Divya Prabhakar and Vishal Shetty are childhood friends and neighbours. They grew up in each other’s homes, sharing their lives and plates of food. The thought of working together didn’t cross their minds. That is, until they opened a bottle of gin. Shetty had invited Prabhakar over for lunch and they were having a conversation in kitchen over drinks. “At that point we were both on a sabbatical. I said, ‘You know what, we should work together’. She said yes and that’s how our journey began,” shares Prabhakar, with a laugh.
The duo began Bengaluru Oota Company (BOC) – a tasting room and catering service offering Gowda and Manglorean food – two years ago. This month, the duo will be doing their first pop-up outside the city, at The Bombay Canteen. “We want to introduce people to authentic tastes of Karnataka, featuring dishes made from recipes passed down generations and using traditional methods of cooking,” says Prabhakar.
Taste test
Both women share a background in the hotel industry. Shetty’s family – her father, brother and husband – are in the business, while Prabhakar has worked with hotels from a sales and marketing viewpoint. They didn’t want to start just another restaurant. “We wanted to do regional food and stuff that’s very typical to the state but not available in Bengaluru,” says Prabhakar. She belongs to the Gowda community whereas Shetty is Manglorean and belongs to the Bunt community. BOC’s food is a mix of both cuisines. They decided the concept based on what they were comfortable with – creating something that isn’t 24/7, and which incorporates their own food philosophies of minimal wastage and cooking everything fresh.
While BOC started off as a catering service, Prabhakar and Shetty soon realised that corporate catering was focused on the cost perspective and not quality. “We changed our focus and decided [to cater] for homes and people who appreciate quality. At that time, we found this cosy space about two minutes away from our home, and decided to try a tasting room format,” says Prabhakar.
Once or twice a week, BOC hosts meals for folks interested in trying out authentic Gowda and Manglorean cuisines. Shetty cooks the Manglorean food and they have a team of women – who trained with Prabhakar’s mother – for the Gowda dishes. They’ve also recently started hosting pop-ups of home chefs who focus on regional cuisines.
In the spirit of keeping things local, both women ensure their families are part of BOC. The recipes come from their mothers, aunts and grandmothers, and go back generations. Both their mothers are unofficial quality controllers and Prabhakar’s father is tasked with buying the meat. They still do catering by the side. The success of their venture has to do with how many people, especially from the Gowda community, will pass off BOC’s cooking as their own.
Two communities at once
BOC promises an authentic regional Kannadiga culinary experience. At the Mumbai pop-up, their menu has been created to give an introduction to both cuisines. And just like at BOC, both women are on hand to talk about the food and how it is meant to be eaten. Mangalorean food has influences of its different communities, the Saraswat Brahmins, Bunts and Catholics. Being a coastal region, there’s a lot of seafood, spices are roasted whole and ground, and generous amounts of coconut – in oil, milk or simply grated. “There’s more to Mangalorean food than just kori roti and gassi,” says Shetty.
There’s the Pundi Ajadina – steamed rice balls tossed in masalas and coconut; Kane Fry – whole ladyfish coated in a rava batter and fried; and Jeeguje Fry – marinated and fried breadfruit with a nice meaty texture. The Manoli and Cashew Upkari is a light gravy of tendli and cashews cooked with coconut and dried red chillies, and eaten with sannas – unlike the Goan ones, these are not sweet and don’t have toddy. The last course before dessert is the Curd Rice (flecked with pomegranate seeds and served cold) paired with the tangy and sweet Pineapple Mensakai.
“The Gowdas are a farming community and thus landlocked. Their food features vegetables and mutton (from nose to tail), green chillies, garlic and plenty of coriander, in fresh form or seeds. Our curries are more green and brown,” says Prabhakar. The highlight of the meal is the Maamsa Saaru – a typical Gowda boneless mutton curry cooked with coriander and whole spices and served with ghee and ragi munde. There’s a particular way of eating the dish – the plates are kept at a slant so that the gravy accumulates at the bottom and pieces of the ragi balls are broken off, dipped in the gravy and then swallowed without chewing. “Ragi in this form doesn’t have flavour so if you chew it, it coats the mouth. Swallowing it ensures you can taste the flavours of the mutton curry,” says Prabhakar. The curry tastes equally good with ghee rice.
Dessert is a combination of both cuisines. The Chiroti and Ghasaghase Payasa is essentially a fried flaky Manglorean pastry made with ghee, and the creamy khus khus poppy seed pudding is a Gowda specialty. “It just goes to show that our cuisines, just like us, work well together,” says Prabhakar.
The Bengaluru Oota Company pop-up at The Bombay Canteen, Lower Parel is ongoing until November 15; a la carte for lunch and Yele Oota (banana leaf meal) for dinner; Rs 2,400 plus taxes for vegetarian Yele Oota, Rs 2,800 plus taxes for non-vegetarian Yele Oota for two; a la carte dishes priced between Rs 450 to Rs 750 plus taxes.
