A sweet Malenadu legacy

As the sugarcane harvest begins, todedevu, a delicacy from Malenadu, is finding its way back onto plates with growing demand from urban areas, writes Divyashri Mudakavi

As the aromas of sugarcane juice extraction and jaggery-making fills the air, agrarian families in the Malenadu belt extract age-old earthen pots from attics to prepare the traditional delicacy of ‘todadevu’ or ‘todedevu’.

This wafer-thin, crispy and layered sweet is traditionally prepared using rice, sugarcane juice, a pinch of salt and cardamom powder on firewood using an earthen pot. The sweet is prepared in Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga districts in Makara maasa (January) mainly. 

Until a couple of decades ago, friends and family would get together during the sugarcane harvesting season and celebrate the ‘Alemane festival’. 

Traditionally, an Alemane is a place where sugarcane juice is extracted and fresh jaggery is made. Earlier, most households in Malenadu grew sugarcane and during the harvesting season, they would use bullocks to juice sugarcanes.

The liquid would be boiled to the right consistency to get jaggery. The process would be spread over many days during which villagers would gather and enjoy the season’s offerings including sugarcane juice, jaggery and delicacies like the todedevu. It was, in fact, a community festival.

However, with the migration of younger generations to cities, the ‘Alemane’ culture is vanishing and with it, delicacies like todedevu too are disappearing from plates.

“Preparing todedevu needs a lot of patience and skill. The person preparing it has to constantly sit before a traditional wooden stove. Also, it cannot be prepared using our modern cookware. This has made todedevu rare. Luckily, there are a handful of people who have kept the tradition alive in their culinary heirlooms,” says Madhumathi Hegde, a culinary enthusiast from Sirsi.

Nagaveni Hegde, in Sirsi, has been preparing todedevu for the last 15 years. Having learned the skill from her parents, she prepares it for family and friends. Now, she has also been offering it to the guests visiting the homestay run by her family.

She explains the process: “We soak rice for five to six hours and then grind it with semi-liquid jaggery (available locally), sugarcane juice, cardamom powder and pinch of salt in a stone grinder to make a fine batter and sieve it,” she says. 

The mixture is then spread thinly in the form of a ‘plus’ symbol on an inverted, seasoned earthen pot, using a piece of thin cotton cloth tied to a stick, much like a flag. After two minutes of baking on a firewood stove, the layers are lifted using areca sheaths and folded to form layers.

While some fold it in a triangular form, some make it rectangular. Once cooled down, the layers become crispy and can be savoured with ghee or milk. It can be stored for around a month in airtight containers.

‘Toda’ means spreading in the literal sense and hence the word todedevu. Interestingly, noted novelist Shivaram Karanth called it kambani kajjaya (kambani means tears, kajjaya means sweet) as generally those who prepare it have tears in their eyes due to the smoke,” says P G Hegde, Nagaveni’s husband.

Though todedevu is generally considered a speciality of Malenadu, it is also prepared in parts of central Karnataka including Davangere district. In this region, it is known as ‘augu holige’ or simply ‘augu’.

“In Malenadu, the tradition has been mainly continued by the women of the Havyaka Brahmin community, while in the plain lands, people of all communities prepare it,” says Prathibha M V, founder of Jeevanmukhi, a women’s group.

New interest

According to her, the demand for todedevu has been increasing in urban areas in recent years as people with Malenadu roots want to offer regional delicacies to guests during weddings and other events. Also, many people with childhood memories associated with the Alemane community celebrations make it a point to carry todedevu while touring Malenadu.

To cater to this demand, some people have now been making the delicacy on a large scale and selling it.

Parvathi Hegde of Tuduguni in Yellapur taluk is known for her tasty todedevu. During the peak season, her husband Parameshwar and son Ganapathi sell around 15,000 todedevu, made using nearly 10 quintals of rice.

“Nearly 15 todedevu can be prepared using one kg of rice and each piece of todedevu is sold at around Rs 15. We prepare them against orders and supply them to stores in Sirsi,” says Parameshwar Hegde.

Pratima and Subray Y G of Eli village in Sagar taluk have been making todedevu for 13 years now. The todedevu, thus prepared, is in demand in Shivamogga, Bengaluru and other urban centres. Many people have even carried the delicacy to the US, UK and other places for their relatives and friends. 

“In recent years, todedevu has turned into a well-liked edible gift that people of Malenadu offer. It does not have any preservatives and is made using organic products. Earlier, it was prepared only during sugarcane harvest season but now, we prepare it during all seasons using organic semi-liquid jaggery,” says S R Hegde of Padigere near Sirsi.

While many of these makers prefer the traditional todedevu, some like Gururaj from Nanjavalli in Hosanagara taluk have given the delicacy a slight twist.

“We make todedevu using organic and desi rice varieties like Barama and Padmarekha, and organic jaggery. But to cater to health-conscious people, we have come up with todedevu of foxtail millet (Navanakki in Kannada). We also add a bit of ginger powder, betel leaf and clove to the batter to give a unique flavour,” says Gururaj.

The Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences at Iruvakki in Sagar taluk has also developed a smokeless stove for Gururaj and this eases his work to some extent. He is also preparing to export todedevu after coming up with proper packing techniques and getting clearances from authorities with the help of the university.

“Our main aim must be to maintain quality. Only then, todedevu, the signature delicacy of Malenadu, can reach the globe,” adds Gururaj.