Chettinadu Vilas (Food Truck) - HYD

Location: Gachibowli Road ahead of Wantons and Vodafone on the service road.

Timings:  5PM to 10PM. 

Cost for 2: Rs.300

Taste: 8/10 - The most authentic Chettinadu taste 

Service: 8/10

Ambience: 6/10 - well it is street food.

And the food truck craze is here in HYD! But then India has always been one of the leaders in street food. There is no Indian state which doesn't boast of its special street dish, the taste of which a 5-star hotel can never achieve. It's about the ambience and the fresh preparation that makes street food what it is.

There is now a growing market for food trucks all around the world, especially in the US and UK. That's their street food. Food trucks in India play an essential role of serving street food in probably more hygienic conditions. In HYD, we've so far seen only dosa food trucks and Chettinadu Vilas introduces us to, as the name suggests, the chettinadu cuisine. And it's a good introduction.

Source: Chettinadu Vilas

Run by a Chennai native, Chettinadu Vilas menu mainly consists of idlis and dosai. Both are served with either vegetarian or non-vegetarian curries. If you like your idli or dosai with chicken curry, this is the place to go. When we spoke to the owner, she also mentioned how she employs underprivileged women to work on the dishes' prep at the base kitchen. Yay, woman power!

This is a must try dish on their menu - idlis with chettinadu chicken curry. The bland, soft, Tamil style idlis provide a good base to the spicy, flavourful Chettinadu chicken. Finely chopped chicken pieces are cooked into a gravy with a mix of strong spices, like pepper, cinnamon, cloves, onions and it has the quintessential Chettinadu taste. 

We also tried the idlis with ghee and karam podi. The idlis were roasted with a seasoning of the podi, urad dal and ghee. Though not their star dish, it was good nonetheless. 

For a vegetarian, this would be the dish of the day. Chettinadu Vilas serves one of the better adais I have eaten in recent times. Adai dosa is different and healthier than a regular dosa with the addition of more lentils like bengal gram and toor dal, green chillis and sometimes ginger. Slightly crisp, the adai was prepared thicker than a regular dosai and served with a light layer of butter on top. The salty butter adds an additional complementary dimension to the adai's taste.

We also had the Chettinadu chicken dosai. This is a classic combination and Chettinadu Vilas does it brilliantly. It tastes homemade and isn't too heavy on spices. The same chicken served the idlis above is served here in a dry form.

Another call out is their sambar and chutney. They serve all their dishes with a spicy, flavourful sambar, fresh coconut chutney and a spicy, tangy tomato chutney. They also have mutton curry served with idli and dosai if you love your dosai with mutton. The only thing which would make this meal perfect would be some dessert which we were told is on the cards.

So head over to Chettinadu Vilas for a fix of delicious and spicy Chettinadu fare.

~Vanakam!~