10 Simple Kodava Recipes

This cookbook lists 10 Coorgi recipes, greatly simplified so that a first time cook can easily cook them. There are just a handful of Coorgi recipes available on the net, which is a pity, as this delightfully unique cuisine deserves to be more widely known. For detailed recipes, check out Muthamma’s ‘The essential Kodava Cuisine’, published by Penguin India.

1.: Inji Pachchadi (Ginger- Yogurt curry) Coconut, ginger, jaggery and salt is blended together, mildly cooked and mixed in with yogurt.

2.: Ellu Pajji (Sesame chutney): Thick paste). Served mainly with Akki roti / dosa, this is just roasted sesame seeds blended to a paste with coconut, green chilies and tamarind.

3.: Tomato Pachadi (Tomato Chutney ) is just tomato raita flavoured with the typical Coorgi flavouring of coconut, green chili, mustard, garlic and salt blended together.

4.: Kummu Kari (Mushroom curry) is usually made from black jungle mushrooms

5.: Toppu Kari (Dry Spinach curry ) is just stir fried spinach.

6.: Boodi Kumbala Mor Kanni is boiled Ash gourd flavoured by coconut, cumin and mustard paste, (which is briefly cooked) and mixed in with yogurt..

7.: Kootu Kari (Mixed vegetable curry ) is boiled, mixed vegetables cooked with spices and coconut paste into a thick gravy.

8.: Chekke Kari (Raw Jack fruit sour curry) . Like Kerala, Baby jackfruit is a much loved vegetable (another specialty vegetable , like the North East is fermented Bamboo shoots) which is boiled along with tuvar dal and cooked with spices and tamarind.

9.:. Mudre Kanni (Horse gram gravy) . Similar to the Ulava Charu of Andhra, horse gram stock is cooked with spices into a soupy gravy.

10.: Togay (Tuvar dal coconut curry)is boiled tuvar dal flavoured by coconut, cumin and garlic paste. Like many Coorgi curries, it is garnished with fried mustard, red chili and curry leaves.