While most of Mylapore is still asleep, the aroma of wood-fired cooking wafts down Nattu Muthu Kumarappan Street.
These days, at 3 a.m., Raju is already hard at work – he is preparing koozh and buttermilk which sells fast at summertime.
Tucked between a row of shops opposite the Aavin booth on West Circular Road, Mandavelipakkam, Sri Foods Saiva Unavagam is Raju’s food joint.
By 6 a.m., the stall is ready to serve koozh, palaya sadam ( cooked rice soaked/fermented in water overnight) and seasoned) and buttermilk. The koozh is a gruel made from millet and the spiced buttermilk is much in demand here.
Raju says the food is sold out by 11 a.m. The joint also offers rice dishes like avarakkai rice, keerai rice and vazhathandu rice, alongside staple favorites like lemon rice, tomato rice and vegetable biryani. The rice packs are priced between Rs 30 and Rs 40.
Says Raju,“This is the kind of food we offer. Simple, seasonal, and sacred,” says Raju. “I wanted to cook and offer food which we have forgotten. Our food isn’t fancy, but it is healthy.”
- Report by Akshita K., a Mylapore Times Journalism course student
