Breakfast of Champions... No, of Soldiers!
Many things come to mind when I think of a good Sunday breakfast: Eggs, buttered toast, fresh fruit, coffee… Endless hot neer dosas coming off the iron pan, with fresh green chutney and jaggery syrup… Hot fafda and crunchy, syrupy jalebi…
But recently I learned that the military hotels of Bangalore offer a much meatier breakfast menu.
So last Sunday, I woke up at 8am (very few things can wake me up so early on a holiday, but a good breakfast plan is definitely one of them). By 9am a friend and I were at the Metro station, boarding the green line to Rajajnagar, where another friend was waiting to whisk us off to Hotel Aditya.
Hotel Aditya serves naati-style non-vegetarian food. Military messes and ‘naati’ or local/native style hotels are famous in Bangalore for their spicy dishes of offal and meat, accompanied by dosas, parotas, and biryani.
Our breakfast that morning was an elaborate 4-course meal, which began with kaal soup, or mutton trotter soup, a lip-smackingly spicy soup, somewhere between bone broth and rasam.
As we slurped on this, whetting our appetites, we ordered the next round: dosas with kaima unde, or mutton kheema balls. Each of us got two fluffy dosas, one mutton meatball flavoured with dill, and a bowl of spicy gravy.
Next came some thatte idlis, steamed in a plate instead of an idli mould, along with more of the gravy, and some brain fry on the side. Packed with masalas, flavour, and pure meaty protein, each of the side dishes were served in small portions.
Now that was a good Sunday breakfast!
Today the terms naati-style and military hotel are used interchangeably. And while it serves military hotel style food, Hotel Aditya calls itself a naati-style non-veg restaurant.
‘Naati-style’, a description often attached to small local eateries, implies that the food is of native Karnataka style – the way it is eaten in the interiors of the state.
On the other hand, the term Military Hotel (or ‘miltry hotel’ as it is locally pronounced) dates much further back in history, according to some historians.
Biryani, central to any military mess menu, was introduced to India by the Mughals. It packed the right balance of protein and carbohydrates, making it an ideal meal for soldiers on military campaigns. So it is believed that around the 17th century, during the reign of Maratha Shahji Bhonsle in the state of Karnataka, many such military hotels cropped up to feed the Maratha soldiers with biryani, and other protein-rich meaty dishes. And today, military hotels are a Bangalore institution!
Over time, military hotels became favourite getaways for Hindus who would refrain from eating meat at home. My Ajju (maternal grandfather) was one such patron of military hotels. Having grown up in a vegetarian household, he would often sneak away to these hotels when he had a hankering for meat.
I will sheepishly admit that as a Bangalorean, I only recently began exploring military hotel meals. But I don’t intend to stop anytime soon!
But recently I learned that the military hotels of Bangalore offer a much meatier breakfast menu.
So last Sunday, I woke up at 8am (very few things can wake me up so early on a holiday, but a good breakfast plan is definitely one of them). By 9am a friend and I were at the Metro station, boarding the green line to Rajajnagar, where another friend was waiting to whisk us off to Hotel Aditya.
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| Hotel Aditya in Rajajinagar |
Hotel Aditya serves naati-style non-vegetarian food. Military messes and ‘naati’ or local/native style hotels are famous in Bangalore for their spicy dishes of offal and meat, accompanied by dosas, parotas, and biryani.
Our breakfast that morning was an elaborate 4-course meal, which began with kaal soup, or mutton trotter soup, a lip-smackingly spicy soup, somewhere between bone broth and rasam.
 |
| Kaal soup |
As we slurped on this, whetting our appetites, we ordered the next round: dosas with kaima unde, or mutton kheema balls. Each of us got two fluffy dosas, one mutton meatball flavoured with dill, and a bowl of spicy gravy.
 |
| Dosa and Kaima Unde |
Next came some thatte idlis, steamed in a plate instead of an idli mould, along with more of the gravy, and some brain fry on the side. Packed with masalas, flavour, and pure meaty protein, each of the side dishes were served in small portions.
 |
| Thatte Idli and brain fry |
 |
| All the spicy meat dishes are served in small dishes |
Finally, we satiated our burning tongues and finished the meal off with some kushka, or biryani rice without the meat, along with an incredibly tasty chicken masala.
Now that was a good Sunday breakfast!
Today the terms naati-style and military hotel are used interchangeably. And while it serves military hotel style food, Hotel Aditya calls itself a naati-style non-veg restaurant.
‘Naati-style’, a description often attached to small local eateries, implies that the food is of native Karnataka style – the way it is eaten in the interiors of the state.
On the other hand, the term Military Hotel (or ‘miltry hotel’ as it is locally pronounced) dates much further back in history, according to some historians.
Biryani, central to any military mess menu, was introduced to India by the Mughals. It packed the right balance of protein and carbohydrates, making it an ideal meal for soldiers on military campaigns. So it is believed that around the 17th century, during the reign of Maratha Shahji Bhonsle in the state of Karnataka, many such military hotels cropped up to feed the Maratha soldiers with biryani, and other protein-rich meaty dishes. And today, military hotels are a Bangalore institution!
Over time, military hotels became favourite getaways for Hindus who would refrain from eating meat at home. My Ajju (maternal grandfather) was one such patron of military hotels. Having grown up in a vegetarian household, he would often sneak away to these hotels when he had a hankering for meat.
I will sheepishly admit that as a Bangalorean, I only recently began exploring military hotel meals. But I don’t intend to stop anytime soon!
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