Rain and paddy fields

Rice really is the heart of Kodava cuisine. The narrow valleys of northern Coorg and the fertile lower lying areas of south Coorg traditionally produced the grain that every household relied on for their staple. A second crop is not common since the harvest coincides with the arrival of the monsoon. There are several kinds of rice grown, but the most favoured variety, particularly for pulaos, is the small grained and wonderfully fragrant jeerige sanna, or sanakki, (the same as the jeeraka chamba of Kerala).

Types of processed rice – clockwise from top left: raw, parboiled, broken, flattened, puffed, and powdered

Rice (akki) is processed and cooked in an astonishing number of ways into the perfect foils for the foods that the changing seasons bring. From the hearty akki otti (rice flatbread), to the ethereal oduputtu, scented with “banda” (resin of the indian copal tree, Vateria indica) the creativity and ingenuity of generations of cooks shines through.