He relished desi ghee, coconut mithai, kaima

A small ‘mithai’ (sweet) shop at Karemane Gate became famous because of actor Ambareesh. He loved the ‘mithai’ prepared by Mahadevaiah, using coconut and jaggery.

When Ambareesh was union minister, he used to visit this shop to buy the mithai. After purchasing it, he used to distribute it among friends and relish it. Whenever he visited Mandya, he used to eat the mithai and purchase it for home too.

“Whenever I learnt that Ambareesh would visit Mandya, I used to prepare the mithai in 7 to 8 crates, with the help of my family. We used to prepare special mithai for Ambareesh adding ingredients like coconut and cardamom. Ambareesh used to say such tasty mithai is not available even in star hotels,” recalls Mahadevaiah. Ambareesh liked eggs of desi chicken. Whenever Congress leader Amaravathi Chandrashekar made arrangements for lunch, he used to arrange for native chicken eggs to serve Ambareesh. He enjoyed the ghee prepared from the butter of native cow. He also liked ‘Rasabale’ from Nanjangud.

Ambareesh liked the ‘kaima’ curry prepared in the residence of his fan Shafiullah.