It is said that if a product is good, and things are kept honest, it will fly no matter what. Bangalore, is the land of converting challenges into opportunities. Also known as apps. Is the traffic terrible? No problem, we will get stuff at your doorstep. Food, groceries, even food from outside Bangalore for those who whine incessantly about missing something 1000km away. Photocopies, passport size photos, medicines, even blood sample collection for testing, you name it, it will probably be delivered to your doorstep with the convenience of an app.
What does this have to do with thindi? Well, Bangalore, with all its top notch scene, has a somewhat low density of places that sell a Davengere style girmit with mirchi. The only area with an abundance of this quintessential Uttara Karnataka style snack is namma Vijayanagara.
In 2008, a small store started selling girmit with mirchi bajji, along with other delicacies like operation bajji, nargees mandakki etc. They became quite successful, so they ended up opening 2-3 more outlets in Vijayanagara itself. They have named the store after the year in which the shop was established. The first outlet is called Daangere mirchi masala 2008. There is a branch in Attiguppe, Chandra layout main road opened in 2009, Nagarbhavi main road in 2014, and recently, in Rajajinagara.
They open at 5pm everyday. And the vicinity smells of the nutty aroma from frying and toasting the kadale hittu (gram flour). The roasted kadale hittu is a key ingredient that goes into the spice mix and oggarane (tempering) to be mixed with the dry mandakki, and of course, for deep frying the mirchi bajjis. The taste is great. Good hit of garlic, balance of heat, fully savoury, loaded with umami, and the punch from mirchi bajji made with thin, hotter chilies.
{{/usCountry}}They open at 5pm everyday. And the vicinity smells of the nutty aroma from frying and toasting the kadale hittu (gram flour). The roasted kadale hittu is a key ingredient that goes into the spice mix and oggarane (tempering) to be mixed with the dry mandakki, and of course, for deep frying the mirchi bajjis. The taste is great. Good hit of garlic, balance of heat, fully savoury, loaded with umami, and the punch from mirchi bajji made with thin, hotter chilies.
{{/usCountry}}Absolute bliss. It goes really well with any kind of weather. Karnataka’s evening snack scene is multi dimensional, and it is good to get your hands on this relatively rarer item. If you’re in any of these neighbourhoods, do give it a try!
(Ajit Bhaskar, a researcher with a multinational, is famous in Bengaluru for his Thindi (food) runs. He will profile one of his preferred (or newly discovered) haunts for HT every week)