Mangalore: It is time for monsoon cuisine

DHNS

Mangalore, 14 July 2011: Dakshina Kannada is a land with several religious and social practices which is also known for the culinary delicacies.

 

Aati is one such time of the year when nature is at its best. The produce available from nature gets transformed into tasty titbits for the monsoon in almost every kitchen. All those irrespective of whether they are in villages or cities, long for those ‘wonderful gifts of the nature’ from the fields and in the forests.

 

Come monsoon and people throng to Central market and Car street region to get the locally available bamboo shoots (kanile), colocasia leaves (Kesu), Marakesu, Ambate (hog plums), blue berry (nerale hannu), jackfruit seeds, mushroom, turmeric leaves and so on.

 

With the commencement of monsoon, the forests on the foothills of Western Ghats get filled with the typical odour of bamboo shoots. For those in the rural areas, bamboo shoots curry is a main item in the daily menu during monsoon. They prepare mouth-watering delicacies out of this tender bamboo and serve them with lunch.

 

“We prepare a number of items using bamboo shoots. They vary from sambar to pickle to kadubu. Kanile pickle is the favourite of all my family members,” said Savitha, who was purchasing bamboo shoots in the market.

 

The kanile is sold at Rs 30 per kg in the market. As bamboo shoots are available only for two months during monsoon, there is a great demand for it, said Dinesh, a trader. There was a demand for bamboo shoots in the market on Monday being Prathama Ekadashi. Normally on this day, Konkani speaking people use bamboo shoots for one of their dishes.

 

The city vendors get bamboo shoots from various places. Few get it from Chikmagalur, while some other vendors in the Central market said they got them from Bantwal and Sullia. Though cutting bamboo shoots for commercial purpose is an offense according to the Forest department, bamboo shoots are inevitable part of our rural kitchen for centuries.

 

“A bunch of marakesu is available for Rs 10 in the market. Many a times we are not able to supply the demand for marakesu and bamboo shoots,” said another trader. Hog plums or ambate too are available in the market during rainy season.

 

Normally, they are used in chutney or pickles. Kesu leaves (colocasia leaves) are used for Pathrode. The Kesu leaves are sold out in the morning itself, as women come in the morning to purchase it. Though there is a great demand for mushrooms, it is short of supply. People come and ask us daily for mushroom, says another trader. Then there is a demand for ‘Thojank’ or ‘Chagate soppu’ which grows only during monsoon. “I get around 40 to 50 bunches ‘Thojank’ from my native in Bantwal. Within no time, they are sold,” said a woman.