Traditional Thali in Talamali Cafe, set in the hills of the corap of the local tastes of food. | Photo Credit: Kr Deepak
At the base of Talamali, as soon as the descent ends and the tree cover retreats to agricultural soil, the low wooden board announces the presence of the Talamali café. There are no banners, no flags on the road, only the board nailed to the pillar next to the bend in the trail. The café itself sits a few meters outside the border, built with a trained roof, local woods and mud walls. It opens to a slowly moving current, with a modest seating area that looks at the field bounded by low hills.
Talamali Cafe, which started in January in collaboration with Gocampify, is the only place in the area that serves meals of parallel. It currently offers Thali, which reflects local cooking without rebuilding for external preferences.
Talamali Cafe, set in the hills of a corap of the local taste of food. | Photo Credit: Kr Deepak
When I came here in the afternoon, the kitchen just started lunch. I was served by the Neketarian Thali, who was direct but carefully prepared in the presentation. It included a bowl of Turkish, rice from the native hill variety, fresh, fried bitter gourd, Brahmi saag (locally grown green leafy vegetables) slightly cooked with mustard and home specialty, ragi chicken – food that is not commonly found outside of tribal households. The chicken is boiled with garlic, green chili and ragi flour and creates a dark, strong sauce that settles in the grain. The board was rounded to a sweet porridge made of small millet, unadorned and not too sweet.
Breakfast runs from 8:00 to 10:00 and offers are built exclusively around ragi, district grain. Ragi Idli, Ragi Dosa, Ragi Puri and Ragi UPMA form a morning menu. Everything is made without an object or factory flour. What is cooked depends on the daily availability and preparation of the two main cooks of the kitchen, local women who worked long before the café existed.
“We are here on three acres,” says Chandan Choudhury, founder of the café. “The current indicates one limit and on the other hand we now grow vegetables.” Chandan explains that they intentionally maintained sitting sparsely. Some chairs and tables are under the thatch roof and several tables placed along the river for those who prefer food in the fresh air.
In addition to food, the café began offering traditional tribal clothing for rent. The culmination of the collection is Kerang, two-piece textiles in off-white and Orange, woven decades ago. “It’s been about fifty years,” Choudhury said, carefully lifting the fabric. “Only a few wear it.”
The construction began on three tribal cottages and two container rooms, which are expected by the end of the year. Meanwhile, the café is running with eight -member employees, with all locals, without ambitions to spread beyond what the space can hold.
Published – 27th June 2025 10:54
