9 replies to this topic

[Suresh Hinduja]

A few weeks ago at  member Ravums persistence, I dragged myself out of bed early and met her at a Food festival of rural North Karnataka.

Food being prepared


Crowds waiting patiently


Ta da! We got the first serving.


Do any of you all remember the bioscope wallah?



Ravum, you were taking notes of the food, please post your comments here.

[ravum]

okay...the dishes were - from the bowl in the centre

wheat paayasa (godambi payasa)
groundnut [acronym="or Laddu is a ball-shaped sweet popular in South Asian countries' class='bbc ipSeoAcronym'>Laddoo is a ball-shaped sweet popular in South Asian countries' class='bbc ipSeoAcronym"]Laddu[/acronym] is a ball-shaped sweet popular in South Asian countries' class='bbc ipSeoAcronym'>Laddu is a ball-shaped sweet popular in South Asian countries' class='bbc ipSeoAcronym'>laddoo
yennagai (very fiery hot -destroying the popular notion that only andhra food is hot and that kannada food is sweet)
pickles ( regular mango)
salad (onions,cucumbers,raw methi)
thin coconut chutney (again the kind to make you cry)
alasande (cowpeas - no surprise, all i tasted was the mirchi)
jowar khichdi (only jowar,no dal - this was relatively mild and had a smoky taste, as though the jowar had been roasted)
[acronym="Also called Jowar Roti , is a specialty North Karnataka unleavened Indian bread made out of jowar (Sorghum). The name literally translates into sorghum bread.' class='bbc ipSeoAcronym"]jolada rotti[/acronym] (jowar  [acronym="is a round flat unleavened bread often used in the cuisine of western and central India, especially in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Malwa, Goa and northern Karnataka.' class='bbc ipSeoAcronym"][acronym="is a round flat unleavened bread often used in the cuisine of western and central India, especially in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Malwa, Goa and northern Karnataka.' class='bbc ipSeoAcronym"]bhakris[/acronym][/acronym])
yogurt rice ( this had crushed raw garlic in it and was excellent)

i really enjoyed the jowar khichdi and dahi chaval.

havent eaten/heard of raw garlic in curd rice before,has anyone else ?

i was given a withering look for being an ignoramus and asking for bisi bele baath - "that is south karnataka - we do not make it"

[Peppertrail]

Beautiful pictures Suresh. And thanks for the note on recipes ravum. Was the coconut chutney made with dry red chilies? Garlic in thayir chaatam??

Ravum; were you able to get any recipes? would love the recipe for that hot eggplant curry -yennagai.

[bague25]

Lucky you!

Was this organized for some festival/ocassion?

I loved jatras when I was a kid (I still do).

[Sekhar]

Thanks for the pictures and description Suresh and Ravum!

I knew I'd spotted jowar rotis (jonna rotte) there. http://www.gourmetin...tyle_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif

Were the jolada rottis hand made? In the sense, not rolled but 'slammed' by hand into shape, crispy and wafer thin? A dying art I think, with more people even in the villages switching to 'bun chai' and sona masoori.

Looks like typical kaanavali food?

[ravum]

ammini, the cooks were all busy and my kannada is rudimentary - so no recipes.
but, yennagai is very popular here and can easily get you a recipe if you are keen on it.

yes,garlic in thayir saadam, that too raw - sounds disastrous but it was very good. the whole clove was just crushed and mixed in as is. it was crunchy and the sharpness was tamed by the yogurt. it reminded me of the many mediterranean dishes using raw garlic+ yogurt.

bague, this was organised by an association working on improving living standards in north karnataka and was billed as a "rotti panchami" - but the rotis were all outsourced to hotels and not made onsite http://www.gourmetin...tyle_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif .

sekhar, we couldn't see the rotis being made, but these were handmade and crisp like an appalam. are they supposed to be that crisp? i love and am used to soft maharashtrian bhakris, so this wafer crisp roti takes some getting used to.
also, can the jowar roti be rolled,unless there is atta in it also?

[Sekhar]

ravum, on Aug 19 2008, 11:27 PM, said:

sekhar, we couldn't see the rotis being made, but these were handmade and crisp like an appalam. are they supposed to be that crisp? i love and am used to soft maharashtrian bhakris, so this wafer crisp roti takes some getting used to.
also, can the jowar roti be rolled,unless there is atta in it also?

Done both ways, soft and crispy. Getting them  thin and crispy is where the art part comes in. http://www.gourmetin...tyle_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif  Many memories of hot nimbu dal and crisp jonna rotte...

It can be done phulka style too :
http://www.gourmetin...p...post&p=6709

And a few posts later, Bague's pictures of the technique:
http://www.gourmetin...p...post&p=6729

[ravum]

sekhar, the cooked dough roti you've given the method for is the one thats usually available in the north karnataka outlets here.

the rotis at the festival were raw jowar flour rotis though, maharastrian type.

i just remembered that the jowar khichdi was made with a green called "pundi soppu" - http://girmitt.wordp...28/pundi-palle/

that looks like a probable recipe.

[Peppertrail]

ravum, on Aug 19 2008, 09:27 PM, said:

ammini, the cooks were all busy and my kannada is rudimentary - so no recipes.
but, yennagai is very popular here and can easily get you a recipe if you are keen on it.

yes,garlic in thayir saadam, that too raw - sounds disastrous but it was very good. the whole clove was just crushed and mixed in as is. it was crunchy and the sharpness was tamed by the yogurt. it reminded me of the many mediterranean dishes using raw garlic+ yogurt.

Is yennagai similar to yennai kathirikkai? I have seen a recipe for it in Dakshin. But it appeared rather dry. The yennagai  in Suresh's photograph also has some sauce with it.

[Chetan]

Our Member Nivedita has quite a few recipes on this.

Badnekayi yennagai :
http://www.gourmetin...-for-the-event/


Nivedita , any answer to Peppertrails Question ?