AKKI NUCHHI BELLA JONI PUDDING – STEAMED RICE PUDDING 

 This recipe, for a delicious rice pudding, is shared by Prithi Poovamma, a senior operations manager at Mphasis, in Bangalore.

 An English literature graduate, who also has a diploma in architecture, Prithi is married to Kolera Harish. They have two sons, Yadhu Somaiah (18) and Thanav Thammaiah (9).

 Prithi has travelled all over India with her ex-serviceman father, Nayada Madhu Madappa, and she has also visited the UK on work.

 Her dream, she says, is “to own a small little café in Coorg when I retire, as Coorg is the place I love the most”.

 About the recipe, which is made using fine, broken rice (akki nucchi), jaggery syrup (bella joni), butter, and milk, Prithi says: “I am not sure about the origin of this pudding. My maternal grandmother used to serve the dish at tea time. Honey adds its own flavour to this pudding when used as a sauce.”

 Akki Nuchhi Bella Joni Pudding       

 Ingredients:

• 250 grams small broken rice (preferably brown)
• 6 tablespoons of butter
• 300 grams jaggery (cane sugar)
• 1 teaspoon salt (to enhance the taste of the jaggery)
• 100 ml milk
• 400 ml water

Method: 

• Roast the broken rice until crisp
• Boil water, add the jaggery and continue boiling until the consistency is syrupy
• Whisk the milk with butter
• In a large bowl, add the roasted broken rice, salt, whisked butter & milk, jaggery syrup and mix well.
• Pour into a greased dish and steam for 30 minutes or until it is firm on top. (Start checking after 30 minutes.)
• Once done, remove and serve the pudding warm with honey.

Alternatively this pudding can also be baked in an oven @ 250 C and be served with toffee sauce

My name is Brinda Pramodh. I’m from Bollandanda family, and married into Machetira family. 

After graduating from Jyothi Nivas College, Bangalore, I pursued an MBA in finance from IGNOU, after my both children were born. I am an enthusiastic learner and passionate about every little thing I do. Professionally, I have found myself the most self-satisfying role – that of homemaker!

I was introduced to cooking in my early childhood days when my parents bought kitchen kit toys for me. Playing with them was one of my favourite pastimes as a child. As I grew, the toys were replaced with the real kitchen items, and my interest, and enthusiasm for cooking continued.

I enjoy experimenting in cooking with unique combinations, like bitter gourd and melon seeds, soya bean or bottle gourd in bisibele bath, and bitter gourd roti. Though I cook with a lot of ease, sometimes I take more time thinking “what to name the dish?”!

The recipe I wish to share has been passed on from my grandmother to my mother. Though the procedure looks lengthy, I have seen my mother cook it effortlessly. Well, it is one of the best dishes my brother Kritish and I enjoy from our “Mom’s kitchen”.

STUFFED CAPSICUM WITH KHEEMA

Ingredients

Capsicum            1

Kheema               100-150 gms (Minced Meat)

Potatoes               2 big

Onion                            1 finely chopped

Garlic                            2 pieces finely chopped

Coriander leaves2 tbsp finely chopped

Oil                                 2½ tbsp.

Whole Jeera                  2 pinches

Turmeric powder          2 pinches

Red chilly powder         1½ tsp

Salt to taste

Method:

Step 1 with Kheema 

• Heat ½ tbsp oil in a pressure cooker. Add a pinch ofwhole Jeera followed by finely chopped garlic and sauté.
• Add Kheema and sauté on low flame till the water separates
• Add a pinch of turmeric powder, ½ tsp red chilly powder and sauté.
• Add a little water, salt to taste and pressure cook .
• After kheema is cooked drain out the excess water by cooking it on low flame and make it dry.
• Keep it aside to cool

Step 2 with Potatoes

• Boil potatoes, peel and mash them
• Add a pinchof turmeric powder, 1 tsp of red chilly powder, salt to taste and mix well. Keep aside

Step 3  Mixing Kheema with the potatoes

• Heat 1 tbsp oil. Add a pinch of whole jeera followed by finely chopped onions and sauté.
• Once the onions are cooked, add the potato mixture prepared in step 2 and cook for a while
• Now add the kheema preparedin step 1 andfinely chopped coriander leaves. Mix them well.
• Cook for a while and then keep aside to cool.

Step 4  with Capsicum

• Cut the capsicum at the centre and deseed them
• Sprinkle some salt over it (sprinkle some red chilly powder too, if you like)
• Steam it. Do not over cook (to retain its crispiness )
• Let it cool
• Now stuff the capsicum with the filling prepared in step 3
• Spread some rice flour/chiroti rawa on a plate, and rub the stuffed side of the capsicum over it.
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a flat-bottomed pan and cook the stuffed side of the capsicum on a low flame till golden brown.

And your dish is ready.

WINE AND DINE:  

Smitha Iyanna, is based in Ethiopia, where her husband manages a rose farm. They have a daughter, Renaa Muthappa.

Smitha is an entrepreneur who runs an Indian food catering service in Ethiopia, and also offers classes in Indian cooking. 

She says that finding the right spices and ingredients in Ethiopia is a challenge. Hence, travelling back from Kodagu her baggage is usually filled with packets of Kappu Masala (pork masala) and bottles of Kachampuli.  

She says, “I enjoy spreading the taste of India, particularly that of Coorg, in Africa”. 

Smitha believes in living in style and has contributed two recipes – Mulberry wine for charging up your appetite, followed by her signature style chicken curry.

MULBERRY WINE

The Mulberry fruit can be found in the estates in Coorg. The ripe purple fruit has a nice sweet tangy taste and makes a delicious wine.

Ingredients:

• 1kg ripe purple mulberry fruit
• ¾ kg white sugar
• fist full of raisins
• 4 cloves
• 1 level tsp of dry active yeast.
• 1tbsp honey

Method: 

Wash the berries in water and drain the water completely. Boil the sugar in a cup of water until completely dissolved. Let it cool a bit. Add the berries to the sugar syrup. Now add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Store it in a glass or ceramic air tight container for a month. Keep in a cool dry place. Stir occasionally to make sure it is well incorporated. After a month, drain the berries from the liquid. Taste to check if it is sour. If it is sour add some more sugar syrup to suit your taste. Serve chilled.

KOLI CURRY WITH A TWIST

Smithasays “this chicken curry is a favourite among my friends. It combines the nutty flavour of peanuts with coconut milk. It is not very spicy and kids will love it.”

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 1 large tomato skinned and finely chopped
• 1tsp ginger and garlic paste
• 1 tsp sunflower oil
• 1tsp each of salt, chilli, turmeric, coriander, cumin powders
• 1 tspkappu masala ( Coorg pork masala)
• 500gms boneless chicken chopped into bite size pieces and marinated in a tsp of salt, chilli and turmeric
• ½ can coconut milk
• 1tbsp peanut butter
• 1tsp tamarind paste
• 1 tsp coriander leaves, finely chopped

Method: 

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onions and fry for a bit. Now add the dry spices. Stir well and add the ginger garlic paste followed by the tomatoes. Put in the chicken pieces and cook till lightly browned (10 mins) on a low flame.

Now, add some warm water, followed by coconut milk and the peanut butter. When the chicken is cooked add the tamarind paste as well as the coriander leaves.

Serve over hot steamed rice.

Rum Blaze Pork Chops 

 Niveditha Belliappa Subramani honed her culinary skills by exchanging recipes with the wives of managers in the tea plantations in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, where her husband Kaushik, worked.

 “The ladies in the plantations, most of them wives of the tea plantation executives, would share recipes and cooking tricks. Initially, I tried making pork chops with two different recipes handed down to me by two fine Coorg ladies. The kitchen soon became my experimental lab. I started cooking trials with my favorite ingredients- Italian seasoning, and our very own vinegar, kachampuli. In this pork chop recipe, the blend of the herbs, kachampuli, and rum brings out a heavenly and unique mouth-watering flavour.”

 “My biggest critic is my 4-year-old daughter, Ojasvi , who already has developed a fine taste for meat. I aspire to cook like my mother and mother-in-law who have a great sense of cooking.”

INGREDIENTS 

 1 Kg Pork chops, with fat

Italian seasoning (mixed herbs) – 3 to 4 tsp

Worcestershire sauce – 3 tsp

Malt vinegar- 1 1/2 tbsp

Ginger garlic paste – 3 tbsp.

Fresh red chilli paste — 1 tbsp.

Salt – as per taste

Pepper – As per taste

Oil – 2tbsp

Curry leaves – 8/9 leaves

Onions –thinly sliced – (2 to 3 medium sized)

Coorg pork masala powder – 2 to 3 tsp

Rum – 1 to 2 Tbsp

 To finish:

A little Worcestershire sauce

Or a few drops of kachampuli

 Prep Time: 1 hr + marination time

 MARINATION: 

 Pork chops

Italian seasoning (mixed herbs)

Worcestershire sauce

Vinegar

2 tbsp Ginger garlic paste

Chilli paste

Salt and pepper  – as per taste

 Marinate the washed pork with the above mentioned ingredients and refrigerate it overnight in an airtight container.

 PREPARATION:

 Pressure cook the pork with a little water for about 2 whistles and set it aside till it cools down.

 Meanwhile,  heat oil in another pan or wok. Add the remaining ginger and garlic paste. Saute until the raw smell disappears.

 Add the sliced onions and saute for about 3 minutes. Now add the excess oil from the cooked pork (pork fat) into the same pan and cook the onions till they soften and change colour.

 Add the curry leaves and saute while making sure that it is not fried too much. Now add the pork chops and mix well before stirring in the pork masala powder.

 Saute for about 5 minutes or till the pork is well done.

 Check on the seasoning, and add a little Worcester sauce or kachampuli, along with more salt and pepper if needed.

Flame it up: Keep the fame high and pour the rum on top of the pork. Set alight and gently toss the chops. The meat should havea dark reddish-brown colour by now.

 Your Rum Blaze Pork Chops is now ready to be served.

 Happy cooking and cheers, Hic Hic Hurray!!!

Guava Jelly by Tara Kiran 

A gastronomy enthusiast, Tara shares her recipe of Guava Jelly. She points out that guavas are available throughout the year in Coorg.

A delicious jelly can be made using the juice collected after boiling semi-ripe guavas. The jelly is transparent and has a pale reddish brown colour. It needs no added preservatives.

Ingredients:  

20 medium ripe guavas, diced

Water 

Sugar 

Lemon juice( about 5 tbsp for 20 guavas)

Method: 

Put the diced guavas in a deep pan or in a pressure cooker, with enough water to just cover the fruit. (If using the pressure cooker, reduce the water slightly.) Cook till the fruit is soft. Do not stir and make sure not to overcook till it becomes a paste.

Using a clean, thin cloth, strain the fruit pulp and allow the clear liquid to  collect. Measure the strained liquid. Add one cup of sugar to every cup of liquid.

Put it back on thefire,add lemon juice to the mixture. Boil until the juice is sticky. You may notice white froth on the edge of the vessel when the right consistency is reached. Stir well.

Note : To check if  the  jelly consistency is reached take a small bowl, add some water and drop a spoonful of the mixture. If the mixture does not spread and retains a jelly consistency then your guava jelly is ready. In case after cooling the jelly hasn’t set, boil the mixture again till the right consistently is reached. 

STORAGE : 

Have clean glass bottles ready, and keep them warm, so that when the hot jelly is poured into the bottle, they do not crack. Pour the hot jelly into the bottles, let them cool, and store. The jelly can be refrigerated for later use.

Guava jelly can be eaten with bread,dosa, rotis and also used as a dessert.

NIMMI’S CRAB CURRY 

 Born and brought up in Sri Lanka with an Australian mother, Nimmi came to India to do a degree at Stella Maris College, Chennai, where she met Biddanda Viju Chengapa, and got married to him around 35 years ago.

 From being a Director of a Company in Sri Lanka to a Vice Principal of a British School – Edinburgh Hall in Riyadh Saudi Arabia, to running a girls hostel in Mangalore, Nimmi finally ended up running her own homestay Elephant Corridor Coorg in Sidapur.

 Nimmi says: “Cooking being a passion, it is a pleasure to see my guests enjoy the meals conjured up by me.”

 Here is a crab curry prepared with her own twist.  The main recipe belongs to her mother-in-law, the late Dotty Chinnappa.  A great teacher, she passed on all her culinary secrets to Nimmi along the way.

 “There are many varieties of crabs, fresh water and salt water.  In Coorg we get the paddy field crabs called the ‘Kechi Nyanda’ and the larger variety called ‘Kakkale Nyanda’.  Then of course the saltwater crabs or the sea crabs which are bluish in colour and the lagoon crabs which are much larger and blackish but turn pink on cooking.”

 “My mother-in-law had five sons to feed and so when the crabs came in during the rainy season caught by one of her sons, she would make it go a long way by making little rice otti (rice roti) balls to drop into the curry which would take on the flavour of the crab and thus everybody got enough.”

 INGREIDENTS: 

 1 kg crabs (I have removed all the legs and made a soup with it)

½ a coconut grated

4tbs chilli powder

3tbs coriander powder

2 tomatoes

3tbs jeera

A marble size ball of tamarind

Curry leaves

2 onions

15 peppercorns

8 cloves garlic

½ inch piece ginger

 All the above is roasted in a tbs of oil till well roasted and golden colour.  Then it is blended really fine in a blender.  Put aside.

 SEASONING:

 In about 4tbs oil, splutter 1 tsp mustard, 1 tsp methi (fenugreek) seeds, 4 green chillies ½ an onion, 4 cloves garlic crushed and some curry leaves.  Add the crab bodies and roast up well in the oil.

 Once the crab is nice and roasted, add in the ground coconut mix.

 Leave to boil and then simmer.  When well-cooked, add the rice balls which are made with cooked rice and rice powder (flour).

 Once the curry is done and when the oil comes to the surface, drizzle a tbs of coconut oil over the curry. Nimmi says that her Sri Lankan twist is to add a few drumstick leaves.  This is just optional.

 Crab curry goes well with rice/akki otti (rice roti).

Aad Kaal Soup (Goat Leg Soup)

Swaroop Achaya Devaiah is a multifaceted personality. A dancer of repute from Madikeri, Swaroop has attained Vidwath in Bharatanatyam with a state rank. She dabbles in various dance forms. Founder director of ‘Priyadarshini Montessori House of Children’, she pioneered the Montessori-method of educating children in Mangalore. Her interests include yoga, cooking, reading, gardening and travelling.

According to Swaroop, there are two ways of preparing this soup. One is the easy way, by procuring dressed aadkaal from the butcher. And the other is by dressing the aadkaal at home,which is slightly laborious. The advantage in the latter is that the skin and the nutrient dense layers, would be intact, as opposed to the former, where the bone would be stripped clean of the skin by the butcher.

 Ingredients:

 1…6 goat legs

 2…2 medium sized onions…cut into quarters

 3…16 cloves garlic…crushed

 4…1 tsp cumin seeds

 5…1 tsp pepper corns

 6…1/2 ” ginger …crushed

 7…optional, 2 tomatoes….cut into quarters

 8…2 cloves (lavang)

 Method:

 1.     Rub salt over the aadkaal and keep aside for about 20 minutes

 2. Hold over flame and with a sharp knife, scrape  the charred hair from the leg. Repeat this process, until all the goat hair is removed and the hoof falls.  It happens easily.

3. Wash the goat leg well and chop it into medium sized pieces.

 4. Put it into a pressure cooker along with all the ingredients. Add about 8 tumblers of water and cook over a low flame for about 4 to 6 hours.

 5. Strain the soup (approximately 6 tumblers of stock)..cool… keep in the fridge.. a layer of fat will settle on top.. It is prudent to remove this artery clogging fat. Now use as much of the stock as is needed. The rest can be stored in the fridge to be used as required.

 6. Chop a large onion fine.

 7. Heat a tbsp of oil in a heavy bottomed vessel.

 8. Add the onion, and caramelise.

 9. Add the stock(about 4 tumblers)add salt and pepper to taste(1 tsp)

 10. If tomato has not been used, 1 tsp of lemon juice may be added. Bring to boil.

 Serve piping hot!!! Good to go by itself or with toast.

 Benefits:

 Mutton paya soup is fine for persons suffering from osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a disease of bone and it can lead to an increased risk of fracture. When bone mineral density or BMD reduces, it is a sign of osteoporosis. Bone micro architecture is disturbed, and the amount of non-collagenous proteins in bone is altered. Osteoporosis as defined by the World Health Organization in women is bone mineral density 2.5 standard deviations below peak bone mass measured at the age of 20 years. Mutton Paya is considered to be a highly nutritious recipe rich in essential minerals.

Shyamala Madappa has been inspired in her cooking by chef Vikas Khanna. Chef Khanna is one of the Indian chefs who have made it big in the Big Apple. He’s got a Michelin star to his name; his restaurant Junoon in New York’s Madison Square Park was certified with the coveted star in 2011. What is more, he has been proclaimed as one of the sexiest man alive by People Magazine!

A Coorg delicacy is often spicy and gives an intense flavour to the soft shrimps. There’s one thing that I strive to do, it would be to cook food with fresh ingredients. One of the main things about cooking seafood is that it takes very less time. I have opted for thick coconut milk in the recipe, which still lends that creamy flavour to the curry and balances the dish nicely.

 INGREDIENTS

10 dried red chillies

8-9 cloves garlic peeled

1 tbsp turmeric powder

1 fresh lime (or) ½ tbsp kachimpuli

1 tbsp salt (or as required)

2 whole onion (big size), peeled & coarsely chopped

2 inch long piece of ginger, pounded to a paste 750gms prawn 4 tbsp of vegetable oil 400ml coconut milk 80ml water 2 slit green chillies (deseeded if you prefer it mild); one pinch of sugar; chopped tomatoes; 2 cashew nut;1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish.

For the powdered spices; 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds 3 peppercorns 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds

METHOD

1. Heat oil in a heavy pan and add chopped onions, curry leaves and cook till they turn golden brown. 2. Add turmeric powder, ginger, garlic paste and the ground mixture. (Ground mixture-fry half of the onion, garlic, cashew, red chillies tomatoes and (6 to 7 prawns) with little oil. Combine all fried ingredients and then grind them to a coarse paste in a mixer-grinder). Add coriander powder, pepper powder, cumin powder and cook till oil oozes out. 3. Add thick coconut milk and add shrimp, cook for 10-15mins. Then add pinch of sugar. Reduce the heat to low, add 1 cup of water and let it simmer for at least 10 minutes or till the prawn is cooked through. Add green chillies. 4. Finish off with coriander leaves. Enjoy with a bowl of rice or akki roti.

Today, if we crave a fish curry, many of us just go to the local supermarket or cold storage, pick up our fish of choice, and we’re ready. But in the days before refrigeration and easy road transportation from the coast of Mangalore or Kerala, it was the Mapilla traders who supplied fresh fish to homes and to the weekly shandy (market) held in small towns and villages in Coorg.

They brought with them a taste of the coast, in the form of sea fish like sardines, mackerel and dried fish and shrimp. Locals eagerly looked forward to the arrival of the “Meen Mapille” with his baskets of fish, and the preparation of a delicious, spicy fish curry paired with akki otti that was sure to follow! Hemalatha Nachappa shares her ‘Meen Kari’ recipe.

 MEEN KARI

Ingredients:

½ kg Fish
1 tbsp Coriander seeds
½ tsp Cumin
2 Red Chillies
1 inch Ginger
3 pods Garlic
1 medium size Onion
5-6 tbsp Coconut (grated)
8 grains Fenugreek
1 pinch Mustard
½ tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Chilli powder
1/2 tbsp Kachampuli
Salt to taste

For tempering:

1 tbsp oil

1 pinch Mustard

½ small Onion, finely chopped or sliced

1 small sprig Curry Leaves

To finish:

A few drops of Kachampuli

1 large Green Chilli

Method:

Clean and wash the fish. Marinate the fish with salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and kachampuli. Keep aside for half an hour.

Heat a little oil in a pan. Add coriander seeds, cumin, fenugreek, garlic, ginger, onion, red chilli, mustard, coconut and fry. Turn off the stove when the spices become slightly brown. Take care not to burn it. Let it cool and then grind to a smooth paste.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard. When it splutters add the curry leaves and onion. When the onion turns slightly brown, add the ground masala and water. When it starts boiling add the marinated fish. Add salt and kachampuli (3-4 drops) to taste. Slit a green chilli length wise and add to the curry just before turning off the stove.

Chekké Pappada (Spicy Ripe Jackfruit Wafers) 

Ballachanda Deepa Chengappa, who works for IBM in Bangalore, has this fetish for reading recipe books with tempting food pictures. 

 For Deepa, cooking is a stress-buster. She says: “I switch off all the other thoughts while cooking. I grind, chop and mince all the unwanted thoughts when I cook.”

 Deepa likes variety in food, and loves the Coorg cuisine the best. “I believe the aroma of the food is the key to good food. It should never be too strong or too pungent. Coorg cuisine has a very distinct flavour.”

 She recalls that as a kid, she enjoyed the summer vacation in Coorg, which involved playing in the stream, catching small fish, etc.

 Deepa’s cousin, Chandra akka, would pamper her by preparing Koovale  puttu and Chekke pappada.  Chekke pappada was Deepa’s all-time favourite snack.

 Ingredients: 

 One kg half ripe jackfruit bulbs de-seeded.

Salt to taste.

1 spoon coriander seed fried and crushed.

6 green chillies (parangi malu) or red dry chillies.

 Method:

 Steam the jackfruit bulbs in pressure cooker without using the weight. Drain the excess water. Coarsely grind the jackfruit bulbs with the above ingredients.  Knead it into a dough make small balls. Take two plastic sheets, place the ball between the sheets and press it in hand to make round thin pappadas. You could also use the roti press machine to make thin pappadas.  

Spread it on a neat cloth/ plastic sheet and dry in the Sun by turning it on both sides. When it has dried completely, store them in air tight jars.        Deep fry them in oil and enjoy the crispy pappadas.  

Tip: While Sun drying pappadas, you can cover them with old baby mosquito nets to protect from birds/ ants nibbling into it.