Delhi gets adventurous with south Indian food

Restaurants serving hyperlocal and community-specific cuisines from south India are taking over the city's dining scene

- Geetika Sachdev

A few weeks ago, Benne, a darshi-ni-style eatery that opened in Mumbai last year, announced an outpost in Delhi.

The social media post went viral with diners excited to try its benne dosa (butter dosa) and filter coffee.

While the city awaits Benne’s much-hyped debut this December, another south Indian favourite, HOSA, which first made its mark in Goa, opened at One Horizon Centre, Gurugram, just before Diwali. For months, a hoarding at the site teased its arrival, and by the time the doors opened, anticipation had turned into frenzy. Priyanjali Sinha, a Gurugram-based corporate professional, even skipped work one day to have lunch with her family.

“I’ve been to HOSA in Goa multiple times and was eagerly awaiting its opening in Gurugram,” she says, adding that the coconut ice cream with jasmine sorbet is her favourite.

While traditional south Indian staples like idli and dosa have long been popular in Delhi, a new wave is reshaping how the Capital experiences the cuisines from the region. There’s a growing appetite for contemporary, elevated interpretations coupled with a renewed curiosity for community specific and hyperlocal cuisines.

“People are exploring cuisines from across the states, so now they are more aware of flavours and ingredients. We have been witnessing a regional cuisine boom in Delhi, whether Bengali or northeastern food, so it was about time for south Indian cuisine to come into the limelight,” says chef-patron Ruchira Hoon, the founder of Draavin Canteen (formerly Dakshin Canteen), which opened last December in Delhi’s Amar Colony and now has another outlet in Gurugram’s DLF Downtown 2 complex.

The trend gained momentum with ITC Hotels’ Avartana, which opened in Delhi last October and set the tone for refined, sensorial dining. Soon after, Draavin Canteen with their