The One Eyed Man of Cole's Road: A History of the Chicken Kebab

For every visitor to this great city, the single largest gastronomic surprise when ordering food at a non-gentry joint has to be the Chicken Kebab. For a Non-Bangalorean, a kebab, by definition (or at least wiki definition) is “a Middle Eastern dish of pieces of meat, fish, or vegetables roasted or grilled on a skewer or spit originating in the Middle East, and later adopted in Central Asia and by the regions of the former Mongol Empire and later Ottoman Empire, before spreading worldwide.” The key words here being “grilled on a skewer or spit”. I particularly remember a visiting friend from Calcutta who didn’t eat the plate of chicken kebab he ordered since it didn’t conform to his concept of a Kebab. By the time he realised that this was in fact what he had ordered, he was left with a small piece of knuckle and a half bitten slice of onion.

For you and me, the battered, deep fried, bright red piece of chicken served on a brown melamine plate alongside a quarter of Khoday’s is a Kebab. In fact, in some places you actually have to specify that you want “tandoori style” and not “oil-fry” kaffaf for the socially-accepted concept of a kebab. This becomes all the more relevant when some places have a “Special Kebab” on the menu, which is actually a piece of flesh grilled on a skewer or spit originating in the Middle East, and later adopted in Central Asia and by the regions of the former Mongol Empire and later Ottoman Empire, before spreading worldwide as opposed to the deep fried goodness we hope it will be. Yappaah! Too much confusion is there!

There is however, no denying that we Bangaloreans love our Chicken Kebab. Even at Empire sometimes, we might succumb and order a half-kaffaf and ghee rice, which I might add has lost a lot of zing over the years. But still, we dig it. Because it is a sucker punch of deliciousness. Even when it’s so hot that you burn your whole mouth trying to shove one in too quickly. Even then, it is a testament of tasty. Anyone who says otherwise shall die. 

Over the past few weeks I have been trying to figure out how this now un-missable and undeniably Bangalorean version of the kebab came to be. Sometimes over a drink, many times over a joint but mainly over a plate of kebab, I found myself delving further and further into stories told to me of a gastronomic history rich in the colours of Bangalore’s past. Of South Parade and Impee’s way back in the ‘70s, where Blue Diamond rejects, hard-luck gamblers and cabaret junkies congregated indoors for a plate of Ghee Rice and Chicken Fry. For the other folks, rich enough to own a Standard Herald, you could park outside and eat off the bonnet of your car, or inside it if there were women in your party. This is the earliest story I have of the much loved bird. There are some stories that suggest that Empire too had a version of the Kebab back in the late ‘60s but no one really wants to acknowledge that too much. Shivajinagar Taj also claims ownership, based on my discussions with 15 year old waiter Ismail, but seriously, based on the quality of the kebab they are dishing out now, I don’t think so. For all practical purposes, Impee’s is the Vince MacMahon of the Bangalorean Chicken Kebab. They started everything. Even the Ghee Rice combo with Thums-up in the early ‘80s. Can you beat that? I think not. Thankfully, Impee’s still serves up a fantastic Ghee-Rice-Kebab combo.

Of course, by the ‘80s the rest of the junta had caught on and chicken kebab, the way we know it now, was being served across restaurants in Bangalore, each claiming to have the Impee’s head chef (including Empire) and the original recipe for the Chicken Kebab. There was however, a maverick in their midst. The One Eyed Man of Cole's Road. Out there in Old Cantt, Pereira had set up a little stall where Pizza Hut now is on Cole's Road. This man was a culinary genius. Instead of using tiny-piddly pieces of chicken to deep fry, he was batter frying entire breasts, legs and used the spares to dish out a much loved offal curry with hearts, carcass, livers, neck, kidneys, the whole shebang. Within a few months, Pereira had become a favourite of the dings, sindhis and other Old Cantt folks and is still remembered fondly for his jovial disposition and penchant for a drink or two. After a few years though, and here’s where my details are slightly muddled, he lost an eye in an accident and had it replaced with a glass one from Germany. Over time, he handed over his recipes and industrial sized vats to his boys and receded into the background of gastronomic history, an epicurean martyr if there ever was one.

To this day, his boys carry forward his flavours and recipes, including the “Devil / Marwaan Chutney” and haven’t left Old Cantt, moving from Coles Road to MM Road finally to a small stall outside Bangalore East.

The. Best. Fucking. Kebab. In. Town. Period.

P.S: There are many places where one can buy a ready Kebab mix in Bangalore, but the now defunct Market Basket and Lusitania stocked a masala powder that people really swore by. It was almost as though it was the be all and end all of all chicken kebab masalas. I don’t seem to remember what it was called. Can anyone remember?