These Coimbatore organic stores also serve millet and heritage rice-based meals

Experience millet and heritage rice based meals inside organic stores at these places in Coimbatore

A shopper browses through a rack in which rice and millets are stacked in neat rows; a cooker whistle goes off in the kitchen at the back, while diners start walking in to seat themselves at the short tables for a millet-heavy meal. There is a lot happening towards lunch time at Nattrinai Thaenthinai at Kurumbapalayam, an organic store with a restaurant inside its premises. Nattrinai, started by three partners eleven years ago, now has two branches in the city. The store sources organic produce from marginal farmers in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. “Four years ago, we decided to open our own restaurant inside our shop,” says T Senthil Kumar, one of the founders, who is also a farmer.

The idea, according to him, is to offer simple, millet and heritage-rice based meals that are healthy, as well as drive home the concept of going back to our roots. “We came up with the combo meal idea after a lot of trial and error,” explains Senthil, as our lunch thaali arrives. “Initially, we did suffer setbacks since people were not used to consuming millets in the place of rice,” he adds.

Their solution: mushroom biryani made with heritage rice such as iluppai poo samba, Sivan samba and seeraga samba. “We realised we had to offer rice in some form,” he points out, adding that this worked to their favour. On our plate that day is ragi kali with tomato curry and peanut chutney, mushroom biryani made of fragrant iluppai poo samba, kuthiraivaali sambar and rasam rice, arasanikkai poriyal, thooyamalli curd rice, a crispy paruppu vadai, and laddoo for dessert. The starter is a pepper-heavy soup made of mudavattukal, a tuber sourced from Kolli hills, said to have medicinal properties.

The meal is mild and balanced, with the mushroom biryani being the highlight. “People are not used to mixing millets with sambar and rasam like they do with rice, which is why we chose to offer them in the present form,” explains Senthil, adding that people are warming up to their offering, especially over the past six months.

“We did have the fear of failure in our initial months,” Senthil says. “For instance, it is easier to stop at a bakery for an egg puff than look for a place that serves a healthy alternative made of organic ingredients.” They also had to price their meals competitively, despite using premium ingredients.

Thaenthinai also has a range of sweets and savouries. “We make them in small batches at our farm,” Senthil explains, as we try their sticky wheat halwa sweetened with country sugar. The dessert comes in cute areca leaf cups and can be had on the go. But their nattu sakkarai ragi brownies win us over more than anything. The brownies are the perfect balance of the nutty flavour of the country sugar and the slightly bitter dark chocolate.

The restaurant is open for breakfast (8am to 10am), lunch (noon to 3pm), evening snacks and dinner (6pm to 9pm). A meal for two costs approximately ₹300. It is located at Sai granites building, Sathy Road, opp. Kumaran hospital, Kurumbapalayam SS Kulam and 95/E, Sathy Main Road, Saravanampatti. For details, call 9842244133.