Standing tall

The smell of freshly baked bread, biscuits and puffs lingers in the vicinity of the 20-year-old Iyengar Bakery on Hennur Main Road. Operating from different locations on the same stretch, the bakery moved to its current premises only a few years ago. Owner M L Ranganath picked up the basics of bakery from his older brother and father. He now runs the place with his wife Vinutha. The husband and wife take turns to man the shop. The personalised services offered by the couple is also what makes this place special and has people coming back for more.

The shop opens as early as 6 in the morning. The dough is prepared and the ingredients for the cakes and sweets are made fresh everyday. Here, the puff takes different forms, the bread comes in different flavours and the cakes without fresh cream, remain fresh through the day. The eatery is popular for its vegetarian puff, cream roll, ‘dilpasand’, bread sandwich, egg puff and rusk. “The cream roll has been introduced recently. We have given our own twist to the cream roll. The cream, sugar and butter is first mixed together and then the bun which has been made into the shape of a cone is cut and the cream is rolled into the bun. We also mix some dry fruits into the cream,” says Ranganath.

Office-goers and college students are regulars at the bakery. And most of the items are ready by 10 in the morning. “The ingredients required for the ‘khara bun’, bread sandwich and puff are prepared in the morning. We try and change the ‘masala’ in the filling to make sure the taste doesn’t get monotonous,” shares Ranganath. Most of the dishes are made with less oil and an effort is made to use all kinds of vegetables. “We mix all the vegetables in the dishes just to make it wholesome and healthy. Since it is natural for a lot of ghee and butter to go into all the dishes, the vegetable mix certainly strikes a balance,” he says.

There is an array of biscuits as well. Ranganath says that for the health freaks there are ragi bites. Then, there are also cashew biscuits — sweet and the khara ones. “We make sure we add a fair amount of sugar, butter and fruits. Care is taken to ensure that one doesn’t exceed the other,” he says. Ranganath makes sure that dry items such as rusk and mixture are stored in airtight containers. “Not only are the dry items stored in containers but we also make sure to keep the surroundings clean. The containers that are used for baking are cleaned and sterilised on a regular basis. The idea is not only to serve fresh but also clean food,” says Ranganath.

The eatery is located on Hennur Main Road, opposite Reliance Fresh. For details, call 99808489869980848986.

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