HOMELY CAFE

Panchali recreates her childhood at Oor with family recipes and some heirloom artefacts

- Shruti Pandit

For Panchali, the owner of the recently opened Oor, this restaurant was recreating her childhood. "Oor or Ooru means a village in Kannada/Tulu," she explains. "My sister and I wanted to do something that would recreate the magic of our childhood memories of mother and grandmother with the same kind of food. Therefore, Oor, and therefore the menu.

The menu of Oor is nothing elaborate. Few dishes are native to Karnataka’s interiors. I start with the staple — plain, simple, steamed idlis. It comes with sambar, coconut chutney, and a tomato chutney. The condiments are super tasty. What I really like is the size of drumstick pieces. They are small enough to fit the spoons, helping the fusspots ‘not-to-use’ hands while eating. Sambar is different from other Udipi restaurants. And that’s not surprising since Panchali has stuck to her family recipes. Idlis could have been fluffier.