JOIN USJust dial for kadubu, kajjaaya
The phone has been ringing off the hook since a week at Halli Mane in Malleswaram, the recently spruced up ACE Iyengar in Jayanagar 9th Block, and the ‘weigh-it-and-take-it’ Nammura in JP Nagar.
Arun Prasanna, the catering kitchen manager of Halli Mane, juggles two cellphones and several landlines as he politely and repeatedly turns down requests for take-away meals from last-minute callers. Halli Mane's website (www.hallimane.com) has already seen 1,500 bookings for the special take-away meal called 'Habbada Oota' since it opened for bookings a week ago.
“People are welcome to walk in for a meal at the restaurant, but bookings for the special festival meal are closed,” he says, adding that the hotel, which serves every traditional dish from kadalebele kosambari to bele holige. If you have not clicked and booked your meal as yet, there’s always the option of calling up any one of the five distribution centres in the City where the 32-item meal can be ordered at Rs 180 a meal.
“In this case, the early caller gets the kadubu, while the rest may have to find joy in the ubiquitous payasam,” quips Babu Rao, manager of Ganesh Darshan restaurant in Jayanagar 3rd Block.
Counters at Nammura offer - by the kilo and in your containers - traditional treats ranging from Udupi ambade and kadale sundal to Mysore kootu and tambuli. Those with a sweet tooth can indulge in a variety of halwa, payasam and kadubu preparations.
Muthappa C M, front office in-charge at Nammura, reveals that 40,000 orders have already been placed since Friday morning.
On the big day, the catering unit and hotel expects one lakh people to queue up for their goodies, for which shamianas have been erected and giant water coolers installed. While lunch items will be available only till 3 pm, sweets and savouries will be available till 9 pm, he adds.
At ACE Iyengar, the chopping, stirring and frying has reached fever pitch with instructions and orders flying thick and fast as customers descend on the two-storeyed building or call up with their wish list! Tokens are being issued for sought-after sweets like holige and adirasam with stern warnings that if the bearers of these valuable tokens are late even by a few minutes, their goodies will be given away to the more needy (greedy?!)
So, once the pooja is done and the prasadam distributed, you now know where most folks are headed - not to the kitchen to watch the food boil and bubble but to the nearest caterer to collect their Styrofoam-packaged, ready-to-eat, traditional treat!