel for the last 20 years. Don’t think that baja is the only dish available here. But it is the ‘hottest’ selling product of this place.
"Yes, this is a unique snack, available only in Mattancherry. Most of the people residing here prefer baja when they come here. We are also happy that we can deliver their favourite dish according to their demand," says N Nagedran Naik, owner of the restaurant.
Here one plate baja costs Rs 6 and a kg of it is for Rs 150. Customers can experience different flavours of pickles with baja each day. One day it will be mango, next day lemon, and the list goes on. The shop opens at 6 am and closes at 9 pm.Ingredients
Onion, Green chilli, ginger, maida, kadala flour and curry leaves etc.Rush timeDuring weekends and holidays, the hotel will be house-ful as families also come for having baja. "Usually, youngsters and oldies constitute 95 per cent of the business daily. But during the weekends, families have a field day and they take control. Often, baja gets finished before our scheduled time," says 82-year-old Naik."Baja is a timely snack. Even after taking masala dosa and chappathi, we will take baja. During weekends, I come here with my family to taste baja," says 37-year-old Prakash Pai, a staff in Indiainfoline.Vishal, a college student who takes baja from here says, "Along with my friends, I come here and take baja. And this is our favourite hangout. Actually, some of my friends were reluctant to take it initially.Now, they order more than me."Another popular snackIn addition to baja, the restaurant serves ‘chembilla appam’, a typical Konkani style snack. "Appam is the second most popular item after baja here. But it is served only on weekends after 3 pm, as its preparation takes a lot of time," says Naik.
For one piece of appam it costs Rs 6 and for 700 gms it is Rs 30. Only during the Karkida month (the Malayalam month of rejuvenating body and health) people get a chance to taste chembilla appam for 31 days.
"Yes, only during that one month we get chembilla leaves in abundance. The iron content in this food in high," says Naik.
IngredientsRice, mustard, tamarind, asafoetida, coconut, chillies and salt are the ingredients.
It takes two hours for preparing the appam after mixing the ingredients.
Orders from outside KeralaOften, both baja and chembilla appam get orders from Chennai and Bangalore. "During special occasions, we receive orders for both in Mattancherry and from outside Kerala," says Naik.
Secret behind successful business?Naik laughs. "It was the hard work and commitment, which paid dividends for me. Actually, till two years ago I myself used to prepare baja. But as my age has advanced I am now guiding others in the hotel."
Hailing from a remote place in Thuravoor, Naik along with his father shifted to Mattancherry during 1926 for pappad business. "But the business was a damp-squib. So, to survive I started selling tea and snacks in a push-cart. It continued for 18 years. With the grace of Lord Venkitachalapathy (the presiding deity of the Tirumala Devaswom Temple at Cherlai), I started this hotel and business flourished," says an elated Naik. There are three employees in this hotel.
2 comments:
WOW! I would love to try that dish!
Not only Baja, many dish can
be found in the same location
as a variety of the community are spread over this areas for example Konkani to Jews.
Sumesh.s.shetty
cochin
Post a Comment