A s I stood outside one of the centres, I saw two young men order 20 idlis each. They drowned the idlis in sambar, mashed them and downed the mixture. They even went up four times to the counter to get a refill for the sambar. The lady at the counter never hesitated as she served them over and over again.

The diners seemed gratified.

The idlis are checked to make sure they weigh 100 grams each. Sanitary Officer K Vasudevan checks the cleanliness of the premises and also the size of the idlis to make sure they are uniform. "I have nine centres in my area and I manage to check at least six everyday," he says with a smile. He did not see any reason to complain after his inspection.



I walked up to Ravi, an autorickshaw driver, and asked him what he thought of the food. Ravi said he found the idli a bit hard, but people around him disagreed. They all said it was great.

A few of the young men and women said they come to the eatery everyday for breakfast and lunch. "We work nearby and this place is perfect for us. The food is good and it's cheap."

There is a notice prominently displayed announcing that there won't be any takeaways, perhaps to ensure that people don't buy from here and sell elsewhere for a profit.

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