Karnataka on a platter

One thing that underscores Karnataka’s culinary importance is its diversity, write Anurag Mallick & Priya Ganapathy

Karnataka takes its food quite seriously. The first thing a stranger might ask is not where you’ve come from or where you’re headed, but have you eaten! ‘Tiffin/Oota aita’ is more than a standard greeting; it’s an enquiry of well-being, an ice-breaker of sorts. This is a land where the brave Obavva single-handedly took on Haider Ali’s troops, armed with just her onakke (pestle), rather than disturb her husband (a sentry at Chitradurga Fort) midway through his lunch. At Pampa Sarovar in Anegundi, Shabri tasted each ber (berry), before offering only the sweetest ones to Lord Rama during his search for Sita. Hospitality is intrinsic to Karnataka’s fabric.

Is it coincidence that the capital of the bean-shaped state owes its apocryphal origin to a humble meal of boiled beans? It is believed Hoysala King Veera Ballala II, lost on a hunt in the forest, stumbled upon an old lady who fed him the local staple of benda kaal (boiled beans). In gratitude he founded a village there, naming it Benda-kaal-uru or ‘Village of Boiled Beans’, later expanded by Yelahanka chieftain Kempegowda. Bengaluru is a microcosm of the state and indeed the best place to begin an epicurean adventure. Military hotels, darshinis, donne biryani joints, Andhra messes, Maratha eateries, Muslim cuisine and a dash of Anglo Indian; you have it all.

Geographically, Karnataka can be divided into distinct regional or culinary zones. In South Karnataka, ragi (finger millet) is the staple, in North Karnataka it’s jola/jowar (sorghum) while groundnut dominates the central tracts around Chitradurga. The Canara coast from Mangaluru to Karwar leans heavily on rice and seafood. The coffee belt of Coorg-Malnad displays a fondness for pork, pepper, herbs and rice in assorted steamed avatars called puttu or kadabu. Being borderlands, Northwest Karnataka bears a touch of Konkani and Maratha flavours while the Hyderabad-Karnataka region around Raichur-Gulbarga-Bidar has Nizami/Andhra influences of meat, spices and gongura (sorrel) leaves. Rice is consumed across regions but is creatively interpreted as chitranna (lemon rice), puliyogare (tomato rice), vangibath (brinjal rice) and bisi bele bath…

South Karnataka

The signature dish from South Karnataka is the hearty, agrarian ragi mudde (millet balls), popular across Mandya, Mysuru and Hassan. Jai Bhuvaneshwari Military Mess near Srirangapatna, which served famous patrons like Dr Rajkumar, still dishes out ragi mudde-mamsa saaru (mutton curry) and tale mamsa (brain curry), as do joints like Thegu Mess and RR Mess in Mysuru.

Mysuru spawned iconic dishes like Mysore Pak and Mysore bonda soup, while Davanagere is renowned for its benne dosa (with dollops of white butter) and mandakki/girmit (puffed rice), stirred into a roadside snack. Davanagere has a fascinating Shavige Street, a lane dedicated to a thriving home industry of vermicelli, dried on terraces like screens of silken yarn.

Even the humble idli-dosa comes in delectable variations. If Bidadi is known for its soft thatte (plate) idlis, Halaguru near Kanakapura is famous for chiblu idli, named after the bamboo basket in which it is steamed. There’s khali dosa, neer dosa, Davanagere benne dosa and Mysore masala dosa. In its earliest form, dosas were plain rice pancakes. It is believed that to cater to the mass of pilgrims at Udupi Sri Krishna Temple a potato filling was added and the masala dosa was born. During the World War, when rice became scarce, local brand MTR improvised with semolina to create rava idli! In a serendipitous moment, the early arrival of a train prompted a snack vendor at Maddur station to flatten the usually round bondas to cook them faster — and the Maddur vada was created.

Coastal Karnataka

While temple towns like Udupi-Gokarna are largely sattvik, across Dakshina and Uttara Kannada, seafood is plentiful with kane (ladyfish), bolanjir (silverfish), anjal (kingfish), bangda (mackerel) and boothai (sardine) — the tangy bimbli is a popular souring agent. Coconut is abundantly used in this coastal tract — as oil, grated or coconut milk. Mangaluru is an epicurean delight with snacks like Mangalore Buns, goli bajji, uppit-shira, khara roti and unique staples like moode (cylindrical idlis steamed in screw-pine leaves) and khotte (idlis steamed in jackfruit leaves).

The key to Mangalurean food is ‘baffath’ powder, a red masala used in fries and curries, sourced from slender Byadagi chilli and round uru mensinkai or Kumta chilli. Every community leaves its impact on the region’s cuisine. The Mangalore Catholics are known for pork salad, brinjal salad (with striped Mattu Gulla
aubergines), pork baffath, pork indad, kalees ankiti (pork offal curry), fish curry, chicken stew and sannas. The trading community of Bearys makes rare delicacies like kalathappa (savoury pancake), pinyanappa (egg dessert), koli norchad (stuffed fried chicken) and bonda payasam (tender coconut kheer). Kori-rotti, a traditional dish of the Bunts or Tuluvas (Tulu-speaking community) is chicken curry paired with crisp wafer-thin roti made of boiled rice.

Kundapur is a celebrated food hotspot where Kundapur chicken and chicken ghee roast were created by the founders of Shetty Lunch Home. At Bhatkal, Arabian traders intermingled with locals to spawn a new community called Nav-ayaths or ‘newly arrived’. The twin pillars of Bhatkali flavours are the red chilly paste Lon-miri (literally, salt-chili) and Aale-lahsoon (ginger-garlic). Besides godi halwa and dum biryanis, they make an exquisite shaiyya jhinga biryani with vermicelli and prawns. Fish curry rice is the coastal staple right up to Uttara Kannada. Bordering Goa, Karwar resonates with Konkani flavours and dishes like sungta song (prawn curry) and kulith (horsegram). Kokum (garcinia) and teppal (a Sichuan pepper relative) are widely used as souring agents in curries. Sol Kadhi, a perky blend of kokum, coconut milk and fresh ground masala is a digestive cooler popular all along the coast.

Kodagu & Malnad

Running inland parallel to the coast, the hill tracts of Coorg and Malnad in the Western Ghats are united in their love for coffee and pork. The live-off-the-land diet, is enriched by herbs, ferns and wild produce like bemble/kallele (bamboo), kumme (mushrooms) and kesa (colocasia) made into pathrode. Kodagu’s signature dish pandi (pork) curry uses the dark vinegar kachampuli and karta (black) masala while rice and akki tari (rice flour) are whipped into staples like akki rotti, paputtu and thaleputtu (flat rice cakes), kadambuttu (balls) and oda puttu.

In Malnad, rice is steamed into assorted dumplings — the savoury khara kadabu (with spiced lentils) or sweet ones with coconut, pumpkin or cucumber. Traditional salads called kismuri are made from beetroot, carrot, bale dindu (banana stem) and suvarnagadde (yam); when curd is added, it becomes a pachadi (raita). Gowdas are meat-eating, while Jains and Lingayats are pure vegetarian. Turmeric leaves (sometimes corn husks too) are used to steam staples or flavour payasam. Malnad is also home to Haviyak Brahmins who have a scientific approach to food.

Their delightful kashayas (Ayurvedic beverages) and tambulis (medicinal coolers) like arshina tambuli using fresh turmeric root and vonagiru nellikayi tambuli with dried nellikayi (gooseberry) besides gojjus (curries), hashis (raita) and chutneys help to combat the cold climes. The hill tracts are also home to tribal communities like the Kurubas, Halakkis and Siddis, each with their own cuisine.

North Karnataka

In the drier plains of North Karnataka jola (sorghum) the primary staple is consumed as jolada roti (flatbread) and dapati (mixed flour masala roti). Meals customarily begin with menthya pachadi (fenugreek salad), enriched with assorted protein-rich pudis (powders) of agasi (flax seed), gural or ucchelu (Niger seed), shenga (groundnut) and puttani (chana dal). Not all is veg up north. Savjis claim descent from the mythic thousand-armed warrior Kartiveerya Arjun and migrated from Central India.

As Kshatriyas, bold flavours of meat and spice dominate their cuisine and they typically run family-owned non-veg eateries serving kaima unde (keema ball), mutton chops, chicken curry and khara boti.

No matter where you go, Karnataka’s palate is a tantalising mix of flavours.