Several years ago, I saw the famous Hollywood film starring Audrey Hepburn, ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’. I was reminded of the film recently after enjoying a delicious breakfast at home in Bengaluru. Out of curiosity, I casually checked and found that breakfast at the Blue Box Cafe located inside Tiffany’s landmark store in Manhattan, New York, costs over $30 (or over £ 22). I smirked with satisfaction as I finished my thatte idli the next morning, thinking of how little we had paid for our breakfast in Bengaluru. With the many home delivery options, we had been enjoying the most sumptuous breakfasts for around £1 per head!
For those unfamiliar with Indian geography, Bengaluru is the capital city of the South Indian state of Karnataka. Known as the Silicon Valley of India after the pioneering Indian software giants like Infosys and Wipro, Bengaluru has always been known as the garden city of India as also the air conditioned city. Being at a height of over 900 metres above sea level, Bengaluru has lovely weather throughout the year with moderate summers and winters. This, with generous rainfall and bright sunshine, accounts for its abundant greenery. The low level of dust and pollution, and the moderate temperatures, attracted the IT and technology companies to this city, which is also known for its good educational facilities.
To most outsiders, South Indian cuisine is defined by ‘Idli-Dosa’. This can’t be further from reality. Each of the South Indian states have very distinctive cuisines, different in both taste and flavours. Karnataka’s cuisine is said to be one of the oldest surviving in the country dating back to the Iron Age. It combines flavours, ingredients and cooking techniques derived from indigenous gastronomic tradition and influences from neighbouring states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to the south/east and Maharashtra to the north. Each region has its own specialty and flavours change from region to region. There are also cuisines specific to communities. North Karnataka, South Karnataka, Kodagu (Coorg), Udupi, Mangalorean, North Canara and Navayath are amongst the distinctive cuisines of Karnataka.
According to some, even the capital Bengaluru, is named after a modest bowl of boiled beans. Legend has it that the Hoysala king Veera Ballala II once got separated from his companions in the forest, while on a hunt. At a small hut in the forest, an old woman fed him a bowl of boiled beans, based on which he named the village Benda-kaal-uru, or ‘Village of Boiled Beans’, that became Bengaluru.
It is the cuisine of the small temple town of Udupi, between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, that has really put Karnataka on the food map. Legend says that in Dwapara Yuga, during the Kurukshetra war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, all the kings were aligned to one or the other side, but the King of Udupi chose to remain neutral. Instead, he offered to Lord Krishna to be the caterer.
Legend aside, Udupi cuisine has its own distinctive taste. It strictly adheres to the tradition of satvik vegetarian cuisine as prescribed by the Ashtamutts founded by Madhvacharya. Udupi cuisine does not use onions or garlic but is liberal in using coconuts, though onions are now a part of Udupi food. Jaggery and hing (asafoetida) add a unique taste and flavour to dishes like sambar or rasam.
Udupi cuisine is said to have begun in the 13th century, when Shivalli Brahmins, followers of Madhavacharya, made elaborate food in the kitchens of the Lord Krishna temple. As the followers of Madhavacharya went out to spread his message, they imbibed the local food offered by the people, thus bringing new tastes and flavours to the cuisine.
In 1923, Udupi was struck with a massive flood. Many cooks moved to cities like Mumbai and Chennai and set up restaurants that offered delicious wholesome food cooked hygienically and served at reasonable prices.
The next year, in 1924, three brothers from the Maiya family left Udupi for Bangalore and set up a quiet restaurant called Brahmin Coffee House that served idlis and filter coffee. From this humble origin came the famed Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR), which has branches even outside India along with its own line of packaged food, both spices and ready to cook packs.
Dosas originated in Udupi, especially the crispy ones that are loved by most lovers of South Indian food. When rice was in short supply during World War II, MTR experimented with semolina instead of rice and invented the breakfast Rava Idli.
Other leading brands were created by two men who adapted the cuisine to suit the taste buds of the colonial powers: K. Krishna Rao, an uneducated, matt trained-cook, started the first Udupi cuisine-based Sri Krishna Vilas Hotel in 1927, and built it into the iconic Woodland brand, while K Seetharama Rao, an educated, catering-trained cook, started Dasaprakash in 1954.
Given limitations of space, an account of other cuisines of Karnataka will have to await another day. Abundant varieties of dosas, idlis, uppitus, baths and other delicacies comprising Karnataka’s breakfasts have been winning hearts for years.
