Just right for the rains

A hot cup of tea and some crispy freshly-fried pakodas with spicy chutney on a rainy day? That is a classic combination! If you want to treat yourself with some delicious ‘pakodas’ and ‘bhajjis’ not just this monsoon season but throughout the year, Indy HOP popularly known as the Indian House of Pakodas, located in a cosy lane in seventh block Koramangala, is the ideal place to be. This place offers 25 varieties of ‘pakodas’ and fritters, with a twist in the taste. It is a venture by three partners Arun Patre, Muralidhar S and Vikram Surendranath who met at a forum called TIE Bengaluru, a hub for all the start-up companies.

Says Arun,  “There is a lot of love and craving for ‘pakodas’ but it is mainly available in the street-side shops. Not  all varieties available. We saw this gap and understood that it can easily be filled by creating a brand which stands for all varieties of ‘pakodas’ in consistent taste.”
    The crowd that comes in is diverse as ‘pakoda’ is a snack that caters to all age groups. “Our menu has a mix of both new and traditional varieties. It is primarily addressing a large array of people — grandparents, parents, youngsters, office-goers, including the expats. The unique thing that pulls the crowd in is that we have a ‘pakoda’ house and that we have given the street style a name, a class, a set-up and variety,” he adds. 

Jalapeno cheese poppers and the classic onion ‘pakodas’ are the most popular bites here.
 The menu is aesthetically categorised into ‘popular’ which include jalapeno cheese poppers, jodphuri mirchi vada, punjabi paneer pakoda, Gujarati methi na gota, dilli ka bread pakoda, mushroom fritters, palak pakoda, hara bhara pakoda, ‘classics’  which include aloo bonda, chilli bhajji, onion pakoda, masala vada, gobi pakoda, marinated raw banana which are collections from South India, ‘exotics’ like Ferrero Rocher chocolate fritter, beer battered onion rings, pin wheel samosa, tomato cheese, zucchini cheese, mozzarella poppers, crispy honey chilli, paneer coated baby corn with ‘soups and beverages’. The owners wanted to establish ‘pakodas’ as an Indian brand and term it ‘Nostalgia’ food.

   He explains, “This is because pakoda is a 2000-year-old snack in India, and most of them seem to have forgotten about it because of the manner at which it is being sold at this point. We want to restore it. We have given a lot a twists to ‘pakodas’. We have Ferrero Rocher chocolate bonda, which falls in the exotic category and it is well appreciated by everyone.”

They have a few interesting varieties with ‘pav’ and wraps that go well with lunch or late dinner, with the three new flavours — ‘hara bhara pakodas’, that has seven different vegetables as stuffing; mirchi vada; and the classic aloo bonda with pav.
 
    Arun recalls, “Each time there is a downpour, there is a downpour of customers too. We have just started delivering and we have noticed that with the present weather, most people want to have house parties, and ‘pakodas’ are just right for the occasion. We are also toying around with the idea of delivering personal fryers. So if someone is having a party, we can have a fryer sent so that the food is served fresh and hot. We use deep fat fryers instead of ‘kadai’ as it gives a lot of consistency in temperature, taste and texture.”
For a rainy day or a quick bite, delicious ‘pakodas’ and ‘bhajjis’ with a cup of hot tea or coffee surely gives you a nostalgic feel.