Utter the words “Kalle kudipake poka?” (Let’s get a drink?) and the Coorgs in the city will nod whole heartedly. And with Cheers Coorg, a labour of love of a couple from the hilly region, it’s also about the eating while drinking, as is the case with the traditional hunters in the Kodava hinterland!

The new restaurant’s owners Appaiah and Kajal decided to bring ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking to the restaurant business — brandishing the ‘tipple-happy, odikathi-wielding, warrior’s cuisine.’ The couple sent a few eager beaver cooks to Coorg, to learn the intricacies of Kachampulli and pandi.

They roped in Kajal’s mom’s traditional recipes and her National Institute of Design expertise with Appaiah’s foodie-cum-business acumen and came out all guns blaring! Odikathi, peethekathi and all, quite like its logo implies.

In most cases, the restaurant precedes the home delivery, but here it was the other way around and they are only wiser because of it.

Though right now, there is ‘apparently’ nothing to say cheers about (the liquor license is still being processed), we found the ‘pandi’ and experience heartening. So while many spirited Coorgs might abstain from going there till the tipple flows, others can go gorge on the Pandi perperations.

Enter this ‘old estate home-like’ atmosphere resplendent with peeks into history on the walls which is spacious and tastefully rendered. If you’d like to Pandi around the papputtu, with some hearty Coorgs as company, this is where will get a meal straight from Appaiah’s mom-in-law’s estate kitchen.

“She is the key architect and though our cooks are not from Coorg, they were trained in our very own ‘offsite’!” says the owner who is still ‘soul searching’ for more authentic old tradition and family photographs from Kodava history. About the lack of alcohol, Appaiah shrugs stoically, “Well, I’ve been walking on a minefield thanks to that but we will get it soon.”

A lot of heart has gone into the venture — It’s visible in the attention to detail — be it the glass partition made up of Appaiah’s shining wedding kummerband, the snippets of Coorg history and it’s obsession with ‘which family you belong to’ or the small niches on various levels reminiscent of a coffee plantation home with some spectacular Mark Swaroop wedding collection photographs. The manager, Rakesh Gurung is on top of it while the waiters stand expectantly, with tablet in hand!

Let the ‘meating’ begin We started with fresh juice— the passion fruit was sweet and the bitter orange or kaipuli was refreshing.

There’s gooseberry too. Next came the Chilkana pandi, a meaty blend of onion, green chillies with Kachampulli which was tender, tangy with spicy overtones.

The Kachampulli Fish Fry came next which was sour, with flakey pieces of bassa that had imbibed the tang of the vinegar so well. Four pieces marinated and panfried with pepper — Absolutely delectable.

“The popular dishes are of course Pandi curry and koli curry though Chuttada is my favourite, a burnt charcoal pork that is traditionally a hunting recipe. These starters are good with alcohol, as should be the case,” Appaiah says.

We of course did justice to the spicy, gravyful, perfectly cooked pandi curry with akki roti and sannas.

Freshness, with just the right balance of kachampulli and spice with fluffy akki as the perfect accompaniment. The chicken curry came next, in a coconut gravy, it was light, flavourful and great with sannas.

The mango curry, bayembale or bamboo shoot, chekke fry or raw jack fruit and the immensely popular mushroom curry will keep the vegetarians a happy lot too.

The yerchi pulav is another great option, mutton pulav served with mango paji and of course the Wanku Yerchi, a family recipe of smoked slices of dried pork cooked in chillies. You can also gorge on staples like kadamputtu, paaputtu and noolputtu.

“We source local ingredients from the Mahila Samaj which helps local ladies of the region. I am a foodie and love my meat … A lot of thought has gone into everything. Our desserts — Coconut soufflé and caramel custard are made by my mother-in-law and we also do pickles and apricot brandy,” he adds.

The ambience is spot on, in terms of comfort, design sensibility and placing of tables with a sense of ease and openness. The waiters know their menu, thankfully. Prices are on the higher side but the taste will surely make you go back again, and again.

There are plans to open a terrace lounge once the liquor license is in place which Appaiah hopes will be a platform for college bands to perform. Till then though, the pandi is surely enough.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> Lifestyle> Dine o Mite / by Suruchi Kapur-Gomes, DC, Bengaluru / October 06th, 2012

It’s very tough to compare the food of North and South India; but the good news is that they are all delicious across the board. Particularly inspiring are some fiery curries. While very different ingredients are used to get the heat going in these regions — dry masalas and spices in the North vis-a-vis fresh produce in the South — they are all extremely popular. This week, we look at Laal Maas from Rajasthan and Pandhi Curry from Coorg.

Pandhi Curry
While pandhi curry is a traditional pork curry of Coorg or the Kodava region, you can substitute it with mutton or chicken. The curry is different because a traditional black vinegar unique to the region called kachampully provides a distinct tangy taste. kachampully lasts years in the fridge. You can use a dash of balsamic vinegar if you don’t have kacham-pully.

Ingredients
½ kg pork or mutton cubed
½ tsp Kachampuli or balsamic vinegar
1-2 tsp salt
1 tsp red chilli powder.
2 onions, sliced
1 tsp ginger, grated
3 cloves of garlic, grated
6 green chillies
1 small bunch of coriander leaves
For the pandhi curry masala
Dry Roast and grind the following:
1 tsp jeera
¼ tsp fenugreek
2 tbsp black pepper

Method
Grind together the onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies and coriander and keep aside.
In the meat, add the onion, green chilli paste and the ground masala and let it marinate for an hour along with the turmeric salt and chilli powder.
Cook meat in a pressure cooker, adding water if needed till tender. Uncover, add the kachampully and cook uncovered for a couple of minutes.
Serve hot with coriander leaves.
Ideal with appams, bread or Goan paos.

Laal Maas
Like most things in Rajasthan, its food traditionally has to be showy and rich. The palace cooks would go great lengths to ensure that the food looked good enough, else it would be sent back without being tasted.
So while cooking laal maas (literally red meat), Rajasthani cooks ensure that it looks fiery hot, though the actual heat of the dish is much lesser than expected.

Ingredients
1 kg lamb, cubed
1 cup oil
6 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
50 gm cup coriander powder
3 onions, sliced
1 cup yogurt, whisked
Salt to taste
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp garlic paste
2 cups warm water
2 tbsp, coriander leaves, chopped

Method
Mix all ingredients except oil, garlic paste, water and coriander leaves with the meat and marinate for one hour. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan, add the marinated lamb and cook over a slow fire for 45 minutes or till the meat is tender. Add garlic paste and cook till the oil separates.
Add water and bring to a boil. Sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve hot with tandoori rotis or rice.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> Lifestyle> Dine o mite / by Priyak Mitra, DC / October 05th, 2012

In this piece of paradise called Coorg, river Cauvery is born. Snaking through the splendid hills and valleys, it enhances the beauty of the land. On the banks of this stunning river, is a forest called Dubare. And on the edge of this forest, I had a unique holiday — interacting with the elephants and exploring the graceful Cauvery in coracles.

Coracle is a small, lightweight, round boat, which is steered with an oar. It moves at a gentle pace, with an inviting melody of water that sounds more like a soft lullaby. Each ride on coracles feels utterly blissful.

On day one, Kusha, the boatman, took me in his coracle; showing many birds during the ride. He is well informed about the flora and fauna of the area. Passing through the densest woods, we reached coffee plantations entering through bushes. On the water route, he also showed me kingfishers’ nests. The river has many islands and close to the water, these birds makes holes in the mud to make perfect round nests.

Next, we went to the ancient Nanjundeshwara temple on the other bank. The temple is 840 years old and looks charmingly aged and ancient with its stone structure and pillars. The outside walls and the gopurams seem freshly whitewashed. The inner sanctum, the huge Shiva linga, and the oil lamps, add to the beautiful ambience, except for a couple of florescent lights that actually ruin its appeal.

Next morning, I went on one more coracle ride, this time with Suresh, a veteran. In fact, he is called Coracle Suri. He taught me how to row the boat. At one point of time I was very scared. What if the boat topples and I fall into 50 ft deep water? And moreover, there was a male crocodile in the river. Leaving aside the worry for a while, I enjoyed the ‘spins’ where the boat twists round and round and make you feel dizzy.
Like the previous day, Suresh also showed me some rare and interesting birds. We went to the Island Rock where the crocodiles bask in the sun. I sat there and posed for photographs, but all the while in trepidation. What if a crocodile suddenly decides to reclaim its favourite seat? But I returned safe.

The day before leaving, I decided to take one more coracle ride early in the morning. These boat rides are addictive. I again wanted to see huge mango trees, laden heavy with bunches of small mangoes, bend onto the river, some of the branches almost touching water. Soft ripples making infinite circles, the cool breeze and the chanting coming faintly from the ancient temple across the river. Beautiful Cauvery in all its loveliness beckoning. To me, nothing can be more enchanting.
Coracle Suri was ready. But before getting into the boat, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t crocodile time. “No… No crocodile here… very far… after four miles.” But can’t crocodiles swim four miles? He reassured again, “More water it will come… now no rains no?” That sounded logical. Anyway, I was so keen on the coracle ride, I decided to ignore the crocodile.
We set out and Suri showed me wagtails, brahmani kite, white-breasted water yam, cormorant, grey heron, purple heron etc. He was reeling out the names of the birds like he was reciting nursery rhymes. So much avian knowledge for an illiterate boatman!

As we were looking at swallows, I asked Suri to show me a swallow’s nest. He obliged and showed me a nest on the mango tree branch that had curved onto the river. It was like a cup attached to the tree. Suri said, “One month no swallow… empty.” Later, Nagendra (naturalist) told me that he had seen the same swallow nest sometime back with the chicks, and they flew away a month ago, leaving the nest empty.
After this trip, I can say — if you love water, boat rides and elephants, then Dubare is the place. You will come back with wonderful experiences of all the three.
The writer is a documentary filmmaker

source: http://www.asianage.com / Home> Life & Style> Travel / by Vijaya Pratap / September 23rd, 2012