NEW DELHI: Ayya! It can mean “yes”, “there it is”, or simply a sigh of relief. For a Malayali backpacker emerging from a subway near India Gate, it was all three. A few more steps and there it was — Cafe Kudumbashree, a slice of Kerala hidden in plain sight in the heart of New Delhi.Inside, women chopped vegetables destined for a pressure cooker of sambar. Red coconut chutney stood ready. A tawa warmed up for set dosa. Breakfast was still a few minutes away.Early arrivals were handed cups of tea as they waited inside India Gate’s amenity block, home to eateries from different states. Around them gathered a small crowd of young travellers from Kerala on their way to Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Nepal.For many, this women-run cafe is first pit stop before heading to the hills.“This is my third visit to the cafe,” said Mohammad Inaam, a college student from Kannur. He was on his way to Nepal with two other Malayali youths he met on a train to Delhi. Earlier stopovers came during trips to Kashmir and Spiti.Space for the cafe has been allotted to Kerala govt. It is registered in the name of Karmile Surendran, 52, better known as Leena chechi, who runs it with a band of women from Kudumbashree, one of the world’s largest women-led self-help and community networks.For Leena, once a homemaker confined to bed after a spinal injury caused by a fall at her home in Kasaragod’s Madikai grama panchayat a decade ago, running a cafe in Lutyens’ Delhi is a recipe for empowerment.“I was always interested in cooking, followed my mother’s recipes, and after slowly recovering, attended training sessions at Kudumbashree,” she said. “I could support my husband to build a house and educate my son, who now works in Noida.”“I, along with a group of women, did catering at a fair in Thiruvananthapuram. Then attended Saras fairs in different cities across the country,” Leena said. The Delhi outlet is Kudumbashree’s first such initiative outside Kerala.For impatient diners, spicy chutney and spongy dosa arrive before sambar. At lunch, sambar returns alongside red matta rice, cabbage thoran, raita, papadam and pickle for Rs 80. Non-vegetarians can tuck into fish fry or fish curry for Rs 80, or a ghee rice-chicken curry combo for Rs 200.By evening, it is time for chaya and kadi. Trays fill up with unniyappam, nei appam, kozhukatta, ela ada, pazhampori, vettu cake, uzhunnu vada and paruppu vada.As dusk settles over India Gate, parotta, puttu, masala dosa and vellayappam share plates with vegetable stew or chicken curry.“Despite space constraints and induction cooking, we prepare everything fresh. We do not use artificial colour or flavouring. We cook the way we do at home,” Leena said.Her bucket list still has one trip waiting — Manali with family. For thousands passing through Delhi on journeys north, though, Cafe Kudumbashree has already arrived at destination. One hot meal. One familiar flavour. One heartfelt “Ayya!”
