The food of the State

Eating habits in Karnataka are as varied as the State’s geographical and climatic conditions. While the people of arid north Karnataka relish their rottis, pulses and greens, people in the south and  hilly Malnad and coastal Karnataka swear by rice. And, those in central Karnataka and the south gulp down ragi with gusto in its many avatars. And within these regions, the seasonal preference for certain foods is driven by considerations of health and the availability of the type of food.

For instance, come winter, and the average Bengaluru homemaker’s annual affinity for the avarekai is so strong that her husband fears she may serve his morning coffee made of avare beans instead of the Arabica. Though his fears may be farfetched, Bengalureans are known to go loco over the legume in winter and consume it in all its manifestations. The upma, bisibele bath, rasam, usli, akki and ragi rottis —- all come with their avare variants.

But now, the City’s folks no longer need to wait for winter for the bean. For, scientists at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Hebbal in Bengaluru, have developed a variety that grows in all seasons. “The Hebbal Avare, or HA4, is recommended for cultivation in South Karnataka throughout the year,” says Dr H Shivanna, vice chancellor, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru.

Local delicacies
While people in Mysuru-Bengaluru belt are full of beans during the avare season, those north of River Tungabhadra make a song and dance about their jowar rottis. People celebrate the rotti habba twice a year, during Sankranthi and Nagarapanchami. Thimmanna Hosur, who runs a chain of restaurants specialising in North Karnataka delicacies called UK Foods, in Bengaluru, says, “During Nagarapanchami, the womenfolk have just palahara, which is basically a light meal. For this, they prepare a host of sweets like the sev laddu, gulige unde, besan laddu, dry fruits laddu and rava laddu.” The savouries include tambittu, chivdas, chaklis, benne muruku, shankarpoli and avalakki.

Jowar rottis are central to North Karnataka food, and a green variant, sajje rotti, is prepared during Sankranthi, since sajje is grown during this season. The rottis are relished with the usual accompaniments like pudis such as shenga pudi (spicy peanut powder), uchchal pudi, agasi pudi and garlic pudis and curries, including the popular enne gai, kaalu palyas, greens, dals and mixed vegetable curries. Greens are an integral part of the meal and while some are cooked, fresh bunches of methi leaves are consumed raw with the rotti.

It’s to the credit of the Udupi restaurant that the unassuming idli has gone places. Food is a vital part of coastal Karnataka culture and most dishes are unique to the region because of the vegetation peculiar to the area.

“The kotte kadubu, which is a steamed dish, is a popular coastal Karnataka delicacy. The batter is poured into a cone made of jackfruit leaf and steamed. After it’s done, the kadubu imbibes the flavour of the jackfruit leaf,” says Krishna Raja Kuppadi, a lecturer, in Bengaluru. Similarly, the oli kadubu, which involves steaming the batter in a thorny oli leaf, has its own distinct flavour, adds Krishna. Gidde, made with rice and wrapped in a deodar leaf, takes on a red tinge from the leaf. It is said to be healthy when consumed with honey and ghee. The same dish, made with less water, is called the appa. Athirasas and hyagrivas are popular sweets from the region.

There is a folklore linked to hyagriva: Saint Vadiraja used to offer hyagriva, made of dal, coconut, jaggery and ghee, to Lord Hyagriva, who was in the form of a horse. It is believed that every time Vadiraja offered the dish, the Lord consumed half of it and left the rest in the bowl. The cook, suspecting that Vadiraja consumed the dish without offering it to the Lord, laced it with poison. In order to protect Vadiraja from the poison, Hyagriva consumes the entire bowl himself because of which his neck takes a on a dark tinge. The Lord suggests a variety of brinjal as an antidote to the poison. This variety is nothing but the famed ‘Mattu Gulla’, grown only a small area in Mattu near Katpadi in Udupi and is used in sambars and curries.

There is also a belief that certain kinds of foods are chewed during some seasons and others eschewed. In the aashada month, vegetables are avoided. The logic is that the crop after rain that falls following torrid summer will have heat. And hence, dals are preferred during this period. In the second month, milk is prohibited, signifying that too many demands are not made on nature. In the third month, curds are avoided and certain kinds of leaves are forbidden in the fourth month.

As for Malnad cuisine, the climate, characterised by heavy rain and its geography, dominated by high hills and thick forests, play an important role. “Malnad cuisine has evolved over the centuries,” says environmentalist and researcher Shivanand Kalave from Sirsi. “Since the torrential monsoon rains in Malnad confine people to their homes and neighbourhoods, people had to depend on what was available in their immediate vicinity for survival,” says Shivanand.

He says the thick forests in the Malnad region offered a wealth of options for the inhabitants who evolved the food over the years, experimenting with the vegetation in the region. “The bamboo shoot probably became a local delicacy after a lot of experimentation by our ancestors,” says Shivanand, who adds that the shoots could be fatal if they are not processed properly. “The shoots contain lethal cyanide and are soaked in water for three days so that the effect of the cyanide wears off,” says Shivanand.

Rooted in culture
“Long before tea and coffee became popular, people in Malnad consumed what are called kashayas, which are not only taken as beverages but have medical properties too,” says Shivanand, who adds that there are more than 60 known kasahayas which are made from leaves, roots and barks. “It’s the monsoon season now and households make a preparation with pepper that keeps the body warm. This knowledge has been passed on by ancestors,” says Shivanand.

Similarly, during the summer, people consume what are known as tambulis. Tambuli is derived from the words tampu (cold) and huli (sour) and is made from a variety of forest plants and fruits that cool the body. Tamarind is a tree of the plains and people in Malnad have other options for the sour ingredients for their foods. Mangoes are grown in plenty besides other sour fruits like kadu vaate, cocum and appe kai are abundant. They are preserved with salt and used throughout the year.

Food is an integral part of Ganesh Chaturthi festivities. Kadubus, chaklis and other fried delicacies are offered to Ganesha and savoured. But since fried food is known to irritate the throat, people in the Malnad region collect the sap from the ficus tree, add it to the batter and to make chaklis to prevent throat irritation. “People have also evolved techniques of making sure the forest produce is palatable. Some extracts are bitter but contain rich nutrients. Our ancestors dried the extracts to remove the bitterness, ground them and used them with their food,” says Shivanand.

According to nutritionist K C Raghu, Karnataka can be broadly classified based on the kind of food consumed in each region. “We have the rotti belt in the north, mudde belt in the south, kuchchal akki on the coast. People consume the food that is grown in their regions,” says Raghu. He says that while places like Raichur are known for pulses and rice, the Hubballi-Dharwad belt consumes rottis. Speaking about the micro climate of the State and diversity of food, Raghu says the Sirsi area in Uttara Kannada alone boasts of 60 different varieties of rice. “The majjige ragi in Mandya is white and peculiar to that area, while in Mangaluru, they eat the kaje rice. People adapt to the local ecosystem, the soil, water and climate, all play their part,” he says.

Raghu says that with the advent of polyhouses, the term seasonal food has become redundant. “Food comes out of season, out of reason. One never saw watermelons in any other season but summer before,” says Raghu. Food is also influenced by the market, social and spiritual factors, says Raghu, who adds that the advent of multinationals has changed the meaning of local food. But despite the prevalence of multinational restaurant chains, there is a resurgence of the local food. “The proliferation of restaurants with fancy names like Nammoora Hotel, Halli Mane, Halli Thindi, Ambur biryani, Vanyambadi biryani and Davangere benne dose, speak for the resurgence of local food,” says Raghu.