Coorg Calling

What we devoured on a weekend break in Coorg Valley. Drool on keyboard guaranteed with this read.

What do you do when you are up to your ears with news about pigs that fly? Escape to Coorg and hog (pun unintended) on pork, like we did. And to our pleasant surprise, we also discovered that there's more to Kodava cuisine than just porcine delicacies, all thanks to our lovely hosts -Dilip and Vidya - at Kabbe Holidays.
The homestay offers atleast one authentic Coorg dish in every meal which meant that we ended up sampling a whole lot of awesome food during our stay, carefully prepared under Vidya's supervision.
If it was steaming upma and kaipuli pajji (chutney made from marmalade oranges) for breakfast one day, it was hot akki otti (roti made of rice) with nutty yell pajji (sesame seed chutney), served with honey and ghee the next. The otti, I've enjoyed earlier too, but the upma was a revelation. It made me, a champion upma detester, a convert for life!



Kabbe Holidays on NDTV - watch the anchor savour yell pajji and akki otti


Akki otti and yell pajji, Coorg honey and ghee

Lunch and dinner threw up many more lip-smacking delights, both from Coorg and beyond the border- spicy Kerala kadala curry (black chick pea curry), kootu curry, bollari fry (a delicious traditional dish with a tinge of sweetness, made from Mangalore cucumber), fried balekai (raw banana), steaming paputtu (rice cakes) with koli curry (chicken) and chaat kuru curry (made from black eyed beans). Vidya's mouth watering mushroom pickle (another Coorg speciality) was the perfect accompaniment to the meals.


(From L to R) bollari fry, poori, pork fry, kadala curry, balekai, chicken


Paputtu with koli curry

And the piece de resistance - pandi fry. Chewy chunks of pork, abundantly peppered, flavoured with kachipuli (also known as Malabar Tamarind or cambogia - the souring agent in Coorg food) and fried with crunchy onions - best enjoyed with chilled beer, friendly banter, gorgeous weather and a crackling bonfire. The fieriness of the dish left me disorientated after just one bite, but I was back for more after dousing my tongue with lots of water. Oh, and pork is prepared at Kabbe homestay by request only so Vidya needs to be informed in advance if guests would like to have it.


Simple but gutsy pandi fry

A special mention to the luscious desserts served by Vidya - kheer, bread pudding, caramel custard and the guilt-flavored, totally addictive chocolate cake that she baked for Balaji as soon as she got to know that his birthday fell on one of the days we were there!


Calorie rich! Saddle bags guaranteed

Due to favourable rain and climate conditions in the valley, fresh vegetables, fruits and spices are in abundant supply. We made the best use of our visit by stocking up on pepper and fragrant cardamom from Dilip's plantations, as well as the popular Coorg honey. Luckily for us, they had enough stock of home-made squashes of bitter sweet pomelo (chakota in Kannada) and tangy passion fruit, for us to take away a bottle each. By the way, these squashes make for great cocktails with vodka - as Balaji discovered, thanks to Dilip.


Bounties of Kodagu - that's kachipuli in the bottle on the left, followed by honey, pomelo squash, coffee and spices

On our way back to Bangalore, we picked up some of the famed coffee from Coorg Coffee Works, which is close to the clock tower at Virajpet. The Nilgiris outlet in Gonikoppa is a good place to pick up locally made squashes and fruit wines (pomegranate, star apple, fig - sounds deliciously exotic, right?). We also found kachipuli, pork masala and tender bamboo pickle (a Kodagu speciality again) here. Both towns have streetside vendors selling native fruits and vegetables for a fraction of the city prices- we found fresh avocados for Rs 20 a kilo (yes, read it again - Rs 20 a KILO).

And the air smelling of the freshness of spring? Priceless!



Did you know........
................................that pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world, accounting for about 38 percent of meat production worldwide?
................................that the pomelo is also called the shaddock, after an English sea captain who introduced them to the West Indies?
...............................that natives of Coorg are NOT called Coorgis? The correct term is Coorgs or Kodavas and the language spoken by them is also called Coorg.

Wild Spice

#1, Cariappa Bhavan,
Field Marshal Cariappa Road (Residency Road),
Bangalore - 560025.
Phone : 9880381009

Food: 2.5/5
Service: 2/5
Ambience: 2/5
Meal for 2: Rs 250

We stumbled upon this hole-in-the-wall restaurant one late evening while looking for some grub after a movie. Easy to miss, it is located in the basement of the Cariappa Bhavan - opposite to Good Shepherd Convent and St. Joseph's College of Business Administration - a short walk from Brigade Road. It looks dingy on the inside, especially at night with dim yellow lights (that's why the 'shady' pics:) ) and a tiny, blaring TV perched close to the ceiling. Don't let that deter you from experiencing some delightful Coorgi fare available in the city.

The kadambattus are well worth a try. Listed as hot, snowy balls on the menu, this staple from Kodava cuisine is nothing but steamed dumplings made from rice. They could have done with a pinch of salt but I guess its only because we weren't used to the taste of it. However, you can't go wrong with the pandi (pork) curry as an accompaniment. The distinct black colour of the curry comes from the homeground roast spices used. Beware! It is quite spicy and it took several cold drinks to get over it!

Hot stuff!

The rice rottis and chicken pepper fry make for a good meal as well. The rottis are soft and very filling and the chicken, cooked in Coorgi style was fiery; lest you forget that the "Land of the Brave" is also the land of spice - what with an abundance of pepper grown in the verdant valley!

We heard that the pumpkin fry and ghee rice are other Coorgi delicacies and that Wild Spice serves a mean version of them but sadly, we were too stuffed with copious amounts of rottis and kadambattus to try anything else.

We would recommend this place to anyone who is looking for traditional and reasonably priced Coorgi food in Bangalore.

PS - Did we mention the amusing quotes printed on the menu, some of them attributed to Confucius? Sample this...'A family that dines together, grows sideways together'! Another smart one - 'For a healthy life, choose your restaurant like you would choose your spouse'. Deep, eh?

Did you know..........
...............................that the Coorg wedding is perhaps the only Hindu wedding where alcohol and meat are served? No wedding in Coorg is complete without kadambattu, pandi curry, koli (chicken) curry to name a few.