Eat local. Why the eating principles of the Kodavas are worth emulating
I am just back after spending a few blissful days in the coffee capital of the country – Coorg. The superlative coffee there is a draw without doubt, and so are the long stretches of deep green coffee plantations (it’s a different soul soothing green altogether!), and of course the pure, clean air that effectively cleans out our city slackened innards. But that’s not all this amazingly beautiful district, the smallest in Karnataka is worth visiting for. There’s their food too - the local Kodava cuisine; and during this trip, I realised that a lot of their eating principles are worth emulating.
First is their eat local rule. Traditionally Kodavas always ate what was available off the land, and that continues till date. For example, rice is grown in abundance in the Coorg region, so boiled rice, rice dumplings, Kanjee (a fermented rice gruel) and Akki roti (made out of rice flour) is their staple diet. Wheat is hardly eaten. Makes sense. If the genes are used to rice, and the digestive system is acclimatised to a particular grain, so why mess with it!
Other aspects that stands out about this cuisine are the heavy use of spices and coconut. Coorgi food is redolent of fresh spices. “You simply pluck the spices and put them in your food — and that’s what makes the food so special,” shared chef Chandikunju Vargchese (or Chef Chandy as he is fondly called) of Evolve Back Resort in Coorg when I asked him the secret for the sheer deliciousness of the cuisine. Besides spices as we all know are adaptogens, foods that add a lot of antioxidants and health giving and immunity boosting components to our diet and counter the daily physiological stresses effectively.
Coconut helps to restore the stress-induced and age-related oxidative tissue damage in our body and delivers healthy fats too. The medium-chain triglycerides it has converted into monoglycerides and medium-chain free fatty acids during digestion, and the good news is that our body doesn’t store them as fat, instead uses as an energy source right away. Thus, coconut actually encourages weight loss and help you shed unwanted pounds. Surprised!
Coconut also delivers multiple minerals, specially the often missed trace minerals like manganese, copper, selenium, iodine, potassium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc. All of which we need for staying healthy, and keep fatigue away. In addition some specific fats found in coconut - caprylic, capric and lauric fatty acids - are antibacterial and antiviral so they help bolster our immune system and destroy pathogens, keeping us safe from seasonal, viral diseases.
Now Kodavas are primarily non vegetarian, pork is practically a staple, but there they make some killer vegetarian dishes too. In fact stems and leaves of vegetables (like kembh leaves, edible colocasia) and fruits (for example jungle mangoes) feature prominently in the cuisine. In fact Kachampuli, a thick concentrated juice from a local fruit (Garcinia Gummi Gutta) provides the sauce base for most Coorgi dishes.
Green chillies are used liberally, and there is a potent local variety called little Kanthari (also grown in Kerala), known in the Kodava language as parangi malu. It is tiny but very hot. I spotted little shrubs growing outside my cottage at the resort and their in-house naturalist told me that every kitchen garden in Coorg by default has a shrub of this potent chilli. Makes sense, as besides its sharp flavour, apparently this chilli has cholesterol-lowering effects.
Mushrooms are quite a favourite too. A local dish worth trying is Kummu curry, a wild mushroom curry. Made in an onion-tomato-coconut gravy, I had this dish a couple of times during my stay. It's a very tasty way to eat more of this health giving fungi. Try it.
Finally chutneys and pickles are also an important part of the Kodava food. Chef Chandy taught me how to make an amazing bitter gourd pickle. It’s simple: Deseed and cut bitter guard (250 gm). Crackle mustard seeds (a pinch) in oil (25 ml), sauté ginger, garlic, green chilly (10 gm each) and a few curry leaves. Add bitter guard and sauté well. Add turmeric powder, chilly powder (1 tsp each), asafoetida powder and fenugreek powder (a pinch each). Pour the vinegar (100 ml) and cook it for few minutes. Season with salt and sugar (both to taste). Let it cool. I made a batch as soon as I got back home, and now relish (and relive) the taste of Coorg with all my meals. You could too!