During my holiday in Bangalore last week, I tried a few of Karnataka’s traditional dishes. Here are the special six tastes of Karnataka that I would recommend visitors to the state to try.

(1) Kesari Bath

During my visit to the neighbourhood of Basavanagudi, I had searched for an eatery specializing in local cuisine. I came across Vidyarthi Bhavan, a vegetarian eatery that started out in 1943 as a student canteen. While their dosas are quite famous, according to the waiter and the family who sat at my table, I decided to only try out Kesari Bath. This semolina sweet is a variation of the Kesari that is made in Sri Lanka and most South Indian states.

(2) Filter Coffee

After having had some terrible coffee in the first few coffee shops I had tried since arriving in Bangalore, the filter coffee at Vidyarthi Bhavan was a pleasant surprise. Simple and unassuming and served in tiny stainless steel cups, the hot beverage was a treat.

(3) Thatte Idli

On the drive to Mysore, the driver asked if I would like to stop for tiffin at Bidadi. According to him, “the idlis are famous here”. So, I took his advice and tried out the plate idlis made of a mixture of urad dhal (black gram), flattened rice and tapioca pearls. The resulting dish was very light and soft and tasted more like ‘appam’/ hoppers than idli.

(4) Mylari Dosa

During my search for local eateries in Mysore, I came across Hotel Mylari, an institution that started around 80 years ago and serves the unique Mylari Dosa made from a secret family recipe. With all the great reviews of this dosa, I had to try it out during my visit to the city. The tiny place only served dosas and the waiter served me mine on a plate with a banana leaf and with a dollop of butter and chutney.

The famous Mylari Dosa

(5) Rava Idli

On my last evening in Bangalore, I decided to go for evening tiffin at Mavalli tiffin room, another old eatery in the city that was started in 1924 and now has several branches around the city. I had read that they were the ones who concocted the first ‘rava idli’, which to this day remains a popular favourite at the eatery. So, I decided to try it out on my last evening in the city.

(6) Nippattu

I noticed that the counter near the cashier had lots of packaged snacks and browsing through them, I decided to try out a fried snack called ‘Nippattu’. The snack is made of rice flour, fried gram and peanuts. It is quite addictive and I was not able to take a photo of it before my family consumed it all.

Which of the above six would you be interested in trying during your visit to Karnataka?