Sweets And Savouries: What Made Diwali 2022 Even More Special For MTR In Bengaluru

Anyone would have heard of Puran Poli (sweet-daal-pancake with jaggery) or Obattu as it is referred to in Karnataka. "It's one of Karnataka's speciality made during Diwali, and who else but the "King of Eateries" MTR  offers the best and we look forward to savouring this," says popular TV star 'Oggarane Dabbi' Murali who conducts several cookery shows, and is looking forward to the fare at MTR.  

Ask MTR if Obattu is on their list for Diwali and pat comes the reply. "Of course yes, we will have one of the Obattu variants coming up from Sunday onwards for the Diwali week. We make five varieties as dates, khoya, carrot, pineapple, daal & coconut," says Manager Raghavendra, elaborating on every variety and showing people's excited responses in the comments-book when each speciality was introduced.

And will Obattu be available separately or with the thali? "Both ways, foodies can enjoy their favourite sweet at our restaurant. After all, it's 25 years of Thali that we are celebrating this year, and Diwali is that much more special as it is dedicated to Harishchandra Maiya, who brought in the thali concept at MTR!" says Hemamalini Maiya.

Bangalore's much-thronged hotel Mavalli Tiffin Room or MTR, more known as a culinary institution, boasts of a kitchen that bustles from 3 am onwards every day!

Brisk preparations with half-a-dozen head cooks and a host of assistants and helpers are amidst a pace-and-precision seen only in assembly line productions.

“Each one is familiar with a specific role allotted and the robotic, well thought-out routine is followed since decades,” says Hemamalini Maiya, one of the siblings who with Vikram Maiya and Arvind Maiya took over the mantle of running the family eatery on Lalbagh Road, after the death of father Harishchandra Maiya in 1999.

While one comes across diced onions growing mountain-like for use in various dishes, one also witnesses multiple vegetables being cut; almonds crushed in a mixer for badam milk; coconut, chilli and coriander jostling for space in a blender for the popular MTR chutney; hundreds of idlis being steamed in the kitchen; cooks wielding dexterity in having at least 20 crisp dosas made at one go; potatoes boiled and peeled for saagu that accompanies poori and dosa; fruits being cut for French fruit-mix served with American ice-cream, and grapes boiled and filtered for fresh juice!

MTR restaurant has 2,500 walk-ins during week-ends. Nearly 400-kgs of vegetable and fruits are used up. Nearly 1,500 drop by only for a cuppa of their heady mix, while 300 litres of milk is heartily used.

Their tiffin-variety is a hot sell with public holidays serving 1,000 masala dosas, 800-plates of rava-idli and saagu, 800 plates of poori with chutney and saagu. Nearly 200-litres of onion sambar and vegetable sambar are prepared each weekend.

“There is a strong connect we saw with people walk-ins right from its humble beginnings. My father and grand-uncles often said, this was what they always wished for, says Hemamalini.

“Apart from the fact that everything served here is cooked here, my father’s cleanliness-standards persisted to make it a ‘must place to visit’ when in Bangalore. Whether a popular singer, film actor, politician or clerk, people sensed a comfort as MTR policy allowed for ‘no favouritism’ and the restaurant’s queue did not discriminate. Even Karnataka CM once stood in the same queue,” she says adding that “it’s humbling to see poets, actors and businessmen wait for their turn to get seated.

Obsession for quality and hygiene

MTRs obsession with quality is apparent as the predecessors followed incredible principles and opened the restaurant for public showcase, as Yagnanarayana Maiya believed that quality of food, hygiene and simple seating conveniences should serve the purpose.

“The MTR elders never believed in having a menu-card too. They even introduced the system of opening up the kitchen for customers’ scrutiny. In fact for a long time the entry to the restaurant was through the kitchen to help curious minds scan the hygienic methods adopted for cooking,” says Hemamalini. “After all, a brand is built with trust.”

Even during the Emergency, MTR did not compromise on food quality.

The new policy required restaurants to conform to very low prices set by the government. “During such trying times too, my father never buckled to pressure, but the steadfast MTR policy stood by the restaurant’s reputation. There was no concession or negotiation brought out when quality is what we worshipped, so the management preferred to discontinue restaurant services for a while, and waited for things to get regularized,” says Hemamalini.  

Yagnanarayana Maiya is said to have distributed small booklets on health, proper eating habits and as a matter of joy circulated special homely recipes, while his son Sadananda Maiya who took over the division of MTR Foods and pioneered Maiyas Beverages and Foods later came up with a recipe book brimming with traditional homespun wisdom and essential clues set in conventional culinary science.

What makes history …

The food appreciated at MTR takes pride in tracking the roots of its founders from South Canara, and their traditional upbringing.

Take the case of their revolutionary Rava Idli which was the result of some resourceful experiments with semolina and curd, when rice was in short supply during World War II.

Or the MTR sweet ‘Chandrahaara’ created and fashioned by the Maiya family to celebrate public sentiment, as it was a tribute to 1948s Kannada blockbuster Chandrahara with a blend of flour, sugar and thickened milk, spiced with ghee and cloves.

Today the restaurant has teeming crowds for Rava idli, Kesaribhath, Kharabhath, Bisibele bhath, Benne dosa, Masala dosa and sweets as Chandrahaara, Mysore Pak, Dumroot, Haalbaayi (coconut, rice and jaggery) Badami haalu and grape juice.

And at every point MTR has tackled survival challenges by etching out newer paths, says Hemamalini.

“During emergency when the restaurant had to stop serving for a while, the gas stoves weren’t switched off, thanks to farsighted administrators. The timing was perfect to have the workers remain busy. Ready-to-eat sector with sambar, rasam and chutney powders and instant idli, dosa and other mixes had taken off,” she says, recollecting the smooth diversification.   

The restaurant soon gathered a cultural status and celebrity bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians, actors and directors from all corners had stepped into MTR restaurant to have their share of memory.

Raj Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Yash Chopra, Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar, politicians as Farook and Sheikh Abdullah, industrialists Narayan and Sudha Murthy, poet DV Gundappa and painter MF Hussain have stepped in and appreciated the MTR fare.              

Coming to the incredible MTR Thali

Although flagging the London branch of Mavalli Tiffin Room made news a few months ago as ‘Benne Dosa’ garnered innumerable fans in MTR’s fourth international outlet (after Singapore, Kaula Lampur and Dubai) what makes news now - in the backdrop of 2022-Diwali - is MTRs ever popular thali celebrating its silver jubilee!

“My father Harishchandra Maiya started the thali in 1997 that was initially served in silver plates with silver spoon, and a small silver tumbler for fresh grape juice as part of the platter! I wish he had lived to see the Silver Jubilee of his dream thali,” says Hemamalini fondly talking about her father’s friendly interventions that won the brand a humble reputation. 

The silver plates, spoons and tumblers stopped making their rounds after a while when maintaining them and guarding them with a hawk’s eye proved a huge challenge amidst a sea of humanity walking in each day.     

Harishchandra Maiya’s idea of starting a thali in the late 1990s was when his socialist mind wanted everyone walking into the restaurant to enjoy the rich platter served for business class during ‘special party hall lunches.’

Offer everything to everyone, make it economical and bring in equality – was the premise with which the everyday Thali took birth in 1997 with 30 items for Rs.50. “Thousand thalis sold between 12noon and 5pm as MTR bisibele bath by itself was a rage. After years of experimenting and observing the wastage, we scaled it down to 22 dishes, and after 25 years it now costs Rs. 270,” says Hemamalini adding that the heavy burden on the staff also had them prune the timings to 12 to 3pm.     

Although the platter has Udupi specialties, of rice, bisibele bath, huli (sambar) saaru (rasam) kosambri (uncooked veggis) playa (subji) raita, papad, pickles and kheer, what stands as signature MTR are the inclusions of poori and red-rice dosa in the thali (with saagu and chutney) as wheat becomes a part of it.

“Our multiple surveys helped us zero-in on poori as a preferred choice to chapati, and dosa for crisp MTR-dose cravings available as part of the meal,” says Hemamalini.

And the dosa secret?  “The masalas are made everyday even for sambar and rasam. As for dosa, it’s the preparation that has them soft and fluffy inside and crisp on the outside as red-rice and dollops of ghee makes them heavenly. Our mixed pickles are from our master-cook Shivram Bairy who has trained many in the nuances involved.  Black grapes are used for fresh juice and they are boiled, and our fruit mix goes with our own make of ice-cream,” says Hemamalini.

The MTR thali is not measured, it is unlimited meals where each dish is served to you. And coming to desserts, MTR has a battery of them, all coming up one by one as weekend specials including Godhi Halwa (wheat Halwa), Kaaju barfi (cashew cake), Hayagreeva (chana daal, jaggery and dry-coconut) and the variety Obattus (puran polis).  

The background

A hotel employer in the green hamlet Kota, near Udupi, had nearly a Century ago, encouraged brothers and household cooks Parameshwara Maiya, Ganappayya Maiya and Yagnanarayana Maiya to start a small hotel in Bengaluru.

Soon in 1924 the enterprising brothers reached “the then pensioners paradise” and started a small outlet to serve idli and coffee and the ‘Brahmin Coffee Club was born.

Before long, the word ‘club’ seemed snobbish for the modest gentlemen who changed it to ‘Mavalli Tiffin Room’ named after the locality where it is situated.

Their determination to feed foodies with Karnataka’s Udupi cuisine was on the right track, an endeavour which was to gradually create a historical legacy and brand.

In 1968, Harishchandra Maiya took over the responsibility of running the hotel after the passing away of his uncle, Yagnanarayana Maiya. Over the years the business expanded and the group diversified into restaurant, convenience food and instant mixes.