Kaveri Ponnapa

Coorg in her Blood

She personifies Coorg in every possible way. With Coorg: The Cookbook launched at Coorg Wilderness, Kaveri establishes how she has nurtured the legacy; gently, carefully and in her own inimitable style

Text & Photographs: Farzana Contractor

It’s only once in a long while that a cookbook as elegant and meaningful comes along. But then you don’t expect anything less from a woman like Kaveri Ponnapa. Highly educated, intelligent, knowledgeable, sensitive and quietly driven. One who exudes subtle sophistication, is immensely committed to whatever the cause and totally dedicated to the subject of food. In all forms, be it cooking, eating, researching or writing about it. She will meet farmers and planters, in her beloved Coorg, understand their stories, pick out nuances, patiently, mull upon all the facts and only then put pen to paper. Yes, literally, she still writes in longhand. “It helps me think better,” says the author of Coorg: The Cookbook, with her typical, gentle smile.

There is a certain depth behind every page, every recipe. I personally think this cookbook, as beautifully as it has been produced, would not have been possible but for the sensitivity and thoughtfulness that Kaveri brings to the table. It goes way beyond being a collection of recipes just put together, with a spattering of mediocre food images, as is the norm these days. This is not a quick, shortcut endeavour to just belong to the clutch of ‘food authors’.

Far from it when you consider that Kaveri already has under her belt – or neatly folded into the pleats of her vast collection of saris (another area of passion) – The Vanishing Kodavas, a tome of a book, so intense it is baffling. A well-respected and suitably appreciated book, it brings out the culture, identity and history of a people, a community Kaveri is so proud to belong to. With Coorg: The Cookbook the circle seems complete. The Coorg cuisine is fascinating, and now the world can see why and how. And as far as I am concerned, Kaveri Ponnapa is a true custodian of all things Coorg.

“Oh no,” she says with genuine surprise when I voice my thought, “that’s too much of a compliment to handle. You really are too kind. I just do what I am prompted to do, from deep within.” It’s a soul thing then, I carry forth only to get a bubbly laugh from her. Overall Kaveri Ponnapa is a shy, reserved kind of a person. In fact, there is a backstory to this shyness which I must share. In Coorg, women are given two names, your first name which gets established and the second, which is a Coorg one. When Kaveri first started writing, a few decades ago, she actually wrote under her Coorg name, Kaveri, just so that her identity could be kept intact. No one would know the writer was Radhika, she thought, which is how I and the whole world know her! So remember it is actually Radhika Kaveri Ponnapa. You can also add a Nanda to it.

The Editor and Author in conversation at the book launch	Refined and elegant, the beautiful women of Coorg in traditional attire

Kaveri has had an interesting life growing up. An army kid, she is the daughter of the late Lieutenant General BC Nanda. “I must admit, it was an enchanting life. I predominantly grew up in the North of India. From the beautiful Himachal hills to the desert of Fazilka in Punjab, I experienced all of it. My father’s posting would change every one year or so and we naturally went with him everywhere.”

“I feel fortunate because the army was a great teacher, even for kids. We lived a democratic life, truly cosmopolitan. We learned to adjust to every circumstance, however grand or simple.”

Kaveri’s fondness for the great outdoors and love for nature was instilled by her father who was a good sportsman and nature-lover. Says Kaveri, “With him I played tennis and golf. He loved walking too, very long distances every day, wherever we lived, and I walked with him, learning so much about life. Other times, I was immersed in a book!”

All kinds of books, yes, but cookery books are Kaveri’s lifeline! She has an insane collection, one which is quite out of control, compulsive buyer that she is. She cooks from a large number of them, but equally, likes to just browse and learn about cuisines. “Some are exceptionally well-written, like good works of literature. Some are works of art, others fascinating memoirs. You can learn about culture, politics, history and more from a cookbook,” enlightens Kaveri, who actually has brought out cookbook likewise.
Her interest in food began in her teens when she bought her first cookbook while at school – from her pocket money. “Oh yes, it was called Cookery in Colour by Marguerite Patten. With it, I began to teach myself to bake. But you know, until then, cooking never featured in my world view. My early interest in cooking was purely about eating good food, though I did have great curiosity about ingredients. Our strong roots in Kodagu (Coorg) were responsible for this factor. My maternal grandmother had a large coffee plantation and a sprawling home in Madikeri. Complete with cows, chickens and pigs, where I spent a lot of time. In fact, two months, every year, in spite of all of my father’s postings.”

“My grandmother had immense cooking skills. There were two kitchens at home in those days. One, a modern one with gas burners and certain gadgets, and another which was wood-fired with a mud hearth, totally like a village home, complete with traditional mud and copper utensils, including a butter churner. Adjoining this kitchen was a special masala-grinding room where the grinding stone was attached to the tabletop. And then there was the store room, the larder, ever so exciting.”

“That was the stage when I was more curious about ingredients and what was being done to them. For instance, the way gooseberries were preserved in salt or sugar syrup in barnis, or how the bottles of bitter orange juice were put out in the sun. My grandmother spent most of the day in her enormous kitchen, creating fabulous meals for her large family. I was always in and out of the kitchen. I observed her, absorbed the aromas of the different dishes, texture of spice pastes and how dishes looked at various stages of cooking.”

“My job was merely to eat all that good food. Everyday there was a classic spread of Kodava dishes; puttus, akki, ottis, pickles, curries and fries. So I knew what good food was from a very young age. Fresh produce from the kitchen garden right behind the house would be piled up in the kitchen. Rice came from our private paddy fields; gooseberry, bananas, wild mushrooms, leafy greens, pumpkin and so much more. I can’t tell you how much visual stimuli there was!” Sure, and I can’t tell you how much of a culinary fairytale life this sounds like. Kaveri Ponnapa, you can be as thankful as you wish for the grandparents you had and for the amazing childhood, and it will not be enough. I know it’s deeply entrenched in Kodava culture to revere the memory of ancestors and you must be doing just that. Thanking your stars, too!

To follow through to the other ancestors… There was also the paternal set of grandparents who were just as interesting. “My father’s parents had vast coffee plantations in Coorg with a beautiful colonial house. Once they returned from their very adventurous life in the Andamans, here is where they settled. My grandma was not a hands-on cook but knew everything about food and cooking and how to keep a great table. She had a number of cooks and controlled them with super efficiency. That was one hospitable home. Here, all I would do is have fun. I would be all over the place. Skinned knees and all. Always with the boys; climbing trees, falling off walls, running in the fields. Such a robust childhood. I may have been thin and delicate but I was tough. The elders always said, “This child will never walk, always run!”’

So when did Kaveri really start to cook Coorg food, what got her initiated? “Look, after I started baking, a whole new world opened up for me. I didn’t hesitate to experiment and try making new dishes. But it was after I was married and Naresh and I moved to London due to his corporate job that I suddenly realised how much the food of my growing years meant to me.”

“I cooked in full earnest over there, exploring all kinds of cuisines, but keeping Kodava food in focus. I had a long-distance cooking apprenticeship with my mother-in-law, who would send me recipes by airmail. My very resourceful husband would source the best raw materials for me, so I began recreating the meals I loved. Since Naresh worked for a multinational company we entertained frequently and I actually enjoyed all that cooking. I am glad the food was appreciated a great deal. For me there was joy in sharing a cuisine which stated who I was and from where I was.” In addition to cooking, Kaveri also started to acquire an exquisite collection of china in London. This was thanks to the influence of her paternal grandparents. “As you know they lived in the Andamans where they were known for being fabulous hosts. My grandfather had a keen eye and a fantastic collection of the most remarkable crockery. When he retired and they returned to Coorg, this was used at every meal at their grand colonial coffee plantation home. We grandchildren also got to eat off the same lovely china as the adults. The table settings at every meal were out of the ordinary and made a deep impression on me. So when I got the opportunity in London I started my own collection which became such a passion. And which extended to my love for creating memorable tablescapes, so the collection stretched from china to linen, cutlery, even wine! London triggered that for us. The local wine merchants there are very good educators and we began learning about and appreciating what we were drinking. Over the years our tastes have formed, and my husband now selects and sources fine wine accordingly. I must confess it’s an everyday luxury to drink a glass of good wine with your evening meal.”

The world of food, wine and entertaining did belong to the Ponnapas during their fairly long stay in London. Little wonder then that on her first trip to India, the new bride that she still was, she was motivated to carry back with her, her sakala, the huge copper steamer that she would put to good use to steam puttus, making the Coorg experience even more authentic for her guests in London.

But guess what, with all this cooking and entertaining, Kaveri even managed to study at the School of Oriental and African Studies, graduating with distinction, with a Master’s in Social Anthropology. Now you know the germination of The Vanishing Kodavas, which the world got to read in 2013.

It won’t be out of place at this stage to tell you that it was 28 years ago when Kaveri was researching the above book, making a cultural study of the Kodavas when she would make forays into off-road villages to attend harvest feasts and local festivals held in sacred groves, witness war dances of great antiquity, meet scores of people who farmed their lands, eat meals at homes she might never have visited otherwise, that she saw where and how the cuisine she loved so much, was born. Thus alongside Vanishing Kodavas, a new culinary adventure was taking shape. She started to document and meticulously record all that she was learning about food and compiled all of it in an interesting manner into her blog, The Coorg Table. The blog gained respect for the solid bank of material on Kodava cuisine that Kaveri was putting forth. From here on there was no turning back. A cookbook had to follow. The idea had already taken birth in her mind. And it took Kaveri all of the last three years of burning the midnight oil, to present to us the amazing Coorg: The Cookbook. As you can see, Kaveri does not do anything in half measures.

Demure, but built of sterner stuff	Like a school girl out on a walk	Location of the cookbook launch

Kaveri is a well-travelled person, which really means indulging in great dining experiences. Like she laughs and informs, sometimes it is too much for her travel companions, her food obsession. When asked to name her favourite places, she replies, “If I have to keep going back to a few cuisines, it would have to be Greek, especially on islands like Crete for the seafood and small tucked-away family-run places in the Peloponnese for the incredible olive oil, lamb and honey. Or Oaxaca in Mexico which has some of the most brilliant ingredients and food in the world with its seven moles and blue corn tlayudas, to mention a few.” See, I told you Kaveri is one knowledgeable foodie. By the way, how many of you know that the Kodavas, even if unproven, are supposed to be linked with Greeks? Some say it is folklore, but look at the features of the women, many do look Greek!

When Kaveri talks about food, any food, or about restaurants and chefs, her face takes on a different glow. But say the magic word Coorg and lightbulbs flash all around her! So I just had to allow her to tell me in detail why Coorg cooking drives her to that level of ecstacy.

“How can I be anything but passionate about the food of my childhood, my heritage, born out of the distinctive landscape, with great fresh produce so closely tied to the seasons. Kodavas were farmers and hunters. So you find a lot of produce such as tender bamboo shoots, tiny wild mangoes, wild mushrooms. Colocasia, mud crabs and plenty of meats like pork, fresh or smoked and dried, which came from hunting wild boar in the past. There is a wonderful range of citrus fruits which are used in chutneys, pickles and as flavourings. Rice of course is the main staple, it’s everywhere in our cuisine. There are specific combinations we eat – for example, paputtu (steamed rice cakes) and koli curry (chicken curry), kadambuttu (steamed rice dumplings) and pandi curry (pork curry). Rustic akki ottis (rice breads) go with everything, at any meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner.” One can see why Kaveri is so besotted by her cuisine.

The Ponnapas are fortunate they have their own coffee plantation in one of the most beautiful and remote parts of Kodagu. That’s where they go regularly and even grow a lot of produce which comes to their home in Bangalore. “And what we don’t grow, our neighbours provide!” she offers. The Kodavas sound like a great community. Which reminds me, there are many such stories woven into the cookbook; of how neighbours bring pickles to a house celebrating a wedding or just offer free- range eggs from their farms if you are visiting their home. Sharing food is part of an invaluable heritage rooted in the land.

Such are the nuggets that make the book come alive, helped greatly with the most awesome images of food and the land and its people.

But before I ask Kaveri to name a few of her favourite recipes, I have to hear about the spices and that famous black vinegar which comes exclusively from this region.

“You mean the kachampuli! One of our most important ingredients. It’s dark, tart vinegar, made from boiled-down juices of a ripe fruit, panapui, which is a cousin of kokum! A little bit of this concoction correctly used gives the distinctive flavour to most Kodava dishes. I have been lucky enough to watch many older women cook and they use kachampuli with great subtlety.”

“As for the spices, the unique flavours of our curries and fries come from the use of a combination of dark-roasted and powdered spices called kartha masala, which is used in different ways, parangi mollu (bird’s-eye chilli), and citrus.” For me this has been quite a learning curve I thought, and asked her now to tell me about her favourite recipes, from over 100 that are in the cookbook.

“That’s a very difficult thing to do,” protests Kaveri. “But I do like the pandi curry, probably one of the best-loved dishes. And wild mushrooms and crab curry. Also the tiny wild mango chutney and the stir-fried bitter greens. Home-cooked meals are what I love best, and again Kodava food tops the list. I love Bainey Barthad, pan-fried brinjals with a bit of tamarind and kachampuli, eaten with akki ottis. I like pumpkin curry, too, or even rice and curd with burnt bitter orange chutney which has the most intense, delicious flavours.

Kaveri didn’t ask me my favourites, but here they are (all from the book); Boji’s Tomato Kanni, Mudi Mangae Curry, Budi Kumbala More Kari, Mangae More Pajji and of course the Nende Curry!

I am hoping she will have all these laid out on her beautiful linen and lace-covered table complete with stunning china, English cutlery and delicate crystal glasses with just the right red wine in a beautiful decanter, when I visit her next at her home.

Ah! The Coorg table.

Smile away! For the success of Coorg: The Cookbook	Coorg pots and pans and her favourite utensils