Ganesha Hubba Utsav

This years Ganesha Hubba Utsav was held, as it always is, at the APS grounds in Basavanagudi, close to BMS College of Engineering. And as always, there was a lot of fanfare and robust crowd participation. And once again, as usual, the food festival was a huge draw for both the foodie and the non-foodie, tourist and the local. Although vegetarian (it's a religious festival), crowds swarmed the location on all days.

The Davangere benne dose, one of my favourites, was a smashing hit this time around as well. As well, you ask? Have you forgotten last year's Ganesha Hubba Utsav, part 1 and 2? Hmpff. Anyway, my fake outrage aside, the dose was just as buttery soft as before, and if it weren't for the plethora of dishes on offer, I'd have been scarfing down 4 of these babies.

Davangere benne (butter) dose

From the Davangere Bayaluseema region to the Karavalli or coastal region (yup, my area). I started of with the Mangalore goli bajje, so called because of their resemblance to a goli, or marble - mighty big ones I might add! Made from gram flour (besan), these deep fried delicacies are had with coconut chutney. Deep fried, hot, a little spicy - how can you go wrong.

Mangalore goli bajje

Again, many apologies for posting this so late - I know the hubba (festival) was over a long time ago (month and a half now) and this is probably only going to unnecessarily make you crave for something that you can only get after a year, but then again, I hope this annual event is something you'll be making a note of and heading towards each year. Sure, it's deep into south Bangalore, and most of the Koramangala-Indiranagar-Marathahalli-Whitefield junta think it may not be 'cool' enough for them - suit yourselves folks, I'm just putting gyaan here, the rest is up to you.

In an effort to catch up with the growing backlog, the rest of this post shall be pictorial with minimal text in it.

Making the dosas

Being served the dosa - everyone wants in on the action when they see the camera :)




Mangalore buns and kurma (left), pathrodey (Colocasia roll)

Making masala dosa














Sweet kadubu (left), and semeda addye (rice noodles) in coconut milk

Jolada (jowar) roti with brinjal curry, green gram curry, and chutney powders




Making gundi appa (left), and the appas served with chutney

Making neer dosa

Kadubu with chutney

The only part apart of the fest I didn't particularly like (apart from the fact that there is no non-veg) is the fact that every year, the contract to make and serve the food is given to Adiga's. At the very least, I'd have thought there'd be some kind of bidding process, or giving the cuisine of each region to a different catering chain - that way not only would things be fresh, there'd also be more focus on the food for that particular cuisine. Although a lot of the food here was good, some of the classy regional dishes weren't made the way they're supposed to. And I felt regions like Chickamagalur and Coorg (among others) weren't properly represented with their local favourites. This problem could very easily be sorted out by dividing the regional cuisines among multiple caterers.

Ganesha habba utsava - Part 2

So part 2 of the habba is here, and I went about accomplishing the task of heading back to the place to eat at the three remaining stalls. Well, at least one dish from each stall at least. That was until I realised that I still wanted to have a few dishes from the stalls that were already covered in part 1. And soI first moved towards my 'home base', the Karavali stall and bought a plate of Mangalore buns and kurma. Now, although there isn't a local name for this dish and it's called buns (even in singular), it is made by mixing all purpose flour, curds, bananas, cumin, sugar and salt. The side dish can be anything, in this case a medley of vegetables.

Buns and kurma

Next, noolu puttu, from the Malnad stall. Well actually, this dish is also quite popular in Mangalore, where in the local Tulu language, it's called semeda addye (say-may-da add-yay), and is usually had with chicken gravey, or mixture of coconut milk and jaggery with sliced bananans, or at times with grated coconut and jaggery. Here, it was served with coconut milk, which was hot (I"m guessing it was to prevent the milk from curdling/spoiling). Nonetheless, this was quite superb, especially given the fact that Adiga's doesn't normally make this at any of it's (known) joints in Bangalore.

Noolu puttu with kai halu

From the Hyderabad Karnataka section, there were a few items I wanted to try, but settled for something light (what I thought would be light). So I had the Bellary onion bonda, which in all honesty, I didn't like, but then again, I don't like bonda's of any kind. I only bought this because I had a momentary lapse in concentration and thought bonda was the same as pakoda. My bad.

Onion pakoda with chutney

I wasnted to have the Davanagere benne dosa, but for some reason, the Davanagere stall was closed. So I moved over to the Mysore stall, and just as I was about to order a masala dosa, another gentleman placed an order for 10! I knew this would be a wait I didn't have the time for, so I ordered the open masala dosa, which turned out to be quite a good choise. It was superb, almost as good as the benne dosa itself. The toppings were great, and so was the chutney. But the butter was what did the trick I guess - it's always the fatty, unhealthy things that happen to make things taste better. There's no justice in this workd I tell you!

Mysore open masala dosa

For those of you who're used to food from the north Karnataka, you'd know that while Dharwad is famous for it's brown peda, the city of Belgaum is known for a sweet very similar to the peda, known as kunda, in a form that's the same as a peda that's been crumbled. While this wasn't as good as the real dseal, it was still good enough.

Kunda

And finally, the pièce de résistance of sorts, the jolada rotti, a flat chapathi-like bread made from jowar (sorghum). This is usually eaten with a brinjal (eggplant) and chutney powders. It's best eaten while it's hot, or else you run the risk of it turning into a mini bullet-proof jacket of sorts. Suffice to say it tasted good, and the brinjal curry was superb.

Jolada rotti with brinjal curry and chutney powder

Overall, thoroughly satisfying fest, one that I'm sure to attend every year from now on.

BM Review: The Rogue Elephant, Basavanagudi

A few weeks back, I'd visited the new branch of The Rogue Elephant in Basavanagudi. The other branch is at Ulsoor, and like the Ulsoor branch, this one is attached to Ambara as well. The full review can be read here.

Not much by way of explanation, but the caramalised figs with savoury pannacotta in a balsamic vinaigrette reduction is probably the most famous dish here. It's not on the menu, and is a special, but usually it's there everyday. This is a must have. Apart from that, the pan-fried fish medallions in a puttanesca sauce and the herb roasted chicken are very good. Also, I have a soft spot for sandwiches and burgers, and the sandwiches here are pretty big and the one we had was awesome.

Iced Tea

Mezze Platter

Just Like Crab Meat

Hummus with Grilled Chicken and Pita

Zucchini Fritters

Caramalised Figs with Savoury Pannacotta in a balsamic vinaigrette reduction

Watermelon salad with Bocconcini cheese

Veg stew for cous cous

Cous Cous with harisa and garlic

Chicken bangers with mash and onion sauce

Pasta Susana

Herb Roasted Chicken

Pan-fried fish medallions in a puttanesca sauce

Pasta Pomodoro

Chicken Coronation Sandwich

Banana Walnut Loaf

Kulfi

Mango Pannacotta

Apple Pie with Ice Cream

Food: Superb
$$$: Moderately expensive. Around 500 per head for a complete meal if you have a good appetite
Service: If the co-owner Anand is there, then be sure to chat up with him. If you ask me, he's the last surviving Britisher in India :) Service is prompt, no complaints.
Verdict: South Bangalore has it all now, so no need to head towards the crowded areas of Koramangala and Indiranagar. This is a must visit, no matter which part of town you're in.

The Rogue Elephant, #93, Next to New Generation School, Opp. Krishna Rao Park, Kanakapura Road, Basavanagudi, Bangalore. Phone: 98456 64681.

BM Review: Cafe Mondo

Cafe Mondo! When you hear the name, it's bound to get you thinking at least about the meaning of the word mondo. South Bangalore has another nifty joint for shakes and sandwiches and coffee, and no surprises, it's 100% vegetarian - and even a lot of their cakes are without egg as well. Getting to the place can be a little tricky if you're not a native of south Bangalore, and if you are, then it's quite simple - it's on the road from south end circle towards Armugam circle (the road parallel to RV road). See what I mean!

Started by Esha and her husband Raghuveer, both of who lived in Australia, Cafe Mondo was setup with the intention of giving south Bangalore its due when it came to cafes apart from the mushrooming Coffee Days - and boy was it a refreshing change or what! Mondo is from the Spanish mundo, meaning world, and it was the intention of the young couple to represent as much of the world and not just the Mediterranean. Located at the corner of the street, this picturesque little cafe has a seating for a few outside, while the majority of the seating is inside.

My guests at Mondo were Lilian Fernandes, a techie at Cisco systems, and Bhawna Rao, a lifestyle travel consultant (I'm still trying to figure out what that means), have travelled around the world enough to know feta from gouda (and that's precisely what was required here as you'll soon read about). The menu at Mondo consists of pizza, sandwiches, salads, coffee (duh!), shakes, and desserts. We were game to try all, and so we started off with pizzas (they come in two sizes - 5 inch and 9 inch). We had 'A touch of Greece' having tomatoes, olives and feta, and 'Gouda Gouda' (both 5 inch), which had a whole montage of veggies - zucchini, peppers, olives, mushrooms, and Gouda cheese. The Touch of Greece instantly got our approval, while the gouda, though nice, had too much going on in it, to the point where I couldn't even taste the Gouda in spite of it being spread all over.

A Touch of Greece

Gouda Gouda

The fasta pasta salad was like any other pasta salad, and there wasn't anything special about it except that the cheery tomatoes used in it seemed very fresh.

Fasta Pasta Salad

To quench our thirst (and satisfy the need for caffeine in Lilian's case), we had the following: a orange sunrise, a honey mango (mango, orange and honey), an almond crunch, and a cafe mocha coffee in macadamia flavour. The almond crunch was the best of them.

Our beverages: Cafe Mocha coffee - macadamia flavoured (small glass), Orange(?) sunrise (left, and I know, it isn't orange!), Almond Crunch (middle), Honey Mango (right)

We then moved on to our sandwiches. The menu has 5 sandwiches, and except for the paneer (cottage cheese) sandwich, we had the rest. So green revolution (mix of several green veggies), Greek griller (feta and tomatoes), Caprese (tomato and basil pesto), and roasted vegetable sandwich (whole wheat bread with a whole lot of roasted veggies) it was to be. Just as with the sandwiches, the Greek one here came up trumps, with all of us agreeing that it was the best - simple, yet effective. The battle for second place was intense with both women selecting a different one apiece. While Bhawna chose the Caprese, Lilian chose the roasted veggie, and I had to play mediator. OK, it didn't get to the point where there was a cat fight (wouldn't that have been fun!) and I had to mediate, but eventually we agreed that the basil pesto in the Caprese was a little overpowering, while the roasted veggie sandwich had a little too much green pepper (capsicum). When it came to the green revolution, I liked it a lot, with the pumpkin in it adding a bit of sweetness, but the ladies thought there was way too much going on in it (like in the Gouda Gouda pizza).

Green Revolution

Greek Griller

Caprese

Roasted Vegetable Sandwich

We polished off our meal with a couple of Mama Mia gelatos (Esha tells me Mondo is the only place in south Bangalore where you’ll get Mama Mia gelatos), a date and walnut cake, and a triple layered chocolate mousse (eggless). The date and walnut cake was simply superb, and the mousse was equally good, if not better. The gelatos came in second, with the ladies preferring the fudge brownie over the strawberry gelato.

Triple Layered Chocolate Mousse (eggless)

Date and Walnut Cake

Strawberry Gelato

Fudge Brownie Gelato

At present they don't accept credit cards, so carry cash.

Food: Quite good
$$$: Cheap (avg. meal for two: Rs 250 - Rs 400)
Service: Good
Verdict: Must visit if in south Bangalore, especially if you're peta ka beta, in other words a vegetarian, but that isn't to say that meat lovers wouldn't like the place, unless of course if you're a wolf or something.
Extra Info: From south end circle, go on the road parallel to the Bangalore Hospital/Vijaya College (Main)/ R V Road, so if you're coming from Nanda theatre, from south end circle signal, take the road to the left of the road straight ahead of you. Still haven't got it? Google maps check maadi.

Cafe Mondo, #2/2, Pattalamma Gudi Street, Next to Armugam Circle and close to Gunasheela Nursing Home, Basavanagudi, Bangalore. Phone: 42088686