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Rose-petalled medley

The good old gulkand takes on new avatars and mingles with unexpected ingredients to create heavenly combos at Vinayaka Angadi

PHOTO: BHAGYA PRAKASH K.

POPULAR DEMAND The 15-year-old place, barely more than a cubbyhole, draws customers in packs

Not many of us can perhaps directly gobble up the gooey gulkand made of rose petals. But when gulkand is spiced up a bit and dished out in interesting and sometimes unbelievable combinations, this sweet concoction takes on a very palatable avatar.

Whipping up such traditional healthy diets for healthy appetites is Vinayaka Benne Gulkand Angadi on D.V.G. Road, Basavanagudi. With over 40 varieties of sweet, khara, bele masala and digestive drinks dished out from a miniature paan-shop kind of hole in the wall, they've been at this business for the last 15 years.

Four people make sure that the colourful and innovative dishes come right out of this 3' x 6' cubbyhole below a staircase. Needless to say, the place is packed.

Health food blends

"We have been surviving here for the last 15 years, and people try out our health food blends. Every year novel varieties get added to our list," say V. Jagadeesh and V. Nagesh, brothers and proprietors of Vinayaka Angadi.

The narrow and bustling D.V. Gundappa Road is a traditional thoroughfare peppered with a variety of shops, new-gen restaurants, old-world eating joints and bakeries, and the ubiquitous vade-bajji corners that attract evening shoppers and walkers. So what is it that draws such a large chunk of both college-goers and old-timers to Vinayaka?

With the confidence of a seasoned entrepreneur, Jagadeesh says: "It's a no-stove, no-sugar joint. We have disposable plates and tumblers; we use nature-friendly donne and yele batlu to serve the dishes in."

Gulkand teamed with butter is a main attraction here. However, also popular are the salads. Vegetables, fruits, sprouts and dals form the base of the salads. "Tell me, isn't it a healthy option?" asks Jagadeesh.

Given the place is packed all the time, does one have to wait endlessly? No. "Our blends are available in a jiffy."

The combos are adventurous. A simple dash of butter and gulkand with plantains (Rs. 8) opens up a sleeping taste bud. The aroma of the rose-and-honey mix in gulkand dominates, but what softens the overpowering taste is the fresh butter that blends with banana slices. "Some tastes are God-made — like the timeless gooseberry and salt — one from the hill and another from sea. But our blends are man-made to bring freshness to the staid recipes in short eats," philosophises Jagadeesh.

Signature blend

Consider the signature Vinayaka blend — the vegetable salad masala. Thirty ingredients go into this fruit-vegetable-sprout mix for an all-encompassing taste — the agreeable crispness of the sprouts intermingling with the soft flavour of the fruits. The masala and rock salt add more zing.

The gulkand variety doesn't stop at that. Ice-cream gulkand (Rs. 20), dry fruit gulkand (Rs. 15) and special gulkand (made by Jagadeesh's mother with special rose petals) are much in demand. The masala powder that is used comes directly from the spices shelf at home. "It's a mix of 15 spices made diligently for aiding digestion. The taste lies in getting the right proportion of each ingredient," says Nagesh.

The masala is available in 50 and 100 gm packets, priced at Rs.6 and Rs.12. Dal masala with moong, onion, carrot, chilli and salt (Rs. 8) can morph into a groundnut masala too.

Considering not everybody is a health freak, there's space for bakery products also such as butter vegetable bun stuffed with peanuts, dal, onion, fruits and vegetables. The permutations and combinations are many, yielding bun-gulkand, dry fruits bun and ice-cream bun!

Digestive drinks surely come handy to water down all the fun eats. Costing between Rs. 10 to Rs. 12, nimbu-masala soda, ginger soda, pudina soda, sweet-lime soda and the special masala are good thirst-quenchers.

The idea for the little eatery came about when "we bought a bottle of gulkand at home. Not quite relishing the taste, our eldest brother Harish was determined to improve the mixture. Trials, experimentation and several rounds of testing and loads of blessings from our parents landed us on this path!"

Needless to say, the siblings rest content.

Ambience: Stand and eat

Service: Fast

Specialty: Gulkand and salads

Wallet factor: Rs. 20 to Rs. 60 for two

RANJANI GOVIND

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