One hears about every kind of Indian cuisine, but rarely about Karnataka cuisine. The first food festival presented by the Indiranagar Club in its series of “Taste of India” showcased Karnataka cuisine in its different varieties. As many as 30 veg and non-veg items were on offer at the buffet held at the back lawns of the club. A diner could choose from any of the 30 dishes at an unbelievable rate of Rs 100 only per head.

Unlike other places, the vegetarians were not let down here. They could choose from almost fifty per cent of the items — Kai holige, parota, kadabu, bisi bele baath, Kotte (jackfruit leaf idli with sambhar), Othu savige with coconut milk, ragi mudde with avarekalu saru or soppu saru (typical of old Mysore area), jolada (jowar) rotti with chutney pudi and yenagai - spicy brinjal curry typical of North Karnataka. There was of course rice, rasam and curd rice. Dessert comprised of two varieties of sweets - payasa (hesirubele sabbakki payasa) and Mysore pak.

The non-vegetarian dishes were chosen from the cuisine styles of various parts of Karnataka. Thus from Mandya there was chicken kurma with freshly made dosa or puri. From the Bunt community of Mangalore there was kori rotti (a crackly crisp rice pancake) with chicken curry and Kane (ladyfish) rava fry in Mangalore style. Other items included keema gojju with puri, ragi mudde with mutton saru, mutton chops and mutton keema balls.

Karnataka cuisine is incomplete without non-veg items from Coorg. From the land of coffee and cardamom there was fried mutton, chicken liver fry (pooyarchi bartod), mutton curry (yarchi curry), chicken curry (koli saru) and Nullu puttu with ginger chutney all done in typical Coorg style.

“As many as 750 people responded to the food festival in advance and many more came on the day of the fest. We plan to have similar food festival on the last Sunday of every month showcasing cuisine from different parts of the country”, says Club Secretary C N Dinesh Malavaiah.

MP