My food hunt in Mangalore continues and city has lot to
offer in terms of food. After laying my hands on sumptuous South Indian
breakfast in the morning at Woodlands was trying to figure out where I can get
authentic Mangalorean South Indian Veg thali. In Managalorean thali Fish is an
indispensable part but being a pure vegetarian it was challenge for me to find
out Thali cuisine which has original flavors of Mangalore and which is veg.
Just in our epics it is mentioned that to get “Amrita” from Ocean there was a
competition between Devas and Asuras for churning the ocean to establish the
supremacy and while churning process was on total 14 ratnas came out of the
ocean. In the same way I also churned the coastal city of Mangalore for some
pure veg thali restaurant and my search ended when I found out Sagar Ratna.
Sagar Ratna which is a part of Ocean Pearl Hotels in Mangalore is a
member of "Sagar Ratna" chain of veg restaurants admired and popular
for its authentic cuisine, service and value for money pricing. A section of
“Sagar Ratna” menu is influenced by Mangalore’s famous food fare.
We reached there around 1 pm and wanted have some good veg lunch with
Mangalorean flavors. The restaurant was crowded with people but we got the
seats in just 5 min. It has a spacious dining hall with chairs and tables placed for dining. Also
there are some sofas placed for large family gathering. Ambience is quite decent and interiors are well
designed. We settled ourself and just had quick glance at menu card and saw many interesting South Indian items
which they serve along with Punjabi cuisine. But as you are in South India you
should try to stick to the local food and hence we ordered South Indian thali
to satiate my strong cravings for the same.
Our order was served in 10 min and service was quite quick and staff was
also friendly. It went on like this:
Tomato Soup: They served first tomato soup. Soup was good in taste and
similar to Tomato soup which we get in other restaurants with bread crumbs
dunked in.
Now comes a Big Round South Indian thali consisting of around 10 bowls
placed in it and two big rotis made of Wheat flour(Maida is not used here which
was good thing). The bowls consisted of following items:
Sambhar: Sambhar served was having thick consistency and hint of
sweetness as small amount of jaggery is added while preparing it. It had all
boiled veggies perfectly cooked like pumpkin, drumstick, tomatoes, onions,
potatoes, beans, Sambhar cucumber and the flavors of these veggies and south
indian spices were perfectly blended in Sambhar making it truly aromatic.
Rasam: Rasam which also has an important place in South Indian thali is
similar to Sambhar but has fluid like consistency and all together a unique
taste. Rasam was sour in taste due to strong base of tamarind juice and also
had veggies like tomatoes, chilies, pepper, cumin seeds. Here in Mangalore they
use yellow cucumber which adds to the flavor. It was served hot and was eaten
along with rice and as a soup.
Ajethna: Ajethna is a dry curry served in Mangalorean thali which
consists of vegetables like bottle gourd, beet root, Padwal(Snake gourd), French
beans and prepared in coconut oil. The tadka is given to curry using mustard
seeds and dry red chilies and also a hint of turmeric is added to it. It was
also too good in taste.
Chitranna: Chitranna is spiced rice and is like a pulav which we get
here. But interesting part to know is that it is totally different from Pulav
as in Chitranna they don’t add any
veggies and it is seasoned with mustard seeds, cumin seeds , unripe mango
pieces, cloves, cinnamon. It was quite delicious. Don’t mix sambhar or rasam if you want to
enjoy its true flavors. Eat it as it is.
Mixed Veg Saagu: Mixed Veg Saagu is nothing but mixed veg curry prepared
in South Indian style. Normally in Karnataka people eat this Saagu along with
Puris for breakfast. Saagu consisted of veggies like potatoes, carrots, French
beans, Chayote(Belonging to Gourd family). I was under impression for some time
that it is Bottle gourd(Dudhi) which is
used but when I asked the waiter about its preparation and stuff used in it he
named the vegetable as chayote. I had this first time and also searched on
google out of my enthusiasm if I could find its pic. I have attached a pic of
this vegetable taken from google. Many of my foodie friends might be aware of
the same and can tell me its local name. Well the gravy for this Saagu is
prepared using grated coconuts, tamarind juice, chilies, coriander leaves,
ginger. Also tadka is given using hint of asafoetida, curry leaves, mustard
seeds. It was something different which I tried and relished it to full.
Niger Seeds chutney: Niger seeds chutney is dry chutney similar to black sesame
seeds. It was served by mixing some oil in it. It is called as “Karala chi
chutney” in Marathi. Very popular in Konkan region and we have this in our
diet. If anyone has some details about it can share as my knowledge is very
limited about it.
Pickle: Raw Mango Pickle was served
Curd: Fresh curd with thick consistency was served for having it along
with Rice.
Buttermilk or Chhas: Masala Chhas was served in one bowl to have it after
meals. It was seasoned with chopped green chilies, grated ginger, cumin seeds
and coriander leaves.
Yellow Dal: Simple Yellow dal which we get at any other restaurants to be
eaten with Rice. Nothing special in it and good in taste.
Payasam: No South Indian meal is complete unless you indulge into a sweet
Payasam giving sweet treat to your taste buds. Payasam is South Indian version
of Kheer but is different from Kheer. It is prepared in almost all South Indian
households during festivals and also served as Prasad in many temples of south
India. There are many variants of Payasam available in traditional cuisines of
Dakshin. Here we laid our hands on Rice Payasam. It is basically rice cooked in
milk, coconut to render thick
consistency and sweetened with jaggery with hearty addition of nuts, zing of
cardamom. It was awesome in taste and not oversweet.
Rice Bowl: A big bowl of Rice was served once you finish with rotis. Here
you get an option to have Boiled Rice or White Rice. White rice is similar to
usual rice which we have daily but Boiled rice is the unpolished rice with big
grain. It is considered a healthy version of rice and we had Boiled rice along
with Sambhar, Rasam and some rice we had it with curd.( Pic is missing)
Last but not the least in Dessert they had Gulab Jamuns and Vanilla Ice
cream in the list for Thali option. We opted for Vanilla Ice cream and finished
our lunch.
Overall a memorable dining experience and we were almost full. Sagar
Ratna is truly a “Ratna” which serves authentic Mangalorean Pure Veg cuisine
and to add feather to the crown it is
very pocket friendly restaurant. The thali which we ordered cost us just
Rs.125/- per head.
Highly recommended if you are in Mangalore.
Sam’s Report Card:
Taste: 9/10
Ambience: 8/10
Service: 9/10
VFM: 10/10
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