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Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category
Monday, August 20th, 2012
Dried Meat Fry
 Onak Erachi Since Coorgs hunted regularly, venison, wild boar, barking deer and several other kinds of wild game formed part of their diet. These meats were also sliced, rubbed with salt and turmeric, strung or skewered and sun –dried, or hung from the rafters in smoky, wood fired kitchens, where they acquired a special flavour of their own. Another generation recalls that this was also where gunpowder was stored, as the kitchen was the driest room – old Coorg lived dangerously! Dried meat was prized during the monsoon, when there was no hunting. Smoky, chewy, it slowly releases its concentrated flavours,set off by the tang of lime. Dried meat is rich and earthy, served as a snack. It is also curried, but somehow that version never endeared itself to my palate. It’s easy to imagine how it kept the hardworking Coorgs warm and happy during the rains, eaten with a warming drink, made from germinated paddy.
It is quite easy to make dried meat at home with mutton or pork.
Process to make dried meat:
- Do not wash the meat.
- Slice mutton or pork thinly, into approximately 2 inch squares & rub it thoroughly with turmeric and salt.
- Thread it on skewers; hang out to dry thoroughly in the sun, over several days, or in an airy room. If you are lucky enough to have a wood fired oven , it can also be dried above it.
- Make sure that there is not trace of fungus or mold on the meat, and store open,in an airy cupboard, or a stainless steel tin with perforations on both the lid and base.
- Check from time to time to ensure that no mold forms.
- Dried meat is dehydrated, so a small amount will go a long way.
- Try with 100 gms to begin with, and once you master the technique, and enjoy the flavours, you can go ahead with more.
Onak Erachi(Dried Meat) Fry Recipe
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Ingredients:
- 100gms dried meat
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- salt to taste
- 4 -5 tbsp of oil
- 2 medium onions, or 1 large one sliced
- 2 sliced green chillies, or according to taste
- 4 pods of garlic, crushed
- 2×2 inch piece of coconut, ground very fine (optional)
- 2 limes, or kachampuli
- ghee to finish
Method:
- Soak 100gms dried meat for about 2 hours in warm water to soften it.
- Wash and pressure-cook it in 1- 1 ½ cups of water for about 15 -20 mins. Allow the pressure to drop, drain the water, retaining about ¼ cup.
- Pound the meat on a grinding stone into fine shreds, or for quick results, pulse it in a mixer a few times, until you have a loosely shredded mass.
- To the cooked meat, add 1 teaspoon coriander powder, ½ teaspoon turmeric and 1 tsp red chilli powder, salt to taste and mix well.
- Heat 4 -5 tablespoons of oil and lightly fry the sliced onions, 2 sliced green chillies and a few crushed pods of garlic.
- When the onions are transparent, add the shredded meat with the cooking water you have retained from the pressure-cooker.
- Add the ground coconut, stir, and cook until the water evaporates. The meat should be moist and chewy.
- Add one teaspoon of kachampuli, or lime juice to taste.
- Lastly, heat one tablespoon of fresh ghee, add the meat and fry the meat in it for 2 -3 minutes.
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Image Credits: Nithin Sagi
Tags: Dried Meat Fry Recipe, Onak Erachi Recipe
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Friday, August 3rd, 2012
Curried or Dry- Fried Tender Shoots of Bamboo.
 © Kaveri Ponnapa Tender bamboo is a seasonal delicacy, and can be salted or frozen for use through the year. It grows in clumps along riversides, in forests and, a dwarf variety, prized by the Coorgs, is found on the higher slopes of the hills, known as wote bimbale(Ochlandra travancorica). The spiny bamboo that grows along river -banks has perhaps the best flavour. With the first showers of monsoon rain, the bamboos begin to put out tender shoots that cut through the earth in pointed cones. These are gathered before they grow too woody and hard, and carried home. If unavailable, tinned bamboo shoots are a reasonably good substitute, although they will lack the full richness of the fresh shoots. The cones of tender bamboo are stripped of their thick, outer covering until the pale, tender flesh is reached. This is chopped or sliced, and soaked in water for 48 hours, to remove the toxic acids that it contains. The water is changed every 24 hours, and the bamboo ferments gently, retaining a tang when cooked. The bamboo is finally rinsed before cooking.
Sometimes this process is skipped altogether and the bamboo chips given a quick, fierce boil, the water drained, and the chips used in a curry or fry. Although I have done this, I still prefer to follow the longer process of soaking, since the sour tang from the fermentation adds interest to the curry or fry. Bimbale curry is eaten with akki ottis (rice rotis) with a splash of hot, melted ghee, or limejuice, according to taste.
Two Recipes for Bimbale
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Bimbale Curry
Ingredients: 500g tender bamboo shoots, sliced or chopped finely, and lightly boiled with salt to taste, 1 level tsp turmeric, a couple of fresh green chillies, a sliced onion and 8-10 curry leaves
Spices :
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 5 dried red chillies
- ¼ teaspoon peppercorns
- ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon rice
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 2 medium sized onions
- 1 tbsp oil
Method:
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the dry spices, and fry them, stirring constantly, until they change colour and darken a few shades, but do not allow them to turn dark brown.
- Cool, and grind with the onions into a smooth paste.
- Add to the boiled bamboo shoots, and cook for a further 15 mins, adding 1-2 cups of hot water depending on how much liquid you want.
To season: crush 2 cloves of garlic, 1 red chilly, ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds and curry leaves.
Fry this in 2 tablespoons hot oil and pour over the tender bamboo curry
Optional:
- ½ tsp whole cumin
- ½ tsp rice
- ¼ tsp peppercorns
- ¼ tsp fenugreek
Dry roast the above spices individually to a deep brown on a tava, cool, grind separately and sprinkle over the curry before serving.
Fried Bimbale
Dry Bamboo Shoot Fry :
For a simple, but very tasty dry fry,
- Heat 3-4 tablespoons of oil
- Drop in 3-4 dried red chillies
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 8-10 curry leaves
- 4-5 pods of crushed garlic
- Add the boiled bamboo shoots,and stir for about 10 mins, until all the water evaporates, but the bamboo is still juicy and moist. This gives you the taste of the bamboo it its purest form.
It is optional to sprinkle with the same roasted masalas as you would for the curry; personally, I prefer it without the roasted masalas, as the flavour of the tender bamboo comes through. |
Image Credits: Nithin Sagi
Tags: Bamboo Shoots Fry, Bimbale, Curry Recipe, Fry Recipe
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Friday, July 27th, 2012
Rice Rotis
 © Kaveri Ponnapa Akki ottis can be adapted to breakfast, lunch or dinner. They are versatile, changing their character according to the accompaniments. At breakfast, they can be served with a selection of chutneys, pumpkin or broad bean curry, or pats of freshly churned butter, homemade jams, or wild Coorg honey. At lunch or dinner, they lend themselves equally well to curries and stir fries of vegetables and meats. They are the perfect foil for bimbale curry (tender bamboo shoot curry). And go very well with fish curry. If you have the luxury of a coal or wood fire, akki ottis toasted on embers take on a wonderful, nutty flavour.
Akki Otti Recipe
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Ingredients:
- 1cup short grain rice, like sona masuri, pressure-cooked in 2 ½ cups of water
- Rice powder
Method :
- Place the cooked rice in a large open platter, and mixing by hand, gradually work in sufficient quantity of rice powder to make a firm dough, which still retains some of the moisture of the cooked rice. Too much rice powder will result in hard, dry ottis. Do not add any water as you knead.
- Knead, and shape egg sized rounds of dough into rotis on the palm of the hand, moistened with water or, alternatively, use a chapatti press, lined with sheets of plastic, which is much easier.
- Toast both sides of the otti on a tava, as you would a chapatti, and then hold over a direct flame, allowing the otti to puff up. Serve hot.
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Tags: Akki Otti, Coorg Rice Bread
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Thursday, July 26th, 2012
Coorg Fish Curry
 © Kaveri Ponnapa
The clear streams of Coorg were full of fish and crabs, which were gathered in ingenious bamboo traps, or in the case of the larger fish, shot. In addition, fish made its way up from the coast of Malabar and Mangalore, to add to the already rich menu. Mackerel was a very popular sea fish, but the much -loved bare meen, from the streams of Coorg was with its clean, sweet taste was the choice for this preparation. This is a rich curry, full of deep flavours – hot , sour, salty and spicy, best eaten with your fingers, the beautiful gravy soaked up with akki ottis.
 © Kaveri Ponnapa
Meen Curry(Coorg Fish Curry) Recipe
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Ingredients:
- 1kg fish (seer works very well) cut into ½ inch thick steaks
Grind together to a fine paste:
- 4 large onions
- 1 inch ginger
- 8 pods of garlic, peeled
- 1 ½ tsp jeera
Dry spices:
- Red chilli powder to taste
- 2tsp coriander powder
- 1 level tsp turmeric
For Seasoning:
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 green chillies
- 2 onions, sliced thin
- 8-10 curry leaves
For the Coorg Roasted Masala :
- 1 tsp whole cumin (jeera)
- 1 tsp mustard seeds (rye)
- ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
- ¼ tsp raw rice
- ½ tsp black peppercorns
Slow roast the above spices separately on a hot tava (griddle) until they release their aromas and change colour. Allow them to cool, and crush to a powder, separately, and then mix.
Other ingredients :
- salt to taste
- ½ cup oil
- 2 cups hot water
- kachampuli, or malt vinegar
Method :
- Wash & pat dry the fish steaks.
- Mix the kachampuli (or malt vinegar), the turmeric, chilli powder, salt into the fish, & set aside.
- Heat the oil in a deep pan, or khadai, add the mustard seeds. When they begin to splutter, add the curry leaves, the sliced onions & the green chillies, & fry gently until softened.
- Add the coriander powder & chilli powders, & the ground paste of onions. Cook slowly, until the raw smell disappears.
- Add 2 cups hot water, or more according to gravy required, & when simmering add the fish, and cook uncovered, until almost done.
- Add the dry roasted, powdered spices, & simmer until done.
- Optional – you can thicken the curry with a small amount of tamarind paste.
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Image Credits: Nithin Sagi
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Friday, June 15th, 2012
From A Gourmet’s Table In Coorg comes a delicious mushroom curry. Although wild mushrooms are used in Coorg, buttons make a great substitute.
 Wild Mushrooms 
Click here for information on set of Ingredients for Coorg Cuisine
Kumme Curry: Wild Mushrooms Curry
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Wild mushrooms like nucchie kumme, alandi kumme, or any of the Coorg wild mushrooms have to be cleaned well, as the mud clings to them. Allandi can be cut into long strips, and small buds can be kept whole. Wild mushrooms should be collected only if you have experience, as many, similar looking species are deadly poisonous. If you cannot get wild mushrooms, cultivated button mushrooms are the best substitute. Button mushrooms can be cut into half, or quarters, according to taste.
Ingredients:
- 500g mushrooms
- Salt
- Turmeric
- ½ coconut, ground to a fine paste, & milk extracted twice
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 2 generous tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 3 slit green chillies
- ½ tsp kachampuli
- juice of ½ lime
- 4-5 tbsp of oil for frying
Method:
- Add salt & turmeric to mushrooms, & set aside.
- Grind ½ coconut into a fine paste, add 1 cup hot water, & set aside for ½ hour. Extract thick coconut milk by squeezing through a thin muslin cloth. Add another ½ cup of hot water to the coconut, & repeat the process.
- Heat the oil in a pan, add chopped onions, when light brown, add 2 tsp coriander powder, & set on a low flame. Stir for a minute, add ½ tsp chilli powder & 3 slit green chillies. Stir, then add mushrooms & fry on slow fire for 2 mins.
- Add the thin coconut milk (2nd extract), & cook uncovered, on slow to medium flame, for 10 mins.
- Add thick coconut milk, and ½ tsp of kachampuli. When the gravy thickens, about 5 mins, remove from flame & serve with juice of ½ a lime.
Cook’s Tip : In this recipe, jeera, garlic & ginger, are left out, all of which tend to overwhelm the delicate flavour of the mushrooms. |
This first set of recipes for classic Coorg curries and fries, and a few steamed rice puttus are from my aunt, Sabitha Chengappa, who in addition to her enviable academic record – a Fulbright Scholar and a PhD.- manages her own coffee estate, is a superb cook and gardener, and one of the most generous hostesses I know.
Food Photography by Nithin Sagi
Tags: Wild Mushrooms Curry
7 Comments » | Recipes | Print | Print This Post
Thursday, June 14th, 2012
A Gourmet’s Table In Coorg presents a traditional Koli Curry (Curried Chicken, Coorg Style)
Every Coorg household had, until recently- and many still have - a scattering of home reared chickens running around in the backyard, which were truly free-range. They were only returned to their coops in the late afternoon, or the end of the day. When I married into a very traditional family, I was initially horrified to learn that chicken curry meant actually chasing, killing, feathering and cutting up a chicken, never having done that in my life. So I was vastly relieved when my mother-in law told me that I did not personally have to kill the chicken, there was always someone on hand to do that! Since coffee plantation homes were isolated, in the days when markets were a long way off, chicken was the choice when unexpected guests arrived, which was quite often, in Coorg. The flavour of a free – range chicken, even though smaller and a bit stringier, is far more rich and delicious than the farmed variety. This smooth, toothsome chicken curry is traditionally eaten with nool puttus. This recipe is from my paternal grandmother, and came to me through my aunt. It’s special because even though I’m not such a big fan of chicken, I love this curry, it’s so full of flavour.
Nool Puttu - Steamed thread-puttus
Nool -puttus are a soft –textured treat, pressed out in delicate strands, into a rounded heap, faintly scented with cardamom. They get their name from the thread –like strands of cooked rice. They taste best eaten with chicken or mutton curry. Leftover nool puttus can be spread out on sheets of newspaper, and sundried into crisp strands, deep fried, and eaten as a lovely, crunchy snack, mixed with handfuls of grated coconut and sugar.
They can also be eaten at breakfast with a thin syrup, made by boiling jaggery in water, straining it, and pouring the hot, sweet liquid over the nool puttus, topped with grated coconut and a pinch of cardamom.
Click here for information on set of Ingredients for Coorg Cuisine
Koli Curry: Curried Chicken, Coorg Style.
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Ingredients:
- 1 medium chicken, washed & cut into curry sized serving pieces
- salt
- turmeric
- 2 tbsp khas khas ( white poppy seeds)
- 1 clove
- 1-inch cinnamon
- 1 cardamom pod
- 2-inch ginger
- 1 whole garlic
- 2 large or 4 medium onions, chopped fine
- 3 generous tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp chilli powder, or to taste
- 4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
- ½ tsp kachampuli
- chopped coriander leaves to garnish
- oil for frying
- coconut milk, extracted form 1 coconut, as in previous recipe. First extract milk with 1 cup hot water (thick milk), and then extract second milk with 2 cups hot water (thin milk).
Method:
- Add salt and turmeric to chicken pieces & set aside. Grind khas khas fine, then add clove, cinnamon, cardamom, garlic & ginger, & grind together to a fine paste.
- Heat oil, fry chopped onions on a slow fire. When light brown, add khas khas paste, & continue to fry until an aroma rises form the pan.
- Add 3tsp coriander powder, fry for a minute, then add chilli powder.
- After a minute, add chicken pieces & fry to 10 – 15 mins.
- Add chopped tomatoes & fry for a few minutes.
- Add thin coconut milk, cover vessel & cook on slow fire until chicken is done.
- Add thick coconut milk.
- Add ½ tsp kachampuli & boil gently until gravy thickens.
Adjust salt to taste, garnish with chopped coriander leaves & serve with nool puttus |
Food Photography by Nithin Sagi
This first set of recipes for classic Coorg curries and fries, and a few steamed rice puttus are from my aunt, Sabitha Chengappa, who in addition to her enviable academic record – a Fulbright Scholar and a PhD.- manages her own coffee estate, is a superb cook and gardener, and one of the most generous hostesses I know.
Tags: Coorg Chicken Curry, Koli Curry
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Friday, May 18th, 2012
A Gourmet’s Table In Coorg presents a traditional Njende Curry ( Crab Curry) full of sour -spicy flavours. Eaten with Akki Ottis,(rice rotis), this curry is so good, it is usually polished off at one sitting.
 Crab Curry
Click here for information on set of Ingredients for Coorg Cuisine
Njende Curry: Crab Curry
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Crabs from the clear streams, and the mud embankments of paddy fields were always popular, in addition to the supply of fresh sea crabs from the coasts of Malabar and Mangalore that made their way to the markets in Kodagu. This curry,full of extraordinary flavour, is best eaten with akki ottis or steamed white rice.
Ingredients:
- 1kg crabs (about 4 -5)
- Salt, turmeric
- Oil for frying
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp kachampuli
- Limejuice
Fried Masala:
- 2 tbsp whole coriander seeds
- 1 tsp whole peppercorns
- 8 dry, whole red chillies
- ½ tsp jeera
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- few grains of methi seeds
- 1 whole garlic, split into pods
- 1-inch fresh ginger
Method:
- Heat 2 tbsp oil, reduce the flame, and fry all the above ingredients for 1 -2 mins.
- Then add: 6 medium onions, sliced, & fry till onions become light brown & limp.
- Add ¼ coconut, grated & fry the whole mixture until dark brown, & it releases its aroma.
- Remove from fire, & when cool, add 4 large, ripe tomatoes, grind the whole mixture to a smooth paste, & add to the crabs.
- Wash out the spice mixture from the mixer, & reserve 2 cups of this spice water.
- Heat 2-3 tbsp oil in a vessel &add all the crabs with masala paste & stir well. Fry for about 5 mins.
- Add 2 cups of masala water, & cook uncovered, on a slow fire, for about 15 mins or less.
- Add 1 tbsp kachampuli, simmer for a few minutes until the oil rises.
Add 1 tsp sugar, test for salt & sourness. Serve with a dash of fresh limejuice
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This first set of recipes for classic Coorg curries and fries, and a few steamed rice puttus are from my aunt, Sabitha Chengappa, who in addition to her enviable academic record – a Fulbright Scholar and a PhD.- manages her own coffee estate, is a superb cook and gardener, and one of the most generous hostesses I know.
Tags: Coorg Crab Curry
20 Comments » | Recipes | Print | Print This Post
Monday, May 14th, 2012
 Pandi Curry Click here for information on set of Ingredients for Coorg Cuisine
Pandi Curry: Rich, Dark Pork Curry
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Pork is a great delicacy in Kodagu,and this classic curry is the star of the table.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg pork with skin and fat, cut into small pieces.
- Salt
- 1 tsp fresh ground pepper powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 6 medium onions, sliced
- 1 whole pod garlic, coarsely crushed
- gingelly oil
- 2 inch piece ginger, crushed
- 3 level tbsp coriander powder
- 2 level tbsp chili powder
- kachampuli or malt vinegar
In addition:
- 1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
- ½ tsp mustard seeds, both slow roasted separately on a tava, until medium brown, cooled & powdered fine.
Method:
- Wash the pork, (retain ½ cup water) drain, and add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper powder, turmeric and set aside.
- Mix the sliced onions & crushed garlic with the pork.
- Heat about 3 tbsp gingelly oil (more, if the pork contains less fat), add the crushed ginger, & fry until brown. Remove browned ginger, & add to the pork.
- On very low flame, add 3 level tbsp coriander powder & keep stirring for about 1minute. Then add 2 level tbsp chili powder, & stir until it turns coffee brown.
- Add the pork, & its washed water (about ½ cup). Cover the vessel with a lid, & cook on medium flame until all the water evaporates. Keep stirring occasionally.
- When all the water has evaporated, add warm water to just cover the meat, and cook uncovered on a medium flame until done.
- You can also pressure cook the pork in the following way. Once the water evaporates, add 2 cups of water, and pressure cook for 2 whistles.
- Once the pork is done, whether slow cooked, or pressure-cooked, add 1 ½ tbsp kachampuli, stir, & cook for a further 10 mins on a slow fire. Taste, & add more salt or kachampuli, as required. The oil should rise to the surface.
- Add the roasted, ground jeera & mustard seeds to the curry.
Cook’s Tip:
This is a slightly different, and entirely delicious pandi curry. This recipe is from my aunt’s mother, & as a cook’s tip, she shares this with us – she never hurries pork by pressure- cooking it, preferring to allow it to cook slowly, to release fat and natural flavours. The result is, deep flavours, and succulent pork, cooked to perfection. She also uses gingelly oil, which was the traditional cooking medium in Coorg, which adds its own memorable flavour to this curry. I can vouch that slow cooking the pork is worth every bit of the effort !
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Classic Pandi Curry Made Easy
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Pork is a great delicacy in Kodagu,and this classic curry is the star of the table.
Ingredients:
- 1kg Pork, with a proportion of fat, and a small quantity of bones,cut into cubes (fat and bones combined should not exceed 250 grams)
- 2 large onions, chopped fine.
- 4 inch piece of ginger
- 4 cloves of garlic.
- 2 tablespoons whole cumin (jeera) seeds.
- 1 ½ tablespoons mustard (rye) seeds.
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns.
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek (methi) seeds.
- 2 teaspoons turmeric powder.
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder.
- 1 tablespoon, or to taste, red chili powder.
- 3 green chillies, slit vertically.
- 1 ½ tablespoon kachampuli, or Coorg vinegar ( see note on ingredients for substitutes)
- salt to taste.
- 2 cups hot water.
- A little oil for frying
Method :
- Grind the ginger and garlic to a fine paste.
- Dry roast each of the dry spices on a hot tava, separately. Start with the spices that take longer to roast. Mustard seeds should turn white and begin to crackle; the cumin and fenugreek should turn dark brown and begin to release their aromas. Allow them to cool, then grind each one separately to a fine powder.
- Wash and drain the pork, sprinkle with the turmeric and set aside.
- Fry the chopped onions in a little oil ( 3-4 tablespoons) until lightly browned.
- Add the garlic ginger paste and fry for a few minutes.
- Add the pork and turmeric, and fry until the pork releases water, and begins to change colour.
- Sprinkle and mix in the coriander powder, chilli powder, and finally all the dry roasted spices. Stir thoroughly. Add salt to taste.
- Add about 2 cups of hot water, or according to the gravy required.
- Pressure cook on medium heat for about 20 mins. Remove from gas and allow the pressure to drop.
- Add about 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of kachampuli, and simmer for a few minutes. If you are using a substitute for kachampuli, like a dark brown vinegar, you will have to double the quantities, and the curry may not be so dark in colour. Finally, add the green chillies.
Pandi curry can be eaten with akki ottis, or kadambuttus.
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This first set of recipes for classic Coorg curries and fries, and a few steamed rice puttus are from my aunt, Sabitha Chengappa, who in addition to her enviable academic record – a Fulbright Scholar and a PhD.- manages her own coffee estate, is a superb cook and gardener, and one of the most generous hostesses I know.
Tags: Coorg Pork Curry, Pandi Curry, Sabita Chengappa
44 Comments » | Recipes | Print | Print This Post
Monday, May 14th, 2012
Kachampuli, is an ingredient you will encounter frequently in many Coorg dishes. It is a dark, tart vinegar, which has been made in the region for centuries, and is indispensable in many preparations. Every Coorg kitchen has a couple of bottles, or more, of the vinegar stored away, and at one time most families- including my mother-in-law’s, from whom I have this recipe – made their own. The ripe fruits from the garcinia gummi gutta tree are gathered and heaped up in winnowing fans or new baskets, and left outdoors to ferment and release their juices, which are collected in earthenware pots placed underneath. This juice is then gently boiled down, until it thickens, into a dark brown vinegar, which can be stored indefinitely. With long storage, all its properties intensify – the vinegar just becomes denser, darker, more sour and sticky. The young vinegar is lighter in colour, pours easily, and you will need to use more of it for the required sourness.
During ancient times, the rajahs of Coorg issued orders to the local headmen to mark the panapuli trees, as they are known, that were ready to fruit. Tribals were directed to collect the fruit, carry it to the nearest village, where the vinegar was prepared. Some of the fruit was sun,–dried, and packed into baskets made of reed and delivered to the Palace. My friend and fellow food writer, Marryam Reshi, summed it up beautifully when she likened kachampuli to the precious balsamic vinegar of Modena!
Kachampuli – which draws its name from the boiling process the fruit undergoes – is the signature flavour in all the classic Kodagu dishes from pandi curry to chicken fry, and several in between. It is a souring and thickening agent, which can be used as a marinade. It is often added last to a curry that is already cooked, and simmered gently to thicken it, while adding a dash of that special flavour. It was also widely used in vegetarian dishes, although less so now, with the easy availability of other souring agents. A reasonable substitute is a dark brown malt vinegar, although it will never give you the rich, dark colour of kachampuli. My preferred dark vinegar in the kitchen is E.F. Kolah’s brand established in 1885, the sugarcane juice matured without any additives, in wooden barrels in Navsari,Gujarat.
Kokum, used extensively in Konkan cooking, and Kodampuli or fish tamarind from Kerala are fruits of the same botanical family. They are dried and used directly in cooking.
Tari, which is used to make all the Coorg puttus is really broken rice, each grain roughly pounded into approximately three to four. Idly rava, easily available in all south Indian stores is a good substitute. You can make your own tari at home by washing and drying the required quantity of rice, and then pulsing it in a mixer, taking care not to grind it to a powder.
Akki podi is finely powdered rice, used to make rice rotis, and a batter for some fried sweets.
Tags: Akki Podi, Coorg Cuisine, Garcinia gummi gatta, Kachampuli
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