Bengaluru

Mohan Reddy

'You can have it for breakfast'
In 1984, Mohan Reddy was 17 years old when his father Krishna Reddy started Nagarjuna on Residency Road. The family had moved from their village in Nellur so that his brother could go to engineering college. Only a few dishes from back then continue to be on the menu of the restaurant, that now has 10 branches. "We came from an agro coastal village. Bangalore, at the time, had very few Andhra eateries. So, my father took a chance," Reddy, 55, remembers. "We served Andhra-style meals on plaintain leaves, offering two fried items, two gravies in chicken, mutton and vegetarian options, along with rice and chapati." The dish that has stayed put is the Andhra biryani. In the lockdown, its sale shot up by 50 per cent, says Reddy. "Many mistake it for the Hyderabadi biryani, which has Mughal influences. Ours is not layered; every morsel of rice carries the same flavour. The rice is cooked 25 per cent before the dum, unlike 60 per cent in other biryanis. It's so light that you can even eat it for breakfast."