Lunch: 60 Rupees

This is one of my favorite lunches. There is a chain of "hotels" (aka resturants) here in Chennai... Saravana Bhavan... according to their napkin (which is unusual here in Chennai) they have many branches - ALL OVER THE WORLD!! yes, I can't wait to get to Atlanta - there's even one there... but I'm betting I can't get this dish for 60 rupees. (that's about $1.50 & includes the drink!) It's called Masala Dosa. A crispy, yet delicate dosa (rice flour crepe like thing) with a potato mixture (masala) and yummy sambar (soupy like stuff) and flavored chutneys (coconut, cilantro and hmmm, don't know the third one, but it tastes good) Any way - I really like stopping there when I go to Spencer's Plaza. It's an intense "shopping mall" complete with the ultimate maze of phases and levels, with hundreds of 10 foot garage sized cubbies packed with "high quality" "good priced" "nice for you" "special for you" "unique to India" items. Topped only by bargaining. Friends go first in the safety of numbers. Not becuase it is a dangerous place, just overwhelming and maze like. So I go, enjoy the excitement. Know I could have gotten the price lowered but my bag is full of "Indian" crafts & goodies. Then I have lunch. Complete with a "sweet lime juice". Oh but, I avoid the mystery water in the tin cup, though! Ah, yet another memory of India.