Coast feeds Rahul to the gills!

Mangaluru: AICC president Rahul Gandhi is likely to gain a kilo or two on his coastal sojourn. The spread of food has been so extensive and lavish that it would be difficult for Rahul to ignore.
While Rahul’s noon brunch was simple — neer dosa and fish curry at Thenka Yermal in Udupi district — the lunch menu at Padubidri was sumptuous. The non-veg main course consisted of kane (lady fish) tawa fry, nati koli, pomfret slice gassi, neer dosa and dry prawn chutney.The vegetarian main course included holige with ghee, dal thove, kayhuli, jimkanda channa gassi, pongal chutney and curd rice with wheat. The dessert consisted of semige payasam and Mysore pak.
And to keep his energy levels up, U T Ifthikar, brother of food and civil supplies minister U T Khader, thoughtfully placed two cakes — a red velvet and a chocolate cake — and savouries in the bus that Rahul travelled in. The cakes were prepared by Nasreen Abdulla Kunhi, wife of Y Abdulla Kunhi, chancellor of Yenepoya Deemed University.
Nasreen revealed Ifthikar had requested her to prepare the cakes. A chef in her own right, she prepared them on Tuesday morning and delivered it to Ifthikar. Along with the cake, varieties of cookies, biscuits and chakkulis prepared by Kunhi’s Food Kraft also made on to the bus.
“Rahul has a sweet tooth and this was intended to keep his energy levels high in this energy-sapping humid atmosphere,” Ifthikar said.
Sources said Rahul had two pieces of the red velvet and appreciated it. The other occupants of bus polished off what remained of the red velvet and the entire chocolate cake.
Along the way, Rahul’s extensive fish-dinner menu saw a change with the addition of five vegetarian dishes, perhaps to avoid another controversy during Wednesday’s Sringeri leg of the tour. In February, BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa had hit out at Rahul for reportedly visiting a temple after eating chicken during his ongoing tour in North Karnataka.