What's cooking in Army mess kitchens?

My father served in the Indian Army, so moving cities every few years was part of growing up. Amidst all the change, eating at the Officers’ Mess remained constant. It was where families gathered, friendships were forged, and every posting began and ended around a shared meal.

THE TABLE IS SET

“Shrimaan, bhojan prastat hai”—a uniformed havaldar would march into the room and announce that dinner was served. Whether we were posted in Gaya, Nagpur or Roorkee through the 1990s, this remains one of my strongest memories of dining at an Army Officers’ Mess.

The dinners had a rhythm of their own. A hot bowl of mulligatawny or cream of chicken soup arrived before the main course, but only after trays of veg and non-veg snacks had made several rounds of the room, sometimes in silver platters, but mostly in plain white plates with the unit’s emblem. I waited for the fish fingers and vegetable cutlets the most. And once everyone had their fill of the thick rajma, chicken curry and pulao, it was time for the fruit custard and bread-butter pudding. Across stations, chicken tikka, spring rolls, peanut masala, kebabs, paneer bhurji and idli-sambhar were also common.

There was some form of continental food as well, remembers chef Rahul Kaushik of Food Link Catering in Mumbai, who grew up in naval bases across the country between 1990-2000. “The Sunday roast is something I miss. We'd sit sit next to our fathers in whites, with our hair combed and shoes polished. More than anything else, it was the aroma of the roast, rosemary and garlic, fresh out of the oven at 11am that made it memorable,” he says.

For Sidecar co-founder Minakshi Singh, 41, whose father was a Squadron Leader, childhood memories of the Officers’ Mess from Chennai, Bhubaneshwar and Sirsa, are associated with evening snacks after swimming or a game of tennis. She remembers the classic club fare, which usually included sandwiches, French fries and cheese-cherry-pineapple skewers. But it’s the desserts that instantly take her back. “The custard and jelly, and the bread-and-butter pudding were my favourites,” she says.

“Defence messes ran on the same operating system across stations. That’s why mess food felt the same everywhere, even when the state changed,” says Kaushik.

“Ration sabzi” was a regular placeholder on the mess menus, referring to the fresh seasonal vegetables supplied to each mess as part of its weekly rations. The dish would change depending on what was available that week.

Region-specific dishes also found their way on to the menus. “My father’s unit was 1 Mech (formerly 1st Madras), where Sunday breakfast always meant dosa,” shares actor Gul Panag, 47. “And then, of course, there was my absolute favourite—tipsy pudding.”

Many also talk about messes being at par with restaurants of today, where service mattered as much as the food. Delhi-based restaurateur Zorawar Kalra points out the quality produce, and the finesse and precision with which meals were executed during his grandfather’s postings in the 1950s.

ALL ABOUT PUDDING

The original English “tipsy cake” was a sponge cake soaked in sherry or brandy and layered with cold custard, much like a trifle. As the recipe travelled with the British military messes to India, the boozy dessert acquired a character of its own. Layers of plain or vanilla sponge cake doused in brandy or rum, topped with custard, whipped cream and cocktail fruits like apples, pineapple and grapes, became part of the version generations of fauji families relished at army messes.

The recipe enjoys several iterations, and makes use of local, seasonal fruits or tinned pineapple or orange juice often mixed with whatever alcohol was at hand. “It made sense as purchase was quarterly, rations came in bulk, and wastage was tracked like ammunition,” says Kaushik.