The Essential Kodava Cook Book

We’ve grown up thinking of the Kodavas — earlier anglicised to Coorgs — as a small group in the upper reaches of Karnataka, who live off the land, are tall and handsome, huntin’, shootin’ types. Romantic lore is corrobor ated by fact: they are allowed to carry arms without a licence. So when a few weeks back I received a request to review a book on their cuisine, I was delighted to. First, because I’m curious. Second, because those who go after game and wild fruit and vegetables are bound to have interesting food. Apart from shikaris, I can’t think of anyone who speaks of wild boar as a special dish representative of their cuisine.

The two authors are impressive. C.B. Muthamma was the first woman career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service and P. Gangamma Bopanna the first woman lawyer from Coorg state. The book is proof of not only their love for their culinary traditions, but of meticulous planning and vision. It’s easy to love the food one’s grown up with; but to present it to outsiders in a simple, direct way is difficult.

The most interesting part of the book is the introduction. It gives a brief history of the people, the geographical boundaries, regional contiguity, and describes the plenitude of wild game in the forests, fish in the streams and rivers, and vegetables and wild berries and creepers in the fields and open country around the villages. There is an affectionate, almost nostalgically, written section on Kodava ceremonies. (more)