The versatility of Indian cuisine continues to impress food enthusiasts who seek rich flavours and manage to find a range of varying flavour palettes in a single country. However, some regional cuisines are often overlooked due to the appeal of other famously adored dishes. One of them is Coorg cuisine, which has been influenced and shaped by the history, geography and culture of the people of the region. Many young chefs from Coorg are now mastering their own family recipes and sharing them with millions on social media. Here are a few homegrown chefs on our radar who are elevating and shining a spotlight on Coorg cuisine.
1. Anjali Ganapathi
A home chef who has been sharing the authentic recipes behind traditional Coorg cuisines, Anjali Ganapathi runs a small, niche catering company called Pig Out with her core team. She has always had an inclination towards exploring her roots and since a very young age learnt the art of cooking some wonderfully complex dishes. The chef presently shares her wisdom with many through her online recipes and also organises events at cooking studios and other places across the city. The customer base extends beyond native Coorgi people as Chef Anjali wishes to introduce the regional cuisine to different communities around India.
Pork dishes are easily the star of Coorg cuisine, especially if cooked in the traditional way using family recipes. The Curly Sue takeaway joint and blog is perfecting the method of these recipes and making them more accessible to everyone. They source the meat from farmers who own their own farms and use a delightfully indulgent process of slow cooking the meat for four to eight hours. The most delectable meat needs to be given its due and the chefs at Curly Sue are adamant about achieving just that as well as sharing some insight into their process of preparation.
A food blog run by chef Sitara Cariappa and her family is an ode to the Coorg people and their love for coffee brews, spirits and meat dishes, especially those made with pork. They often delve into the childhood memories that are so closely associated with the cuisine and discuss their family recipes. The page also helps the audience to gain an understanding of the local ingredients and how they can be utilised to achieve wholesome flavours. They are slowly building a community of food enthusiasts who all share a passion for learning more about the specialities of the region as well as the culture that enables its excellence.
Go to this picturesque coffee-growing region with an appetite for a unique cuisine and distinctive experiences.
From coffee to e-bikes and Victorian-style rosebushes and stately mansions, Coorg has it all (Airbnb)
Driving just five hours down a smooth highway from Bengaluru, I spent a long weekend in Coorg, interacting with some of its local entrepreneurs, signing up for off-beat experiences and enjoying some of the most beautiful roads in the southern peninsula. Far from the tourist throngs, I spent the weekend finding unique things to do.
#NowTrending
Walking through lush green coffee plantations with retired serviceman Ganapathy, I received an articulate explanation on the farm-to-cup process. The swashbuckling Ganapathy’s stately colonial mansion sits plum in the middle of a large family-run coffee estate, supplying beans to a larger chain of wholesalers and producers. For a coffee addict like me, this was a fascinating experience.
Later that morning, over a cup of freshly brewed Coorg filter coffee, I chatted with his daughter, Anjali, who runs the hugely popular Bengaluru-based Pigout Coorg Kitchen.
The swashbuckling Ganapathy’s stately colonial mansion sits plum in the middle of a large family-run coffee estate, supplying beans to a larger chain of wholesalers and producers (Airbnb)
“Kodava cuisine is unique and completely undiscovered in India, right from the ingredients and meat we use to the cooking styles,” Anjali said. “Through my food, our homestay and this coffee estate, we want to put Coorg on the map in the most experiential way possible.”
As Anjali laid out a spread of her famous pandi (pork) curry, pumpkin curry and rice (akki) rotis, I realised that the Ganapathys’ little universe is a destination on the verge of a major tourism revolution.
“Never before has Coorg been trendier,” Anjali said of the beautiful region in the heart of Karnataka, known for its flavourful food, gorgeous people and spectacular landscapes. While Coorg has always been popular among weekend roadtrippers from Bengaluru, it’s only recently that it has witnessed interest from discerning travellers across the country.
There are enough experiences in Coorg to set it apart from other destinations (Airbnb)
E-bikes and homestays
My initial impression of this place was just how stunning the roads are. You can spend hours meandering through coffee plantations, hillside roads and picture perfect villages. For a base, I chose the stylish Acacia Villa just off the main road. This massive three-bedroom villa, listed on Airbnb features an ultra-modern chalet aesthetic, blending perfectly with the forest around it.
After a leisurely morning walk through the woods, I made a quick dash to Madikeri, for an e-bike experience. A homegrown startup, BLive, specialises in e-bike tours across different Indian destinations. After a quick briefing, my friends and I dashed up and down the slopes on our e-bikes, but not without a pit stop at a local coffee producer. The e-bike tour took us to some lovely spots, including a lake and the top of a hill. If you enjoy cycling, this is definitely recommended.
You can spend hours meandering through coffee plantations, hillside roads and picture perfect villages (Airbnb)
After all that physical exertion, it was time to discover one of Coorg’s oldest and most loved spots. The approach to Old Kent Estate was just wide enough for our car to squeeze through, which meant that it was truly cut off (read: no phone network) from the rest of the world.
In the middle of Victorian-style rose bushes, coffee plantations and green slopes, I stepped into a gorgeous colonial mansion dating back to 1800. Once belonging to a British colonel and now family-run by the Thaikappas, the Old Kent bungalow is a treasure trove of antique furniture, centuries-old artefacts and beautiful decor, restored to perfection. Here, the young proprietor of the estate, Sadat, manifests his love for coffee in the form of a high-end coffee bar inside the bungalow.
There’s also a gorgeous colonial mansion dating back to 1800 once belonging to a British colonel and now family-run by the Thaikappas (Airbnb)
One too many freshly-brewed espresso shots down, I strolled around the Airbnb-listed estate and sat in the garden for a quick snack and a couple of pictures while Sadat told me that his clients tend to look for slow luxury, experiencing things like hikes, coffee tastings, village visits and cooking sessions.
Kodava charm
That evening, I hopped into an old open-top Mahindra Commander with some locals and off-roaded (not for the faint of heart) all the way to the top of Mandalpatti, to the panoramic sunset point. While the peak in itself is pretty standard, the trek up and down is definitely worth the trouble.
Coorg is home to large family-run coffee estate that supply beans to a larger chain of wholesalers and producers (Airbnb)
My last night in Coorg was at the stately mansion-cum-estate of Preet and Prem. The two manage their own estate and also run the gorgeous Udaya Homestay about 45 minutes away. “I drive 45 minutes one way every morning to deliver a homemade breakfast to my homestay guests, so it is as authentic as possible,” I was told.
I was introduced to Preet’s mother-in-law, the family matriarch, who regaled us with stories of elephants in her backyard and talked us through the cultural uniqueness of a Kodava wedding as we feasted on some more pork curry, local vegetables, biryani and rotis.
I was charmed by the subtle pleasures of Coorg. Here you find great food experiences, awesome coffee trails and places to sip a brew, trendy locals who are always willing to share stories and food, and hospitality entrepreneurs creating new experiences for travellers. Plan a trip to Coorg if you have a couple of days to spare and are hungry for unique experiences.
Riaan Jacob George
Riaan Jacob George is a luxury content and social media specialist
From HT Brunch, February 20, 2022/Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch / Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch
WELCOME. If you like what you see "SUBSCRIBE via EMAIL" to receive FREE regular UPDATES.
Read More »
