India GOKesari bath in Bangalore
In Bangalore kesari bath is breakfast, not dessert, and it usually arrives with company: order chow-chow bath and the sweet saffron semolina comes on one plate with kharabath, its salty twin. Two old breakfast counters in the India GO guide serve it, and at both the morning queue starts early.
🍮 Kesari Bath
Semolina cooked with ghee, sugar and saffron until it holds its shape: Karnataka's sweet breakfast. Ordered together with its salty twin, kharabath, the pair is called chow-chow bath.
How it's eaten
Order chow-chow bath and both arrive on one plate: sweet on one side, savoury on the other, eaten alternately.
The city's food with veg and non-spicy filters, in the app.
Open in India GOChow-chow bath: how Bangalore orders it
Kesari bath is semolina cooked with ghee, sugar and saffron until it holds its shape; kesari means saffron, which gives it the orange-yellow colour. Kharabath is the savoury semolina, cooked with vegetables, curry leaves and vangibath spice. Ask for chow-chow bath and both arrive on one plate, sweet on one side and savoury on the other, and you eat them alternately, a spoon of one, then the other.
If you only want the sweet, ask for kesari bath on its own. The history of the dish and its link to North India's sooji halwa are on the kesari bath page.
Where to eat it
Both counters below are in the India GO guide, both are vegetarian, and both take cash only.
Brahmin's Coffee Bar, Basavanagudi
In Shankarapuram, open since 1965, with a one-page menu: idli, vada, kharabath, kesari bath and filter coffee. No dosa. Regulars come as much for the coconut chutney, still made under the founding family's eye.
Veena Stores, Malleshwaram
A counter on Margosa Road that grew out of a 1970s condiment shop. By dawn two queues form, one for people eating and one for delivery riders, for idli, vada and chow-chow bath. You order, then eat standing.
Go in the morning, with cash
Both are breakfast counters with queues from early morning, and both are cash only, so carry small notes. Basavanagudi, where Brahmin's Coffee Bar is, is also the neighbourhood of Gandhi Bazaar, the old market street on DVG Road, so the two fit one morning. More Bangalore breakfasts on what to eat in Bangalore.
❓ FAQ
What is kesari bath made of?
Semolina, sugar, ghee and saffron, often with milk. It is cooked until it holds its shape.
What is chow-chow bath?
Kesari bath and kharabath, the sweet and the savoury semolina, served on one plate and eaten alternately. In Bangalore it is a usual breakfast order at darshinis such as Veena Stores.
Where can I eat kesari bath in Bangalore?
At Brahmin's Coffee Bar in Basavanagudi and Veena Stores in Malleshwaram, both morning counters. Bring cash.
Is kesari bath vegetarian?
Yes. It is not vegan because of the ghee and milk.