Tasting the Wild

Living in wild, remote areas throws up questions of survival and sustainability. The choices one makes are limited to what is available at a particular point in time. More importantly in terms of cuisine, the sensibility of eating the right food at the right time is driven largely by the seasons.

In Coorg, the long damp and wet monsoon season meant that the availability of fresh vegetables was limited. This led people to explore and innovate with other food options. Learning from the tribals who lived off the produce of the jungle, foods that grew in the wild were abundantly used. Although things have now changed considerably, we still look upon these foods as special, rare treats and are delighted when we can have a taste of them.

 

The nucchi kumm, one of the local mushroom varieties is typically found after a heavy thunderstorm. Growing in damp humus, the spores germinate and overnight you find sheets of these tiny mushrooms in particular areas of coffee estates and forests. Gathering a large quantity is painstaking, but what is even more time consuming is cleaning them. Snip the roots, wash the mud off them thoroughly and then cook them lightly with a hint of turmeric, salt and chilli powder to taste, so as not to overpower their earthy yet delicate flavor.

 

The slightly chewy texture of the mushrooms contrasts well when eaten with a crisp toast, or with a rice flatbread (akki roti). Akki rotis are a staple food of Kodava cuisine. When it comes to eating them, there are two distinct factions; those who prefer them soft, warm and straight off the pan, and the others who prefer them heated on an open flame until they turn crisp. Traditionally, these flatbreads were heated on coal embers, which gave them a slightly charred but interesting texture with a smoky flavour.

 

Tender bamboo shoots or baimbalé, found in the forests during the monsoons, is the most coveted food that appeases the palate of any die-hard Kodava. With the lashings of rain that the region receives, these tender shoots are found in practically every bamboo clump of the forest, belonging to the spiny and thorny variety of bamboo knows as Bambusa Bambos or the slender, asparagus like Ochlandra Scriptoria, locally known as watté baimbalé.

 

The tender bamboo shoots are cleaned first by removing the tough woody, outer covering that encases the shoots. The shoots are cut into fine strips and soaked for 24 hours in fresh water, to leach them of the hydrocyanic acid present in the shoots. They are washed thoroughly with two or three changes of fresh water and further soaked in water for another 24 hours. This adds to the fermentation process that gives tender bamboo its slightly tangy, distinctive flavor.