Culinary Debauchery

After about 16 months away from home, I can honestly say that one of the biggest things I miss is home food! make no mistake about it, Indian food is as fantastic as it can get. Nowhere else can you find so much diversity, such an explosion of flavors and so much excitement all packed into food.

I have to owe it to my ancestors for making food and the process of cooking food such an important part of life. Unlike the west that relies heavily on precooked, microwavable, food doused in preservatives and sodium, primarily aimed at minimizing time to make more time for work, Indians actually took time to cook.

Being a hotelier's son, I have grown up shamelessly making full use of the privileges that came along with it. Starting with standing on the chairs of Nalpak demanding to see the manager (who happened to be my dad) to attacking the menu from all directions at Heritage Inn while dialing "21" for room service, I have a past that I am proud of... After a while, I was inducted as a guest of honor at my dad's hotel. This allowed me 24hr access to the kitchens. Room service was gracious enough to relieve me of the pains I was taking to pick up the phone and order food. Instead THEY would call me at appropriate intervals informing me of the day's specials and would ask me what I would like to have for breakfast/lunch/dinner. A typical day seldom went without a hot starter, a lavish spread, a drink to wash it down with and a dessert to cool it off. All while watching TV on a 52" screen in the hotel's best suite. Life was indeed tough.

I remember reading at a Hyderabadi food restaurant in Bangalore while waiting for my order that even when the Hyderabadi nawabs went into war, it did not deter womenfolk from upholding the sanctity of the fine quality of Hyderabadi cuisine. They would painstakingly make food and risk their lives to deliver it to ensure that the warriors that went into the battlefield had a rich, well deserved dosage of fat so that that can endure the hellish nightmare that lay ahead. This meant that there was a lot of ghee, oil and butter in the cooking of biryanis, goshts, kababs, haleems, firnees and so forth. Since I've always taken a fair share of blame for my high sugar intake, I have to unabashedly admit that what I liked best in the Hyderabadi Restaurant was both the Qurbani ka meetha and the Dabal Ka Meetha. The former, Qurbani, is Urdu for apricot. What you get after the apricots are prepared with vanilla essence and cream is a chilled greasy serving of heaven. For those health freaks who could do with a few pounds off their conscience, apricots are proven to fight cancer. The latter is an eggless bread pudding that is fished out of a concoction of sugar syrup and thickened milk. To top it off, it is garnished with dry fruits and nuts.

Having bored you with nawabi history, I'm tempted to make a list of the very best of the best, a list with ruthless disregard to second best. An important criteria that I have observed is the maintenance of consistency over the years. Having lived all of my formative years in Mysore and five years in Bangalore and one and a half years in Washington, DC, you could say that the scope of my experience is limited. But heck, I have eaten outside of Karnataka and my two cents is that as a true son of the soil I swear by Kannadiga food as the best there is.

Aloo Bonda - Gaadi on 14th main, Saraswathipuram, Mysore

Akki rotti - Halli Mane, Food Street - V.V. Puram

Badam Halwa - Hotel Chalukya, Bangalore

Bele - Shivanna, Mavalli

Breakfast Burritos - Penny Cluse, Vermont

Burger - Downtown, Mysore

Cake - Yes, I'm being generic - Just Bake, Vasanth Nagar, Bangalore (Try their German chocolate cake)

Capsicum Bajji - Food Street and Gaadi Near Channel 9, 7th block.

Dahi Vade - Adigas Food Line, Jayanagar, Bangalore.

Egg Chilly - Mojos, Bangalore

Empanadas - Panas - Washington, DC

Falafels - Amsterdam Falafels, Washington, DC

Gulab Jamoon - Rasika, Washington, DC (Sadly! the best Jamoon ever was in the US!)

Idli - Veena Stores, Malleshwaram and anonymous place in Jayanagar, Mysore

Jolada Rotti Oota - Kamath

Kulfi - Bowring

Makki di roti + Sarsoon da saag - Jwala K.D. Road, Mysore (Really, you can try anything Punjabi here, its quite fantastic)

Masale Dose - CTR, Udupi Krishna Bhavan, gadi opp. shree rama vidyalaya (Saagu masala dosa - Hotel Janardhan), Sadly Vidyarthi Bhavan didn't make the cut!

Masala puri - Karnataka Chat, Chamrajpete

"Meals" - MTR

Momos - Tibetan Market, Church St. Bangalore

Panchamrutha - Rayar matha

Pani Puri - Street Vendor next to Shree Raj Lassi Bar, Jayanagar, Bangalore

Pasta - Vapiano's - Chinatown, Washington, DC

Pav Bhaji - Bhavani Chat, Jayanagar 9th block, Food Street.

Pizza - Ragoos, Bangalore - Pili pili

Raagi Mudde - New Krishna Bhavan

Rajasthani Food - Rajdhani, UB City

Saar anna - Kapila Ajji

Sweet Corn - Gadi near Netkalappa Circle (Bangalore)

Thai - Red Curry, Old town Alexandria, Virginia and Tiny Thai, Vermont.

Tikki Chutney - Bhavani Chat, Jayanagar 9th Block

Unusual chaats - Loki's, 15th cross, Malleshwaram, popular stuff includes "Disco Chaat" "Ding dong" "Dahi Chips Masala"

Thanks to Nithya for helping me with ideas for this. Please feel free to agree/disagree or better yet, add to my list!

Bouldering Mecca : Antharagange

Nestled about 60 kilometers away from Bangalore and a stone’s throw away from Kolar’s bus stand is a thrill seeker’s paradise. Be it Bouldering, Rock Climbing or Trekking, Muchukunda Giri has it all, a visit to the place will make anyone admit that it is India’s answer to Fontainebleau, which many consider to be as the Mecca of Bouldering. The journey in itself to Anthargange promises to be enrapturing, a preview of what to expect can be viewed with a look outside the window. Gigantic volcanic rocks or boulders which dominate the arid sun bathed landscape seem, to a layman’s eye to be precariously perched on top of each other. Patches of vegetation suggest that the rain gods rarely knock on Kolar’s doors.

The foothills of Muchukunda Giri is an interesting one, towering eucalyptus trees throw an appeasing shade which make you forget that you are in Kolar. The freshness of the atmosphere wonderfully coupled with the rich scent of eucalyptus is truly an elevating experience. There are the ruins of an old town and is in very old granite. One can find the temple of Nilakanteshwara. A few steep steps later, a pond can be seen which is enclosed by low stone walls which is constantly fed by a spring. Legend has it that sage Muchukunda underwent penance here. As age crippled his mobility; the goddess Ganga appeared as a spring to enable him to conduct the rituals. The hill thus goes by the name “Muchukunda Giri”. Water from the perennial spring gets collected in a tank and flows through a channel to wash the feet of an idol of Vishnu before springing out of the mouth of a small stone bull. From there, the water flows down towards Kilukote. The locals claim that to this day nobody knows the source of the water. To many in the dry lands, it is an oasis which is made noticeable by hoards of locals making daily trips to the spring with water cans to take back to their houses, it is considered to be sweet and perfectly potable.

The bull is covered by a small mantapa and there is a square tank below that contains a small shrine for Ganapathy surrounded by water. Under the dense shade of the giant trees also rest the temples of Ishwara and Navagrahas. Antharagange also has a deer park maintained by the forest department. One can catch a glimpse of a few sambars and spotted deer that graze here.

Trekking about 4 kms from the spring, amidst the rocky landscape one reaches the small village of Theruhalli. Since one is climbing up the hill, it is quite a steep climb, with interesting barriers to cross. The temple of Gangadhareshwara here has an attractive doorway with fine figures etched on doors and panels. To the northern side of the temple is a cave called Pandavara Hajara and on a boulder stands a small mantapa with an image of Nandi. Ancient Tamil inscriptions behind the temple and an unfinished kalyana mantapa to the south imply a Tamil influence on the area dating back centuries.

A further trek of two km to the west takes one to another village called Paparajanahathi. The specialty here is a stone umbrella that has been carved out of a single stone in front of the Shiva temple. The village is also known for the Baba Hazrat Khaja Usman Shawali Dargah, visited by one and all. Those who cannot trek can access these places by road also. On the way back you can have a good view of the entire range of hills of Kolar better known as Shathashringa Parvatha with the highest point rising to 4026 feet. A climb up one of the hills affords an exceptional view of the surrounding areas that seem to be painted with water bodies, vegetation unique to the area and villages that seem to be in small, incongruous batches considering the vast expanses of dry lands and a virtually unscathed landscape.

Or else, people seeking the ecstasy of rock climbing, Bouldering, Trekking and Exploring of caves all marvelously rolled into one mystifying experience can ask one of the shepherds or locals to show them around one of the caves formed by contiguous rocks which stretch for as much as 2 kms. Squeezing through the nooks and crannies, climbing , making jumps from boulder to boulder and enjoying a never before experience one learns that it is a trite and obvious truism that one can get easily lost in these Byzantine caves if it wasn’t for the reliance of local knowledge. It can take as long as 15 mins to 2 hours to complete a whole journey through these caves as at very few points can one find level ground. The experience makes one want to shed claustrophobia and value what it is like to explore one of these caves. Awestruck by the formation of rocks and equally spellbound by how fantastically balanced they are on top of each other, it is very easy to get won over that they seem to defy all known laws of logistics.

I am tantalized to admit that Antharagange is guaranteed to leave an ineffaceable inkling on a traveler’s mind that the adventures and discoveries one can have in vibrant Karnataka are limitless and that we have barely tapped the immensity of exploring possibilities.