Gunavante Bhatra Hotel - A Stopover for Tuppa Dosas

Gunavante is a village between Murudeshwar and Honnavar on NH 66. The name 'Sri Gurukripa Bhatra Hotel' suggests that the place Gunavanthe and the Bhat running a small restaurant by the name 'Gurukripa' are phenomenal. It was at a higher elevation long ago, but shifted to the opposite side 15 years ago, in a distance of few meters from the old place as I am given to understand. The place is marked on wikimapia as well. 

We missed the hotel on our way to Sirsi from Mangaluru last month, when we set on a road trip to attend a family function. We decided to visit the hotel on our way back and we did. It is an asbestos roofed small setup with one basic wooden table and bench outside, four or five tables inside. That's the setup Bhatre has maintained. 

One can see a few cars and lorries parked by the highway side and people eagerly waiting for hot 'Tuppa Dosa' and cool 'Avalakki Mosaru' prepared by a bare chested, bearded middle aged man wearing saffron lungi, a rudraksha chain around his neck, the symbol of Brahmins 'Janivaara' or sacred thread adorning his well masculine body. He doesn't talk much or smile, keeps chewing betel leaf from time to time. No one asks him his name, for everyone knows that he is the famous 'Gunavanthe Bhatru' and he's the one who manages the kitchen single handed. Bhatru in Kannada generally means Brahmin, or a name used by Brahmin priests who worship. He is always in the kitchen that is open on three sides and his cash counter is attached to the kitchen from inside at the window facing the road.

The kitchen has wood fire for making dosas or for frying other goodies. At a time, Bhatru spreads 4-6 dosas on the hot dosa tawa and roasts them drizzling generous amount of fat over each one of them. Side by side, he filters coffee, arranges avalakki mosaru in bowls and does not show any sign of least tiredness or irritation on his face. 

Until the Bhatru prepares dosas or avalakki mosaru, visitors sometimes try some sweet jalebis neatly stacked and displyed in the show case. Tuppa Dosa is a crisp thin dosa drenched in fat, and avalakki mosaru is raw phova or beaten rice topped with thick yogurt and couple of spoons of sugar. Way back in 1989, I had visited the old setup with my friends and tried both the famous snacks there. Those days Bhatru added pure ghee to the dosa but now a days the cost of ghee must have made him downgrade it to Hydrogenated vegetable Oil. Whatever maybe the taste, colour or texture of the dishes, people swarm the place for those two items! Such is the magnetism, the place Gunavante and the Bhatru possess!

We ordered Tuppa Dosas which were not as good as I had them many years ago, but still the reminiscence of the Nineties made me feel good. Dosas were also looking slightly pale, but crisp and crunchy as always. Dosas are served with thin coconut and gram daal based spicy tangy chutney. Coffee was hot, strong and invigorating. With 3 plates of Tuppa Dosas(2 per plate) and 4 cups of Coffee, the bill touched  just 100 Rupees. That's what makes the joint popular with middle class people!

The boys grinned wide and asked me about the TV news channel on which the pictures will appear. I told them, just like the Bhatru, I have my own 'Garam Tawa' on which I will roast them and send them by mail, sorry publish them!

Try Gunavante Sri Gurukripa Bhatra Hotel if you are on a road trip, hungry and not in a hurry. I have decided to pay visits without fail every time I pass by that place to relive the feeling and taste of good old Eighties Tuppa Dosa and Avalakki Mosaru.

If It's Chattambade, This Must be Agumbe

There was a movie in the late Sixties by name 'If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium'.

Thinking in that line, I am tempted to coin in the phrase, 'If It's Chattambade This Must Be Agumbe'. It is not because Agumbe is famous for Chattambade, or that every food outlet in Agumbe sells Chattambades. One man however, has been making hot chattambades(Lentil vadas) since last 21 years. Mr Padiyar, the friendly bearded chap in his mid Fifties from a small town called Dodderangady near Karkala, has settled down in Agumbe on the Western Ghats and he does brisk business selling them goodies on his 'Fast Food' cart canteen.

Though I have travelled many times via Agumbe to Shimoga and Koppa in the past two decades, I came to know about him just a year ago, when a friend told me about the crisp and spicy lentil vadas he makes, that sell like hot cakes.  He also told me that the Chattambade Maam(Uncle) makes idli vada and tea to satiate the hungry tourists who pass by or visit Agumbe in the morning and evening.

After negotiating the 14 hairpin bends of the Agumbe Ghat, as you move a few yards towards the town, you can see his cart parked on the right just before the forest check-post. You can also see many cars parked on the left side and people swarming the canteen watching him frying them crispies as he keeps chattering about how he's been running the fast food joint single handed since the last 21 years, how an ordinary guy like him became famous when knowledgeable people wrote about him in papers, magazines and online. 

 

You can also see a stack of Kannada books on philosophy, spiritualism and patriotism by famous authors kept on the edge of the cart which inspire him to render selfless service to mankind in the same style that he did over the years after he settled down there in the early Nineties.

"Please don't forget to take pictures of these books along with the chattambades and me. These are very precious and are inseparable part of my life. They inspire me to work hard, and that's why I have kept them here along with my cooking implements", he emphasises the need to highlight them books.

Padiyar prepares the ingredients necessary for the fried snacks at home, packs them in batches in plastic bags, empties them batch by batch into the vessel in which he mixes the ground lentil coconut chilli paste along with calculated amount of chopped greens and onions, then drops small flattened balls into the sizzling oil and fries them and tosses them over the oil on the perforated frying ladle to check if they are crisp. They get sold instantly to the waiting crowd who gobble up 2-4 vadas each and wash them down with a small steel tumbler full of hot strong invigorating tea or kashaaya. Some people who come in groups order anywhere from 50 to 100 vadas at one go, but wait patiently as he caters smaller portions to others.

I asked him if he sells over a Thousand chattambades per day, for which he shyly answered "May not be so many. Can't say for sure. I myself don't keep a count, but whatever I prepare, gets sold out soon after sunset and I return home with all the contentment of catering to hungry people who want fresh hot stuff".

We missed his canteen on our way to Shimoga on November 1st in the afternoon when he was off for lunch. We made it a point to reach Agumbe well before sunset on our way back  the next day, and felt lucky to taste them. Same vadas may not taste as good at any restaurant in a big city, but the cool natural forest ambiance of Agumbe with a light drizzle of monsoon or a whiff of cold autumn wind make them favourite with the travellers. Besides, Padiyar's endless chat with rhyming poetic dialogs influenced by the books in store add to the fun and make us feel good.

I told him, "I will make you a star online, as we food bloggers focus more on street food and highlight hard working traditional fast food sellers more than star hotels. Tell me, what makes you tirelessly work single handed for such a long time? Don't you have children who support you?".

He smiled and said in a rather humble tone, "I have three children and all of them are good at studies. Two girls have already completed engineering and are working for IT Companies in Bangalore. Youngest one, my son is also a distinction student. I feel lucky to have all the three of them brilliant, but I always believe in being with the common man, among common people, serving them, seeing their happy faces, seeking their blessings and good wishes. Almighty listens to my devotional chants(Bhajans) and graces me all that extra energy to serve people."

Before we left, my wife Meena asked him whether he had any urge to expand his setup in the past like many famous people who started with batata vada, bhelpuri and sweets in as street vendors owning chain of restaurants today.

He again smiled and replied in poetic Kannada with rhyming lines "21 varshadinda adey gaadi, adey daadi, adey body!"(Since last 21 years, same cart, same beard, same body).

I thought of completing the limerick by adding my own line  ".....mattu namage adey roodi"(....and for us, it's way of life), but reserved that for expressing in my blog, for I was his client for the very first time in those 21 years!

I have seen many street cart canteens in my life, this is one more, yet there is no second Padiyar anywhere in the world, chatting and making Chattambades quite like the one near Agumbe forest check-post! 

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From Fight for Right FB page

OBITUARY

Premananda Padiyar(55), the man who served the masses with his hot chattambade, idli vada, tea coffee and kashaaya is no more. He passed away on June 28, 2015 due to short term illness. His personality, dedication, hard work and love for literature and the people who visited his stall, shall remain forever in our hearts.

May his soul rest in peace.
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Unusual Eateries: 3 - Bangalore

The hustle and bustle of daily commuters in Bangalore can be witnessed if you stand on the Tank Bund Road at the junction where the KSRTC and BMTC buses enter Bangalore Bus Stand at Subhash Nagar. Unending line of buses and mad rush of people entering and coming out of the City Bus Stand leaves you aghast!

While I wonder how the city has grown over a few decades, I didn't fail to notice couple of push carts doing brisk business with snacks , coffee and tea. Heaps of Pooris, the aroma of spicy Saagu, Chithranna, Pulav, Pakoda and other fast food items. I didn't have the guts to eat at such road side cafes but many daily commuters seem to satiate their hunger here. When I asked a guy who was sipping a cup of piping hot strong coffee after a generous breakfast of Poori saagu he said "Chennaagide saar. Omme try maadi noDi!"

All I did was take a picture of the cart which I can share with the world. For this, I need not spend a Rupee!

Unusual Eateries: 2 - Bangalore

Bangalore has some unusual joints to eat exotic delicacies. In Malleshwaram, near the 5the cross circle on Sampige Road, one can not miss Sri Bhagyalakshmi Butter and Gulkand Stores.

Gulkand is a kind of sweet jam made with honey and rose petals. This is supposed to be a coolant and is a good remedy for oral ulcers as per Ayurveda. Gulkand is widely used in typical Indian Paan as sweetener and flavouring agent. The unusual combo of Gulkand with butter is perhaps first of its kind started by this shop in Maleshwaram Bamgalore.

I have tried their Butter Gulkand in the Eighties and found it delicious. It tastes somewhat like butter and jam combo on bread slice. Those days in the Eighties the combo used to cost around Re.1/- per serving, a knob of butter and a spoonful of Gulkand on thick paper cones. Now they must be charging Rs.15/- for the combo and they also have different additives like bits of fruit, dry fruits and ice cream.

Here's the picture of Sri Bhagyalakshmi Butter and Gulkand Stores

Unusual Eateries: 1 - Shivamogga

I have travelled widely in India and have seen many unusual restaurants, dhabas, shacks and petty stalls where they sell inexpensive food. Some are unhygienic while some are better than most of the bigger restaurants.

This is a fish curry rice restaurant in Garden Area Shivamogga spotted by me when I was on a morning stroll in January 2010 while on a short visit.

The board reads: "Hotel Mookambika, Fish Meals Hotel, Boiled Brown Rice and Raw Rice meals available"

It was a Sunday and obviously the restaurant was closed. I cursed my luck for not being able to peep in and see what's cooking! Like to join me next time?

Disclaimer: The article and the pictures shown in this series are in a lighter vein and not to be taken offensively. No intention to demean any individual or a culture.