Golden brown cauliflower bartadu, traditional kumm curry and akki payasam — taste the best of the Kodava cuisine at Novotel’s Coorg food festival.

Chennai :

On a balmy Sunday afternoon, we headed to Novotel, Chamiers Road to experience the goodness of the Kodava cuisine. A delightful combination of mouthwatering curries made with seasonal vegetables, meat-based dishes and preparations whipped from fresh harvest awaited us, as part of their 10-day long Flavours of Coorg food festival.

As we entered the restaurant, the aroma of fried mustard seeds and curry leaves took over our olfactory senses. Our stomach growled in hunger, in anticipation of what we were about to be served from their special Coorgi menu.

Sous chef Gopi, who worked for four years in Coorg has used his expertise to collaborate with a traditional home chef, Smitha Kuttayya, and present the menu.For the appetiser, a plate of cauliflower bartadu — battered cauliflower, fried till golden-brown and coated with spices was served.

“It’s a simple dish, but can be found in most Coorgi homes,” said city-based chef Smitha Kuttayya, founder of Global Theeni, co-curator of the menu. The bartadu, textured like tiny morsels of vegan popcorn had a battered crust crumbled into a soft and juicy cauliflower florette. The spices tickled the tongue with bursts of heat while the cauliflower melted into a layer of cream that tasted mildly sweet.

Next, three sardines were neatly plated on a circle cut from a banana leaf — we were about to taste the finger-licking good mathi meen. The fish was coated with salt and pepper, shallow fried and drizzled with lemon juice, allowing the sourness of the lemon to complement the meat. For the main course, a generous portion of otti (flatbreads) with a traditional kumm curry was served. The rice flour rotis were white and soaked up a good amount of kumm (mushroom) curry when dipped.

The kumm curry — a delicious concoction of coconut milk, chilli powder, mustard seeds and curry leaves burst with flavours. “Coorgis are all farmers and we use what we find on the land. The mushrooms we use are small and can be found right after the first bout of rain. In the city, I’ve only found the button mushroom. So I use that to prepare the dish,” said Smitha.

Before we knew it, it was time for dessert and a plate of kuvalé puttu was served with two portions wrapped in banana leaves. “We are rice growers. This preparation is the simple combination of ripe bananas and rice with a dash of cardamom to add flavour,” she said.

The subtly sweet dish is served with a garnish of sliced almonds. The bananas add sweetness while the rice adds a soft texture you wouldn’t mind biting into. The akki payasam was the perfect end to the three-course meal. Prepared with rice, jaggery, raisins, cashews and cardamom the payasam has no milk. “This dish passes all health tests and is suitable for gluten-free eaters and vegans,” said Smitha.

“As a community, we love to experiment in the kitchen. Both my paternal and maternal grandmother were voracious cooks. Everything you were served today has come from books they have personally written. They have been directly replicated on your plate without any change,” Smitha said.

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source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express Home> Lifestyle> Food / by Naaz Ghani / Express News Service / November 13th, 2019

This pretty model-turned actress, Sanah Thimmayyah will be making her Sandalwood debut opposite Darshan in Odeya.

From the beautiful land of Coorg, which has given numerous talents and versatile personalities, comes another pretty damsel who makes her acting debut alongside Challenging Star Darshan in his next titled Odeya directed by M D Sridhar. Model turned actress Sanah Thimmayyah, who plays the role of a painter on her debut speaks to Bengaluru Chronicle, sharing her journey so far and how she bagged her dream project and all the excitement behind it and much more.

Born in Virajpet, Sanah says she is brought up in Mysuru where she did her education until graduation in commerce from Vidyashram College. “This is when I took up modelling too.

After winning a contest in modelling, I started working for the renowned Prasad Bidappa for couple of years while I was still pursuing my studies. Thereafter, my interest in jewellery designing brought me to Bengaluru. In fact, I was always crazy about movies like a typical movie buff, but with no proper guidance I was in two minds as to whether to take up acting as my career or not,” says Sanah Thimmayyah.

Eventually, Sanah explains that her love for acting drew her to theatres, which she started off with Avinash Daniel Film School from where she learnt the basics of acting and kept auditioning for several projects including commercials.

“Though I did a couple of commercials, I was striving hard for bigger and better opportunities. At this juncture, my mother, who happens to be a good friend of Darshan sir’s mother told her about my acting interest. It was she who asked me to attend the audition for the lead role in the film Odeya, for which the makers were in search of a new face and someone who could perform as well, and thus my dream turned into reality,” Sanah says.

Further, the debutant reveals that when she was told about her selection, she was over the moon and was literally ‘blank’ till she realised that it was actually happening in reality. “I could not realise what was happening for the first few days and I would just follow the instructions. The entire first schedule was more or less the same for me. And, it could not have been better with my debut under Sandesh Productions which has given several great films. I am ever grateful to the entire team of Odeya, for all their efforts and cooperation,” Sanah adds.

About Darshan, the actress shares that the challenging star is a great human being and a dedicated artiste, who is always down to earth despite being such a great star actor. “He has an amazing personality who is so special to work with. He is great both on and off screen, which is what makes him a great person. His dedication at work and humble nature is what inspired me when working alongside him,” the actress says.

While she has been listening to a few scripts for her next, she concludes sharing on how she had a wonderful time shooting for her debut venture where she along with the entire team would wait to have lunch with Darshan sir in his caravan.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Entertainment> Sandalwood / by ShashiPrasad SM, Deccan Chronicle / November 06th, 2019