Brahmins' Coffee Bar in Bangalore.
Brahmins' Coffee Bar in Bangalore.
Brahmins' Coffee Bar in Bangalore.
Brahmins' Coffee Bar in Bangalore.

What makes Bangalore's darshini cafes so special?


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  • Arabic

Sparkling stainless steel tables, but no chairs to sit on. Swift service, but no waiters. High quality, low pricing. Brief menus, long queues. That's how a visitor to Bangalore would describe the quick-service cafes typical to the South Indian city. To us Bengalureans, it's a darshini, where we get our fill of thick filtered kaapi (coffee in Kannada, the local language), soft fluffy idlis, crispy vadas and crusty masala dosas within half a mile of our home, and priced at less than a dollar.

What are darshinis?

Conceptualised in Bengaluru in the 1980s, darshinis were meant to serve quick and wholesome grub to the city’s always-pressed-for-time working middle class. However, as their popularity grew among locals and tourists alike, so did their number, and currently almost 5,000 darshinis dot the 700-square-kilometre city.

A darshini is a great social leveller. It is perhaps the only eating space where a chief executive and a cobbler can be found sharing a table. “Darshini means you just look at the picture and select the food; there is no language barrier there,” says R Prabhakar, 67, a consultant who is said to have conceptualised darshinis. He is referring to the visual menu on display boards that these cafes are known for.

In 1983, Prabhakar designed Cafe Darshini for his brother-in-law, which is believed to be the first such quick-service eatery in the city. It was sold six years later and morphed into Upahara Darshini, one of the most popular outlets serving South Indian food in Bengaluru even today.

During his trips to South-East Asia and Europe, Prabhakar was impressed with the hygienic self-service fast-food chains he saw there and made up his mind to introduce them in his city with a South Indian flavour.

Accordingly, most darshinis have glass doors for their kitchens, to give a view of the cooking process, primarily to exhibit their high standards of hygiene. Every night, the staff use hot water to clean the counters and steel utensils. Spoons and forks remain simmering in a clean vat of hot water throughout, until picked up by a customer to dig into their idli or vada.

How it became popular

With the success of Cafe Darshini, hundreds of other people interested in the industry came to Prabhakar for help to open their own outlets. "He modified my cooking equipment for efficiency, stressed on keeping the food additive-free and advised me to keep the kitchen bigger than the eating area," says BM Dhananjaya, whose darshini South Thindies is well-known for its variety of dosas. "We work on the economies of scale," says Santosh Prabhakar, R Prabhakar's son, who opened his first darshini – South Kitchen – in 2011, after being privy to hundreds of conversations on the food industry over the years. "It was time someone in our family opened our own darshini," he adds.

Like most others, South Kitchen has just four snacks on the menu, apart from tea and coffee. Idli, vada, khara bhath (a savoury snack prepared with roasted semolina seasoned with spices and vegetables) and kesari baat (a sweet made with semolina, sugar and clarified butter) are staples found in every ­darshini. Sticking to a limited menu keeps the inventory small and ensures no wastage, while the low pricing – Vasudev Adiga's, one of Bangalore's most successful darshini chains, for instance, serves its snacks for 50 rupees (Dh2.5) – is made up for by high volumes resulting in quick profits.

Masala vada at South Thindies
Masala vada at South Thindies

While Prabhakar gave them the darshini format, quick-­service cafes such as Brahmins’ Coffee Bar and SLV Corner Restaurant, have been in existence in Bengaluru since the 1970s. The former is perhaps the oldest in the city, earlier known simply as an “idli hotel”. It started life in January 1965 when Nagesh Rao rented a car garage in Basavanagudi to sell coffee, with buns and pastries outsourced from a city bakery.

Five years later, he added tea, idli, vada, khara bhath and kesari baat to the menu and stopped serving the baked products. Every day – even now – the lentil and rice for the batter are soaked and ground in his home and transported to the cafe where the items are freshly prepared. The concoction for filter coffee is prepared in copper dispensers, and Rao's 87-year-old wife still makes the chutney for the cafe, while one of his sons is always around to oversee the cooking and customers.

Why people love them

Soham Shoney, a food photographer has been doing the rounds of SLV Corner Restaurant in the Basavanagudi neighbourhood since he moved to the city in 2011. “Nothing has changed at SLV in years. The idlis and khara bhath still taste the same,” he says. “And somehow, surprisingly, food is always ready on time.” When the eatery opens at 8am, every item on the menu is available. “I’m never told an item is unavailable because the staff did not arrive on time.”  

Podi idli at Adiga's
Podi idli at Adiga's

Shoney visits a darshini ­whenever he wants to grab a quick meal. “It is the best option for someone who wants hygienic, homestyle food served in three minutes or less,” he says. He loves that he can finish a meal and walk out 10 minutes later.

Quick service aside, a darshini’s success ultimately lies in keeping the quality of its food and service consistently stellar. “A darshini-goer looks for accuracy and consistency in his order,” says Santosh. “Everyone is a connoisseur of our cuisine; after all, they eat the same food at home every single day.”

AIR
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Which honey takes your fancy?

Al Ghaf Honey

The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year

Sidr Honey

The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest

Samar Honey

The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments

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MATCH INFO

South Africa 66 (Tries: De Allende, Nkosi, Reinach (3), Gelant, Steyn, Brits, Willemse; Cons: Jantjies 8) 

Canada 7 (Tries: Heaton; Cons: Nelson)

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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The flights: South African Airways flies from Dubai International Airport with a stop in Johannesburg, with prices starting from around Dh4,000 return. Emirates can get you there with a stop in Lusaka from around Dh4,600 return.
The details: Visas are available for 247 Zambian kwacha or US$20 (Dh73) per person on arrival at Livingstone Airport. Single entry into Victoria Falls for international visitors costs 371 kwacha or $30 (Dh110). Microlight flights are available through Batoka Sky, with 15-minute flights costing 2,265 kwacha (Dh680).
Accommodation: The Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls Hotel by Anantara is an ideal place to stay, within walking distance of the falls and right on the Zambezi River. Rooms here start from 6,635 kwacha (Dh2,398) per night, including breakfast, taxes and Wi-Fi. Water arrivals cost from 587 kwacha (Dh212) per person.

UAE SQUAD

Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Ahmed Raza, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Chirag Suri , Zahoor Khan

India squad for fourth and fifth Tests

Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Shaw, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur, Vihari

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ICC Awards for 2021

MEN

Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)

T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)

ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)

Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)

WOMEN

Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)

ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)

T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)

The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler

Price, base / as tested Dh57,000

Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine

Transmission Six-speed gearbox

Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm

Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km

Naga
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Europe’s rearming plan
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  • Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
  • Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
  • Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
  • Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

if you go

Getting there

Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.

Staying there

On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.

More information: musee-armistice-14-18.fr ; compiegne-tourisme.fr; uk.france.fr

EGYPT SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Ahmed El Shennawy, Mohamed El Shennawy, Mohamed Abou-Gabal, Mahmoud Abdel Rehem "Genesh"
Defenders: Ahmed Elmohamady, Ahmed Hegazi, Omar Gaber, Ali Gazal, Ayman Ahsraf, Mahmoud Hamdy, Baher Elmohamady, Ahmed Ayman Mansour, Mahmoud Alaa, Ahmed Abou-Elfotouh
Midfielders: Walid Soliman, Abdallah El Said, Mohamed Elneny, Tarek Hamed, Mahmoud “Trezeguet” Hassan, Amr Warda, Nabil Emad
Forwards: Ahmed Ali, Mohamed Salah, Marwan Mohsen, Ahmed "Kouka" Hassan.

The biog

Favourite Emirati dish: Fish machboos

Favourite spice: Cumin

Family: mother, three sisters, three brothers and a two-year-old daughter

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

 

 

The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)