Mysore Dasara: An insight into Karnataka’s Nadahabba

Mysore Dasara is the Nada habba or state festival of Karnataka. Often called Navaratri, it is a 10-day festival with the last day being Vijayadashami. Vijayadashami denotes the victory of good over evil. For, it was the day the Hindu Goddess Chamundeshwari killed the demon Mahishasura.

Mysore Dasara procession locally known as Jumboo Savari is held on the streets of Mysore and is a sight to behold. The main attraction of this procession is the idol of Goddess Chanmundeshwari which is placed on a 750 kgs gold mantapa.

In India, the spirit of festivity is incomplete without good food.

In order to showcase the incredible food culture of Karnataka during this festival, 7 bloggers from Karnataka came together and hosted an open collaboration on Instagram. The theme was #10daysofdasara and on each day the bloggers took to showcasing the traditional and royal culinary creations that originated in different parts of  Karnataka. Unique savory and sweet dishes of the Kannada tradition were displayed for the first few days and on Vijayadashami, all the bloggers displayed an exquisite thali meal thali.  

Hosts of the open collaboration #10daysofdasara are sharing a few recipes that they relish and can be made during any festival.

4. Hurigadale Tambittu recipe by Meena

Hurigadale Tambittu is a traditional sweet popular in Karnataka made as divine offering during festivals and other special occasions. The combination of roasted gram, jaggery & ghee is perfect for the much-needed energy boost during fasting festivals.

Ingredients:

• Roasted gram/ hurigadale/ putani – 2 cup or 300 gm
• Green cardamom – 4
• Poppy seeds/ gasagase – 2 tsp
• Grated dry coconut – 1 cup or 60 gm
• Ghee – 1/2 cup
• Jaggery – 1 cup or 300gm

Instructions:

1. Add roasted gram/hurigadale and green cardamom to a blender jar.
2. Blend to a very fine powder.
3. Heat a pan on medium-low heat. Add poppy seeds and grated dry coconut. Note: I have shredded the coconut with the widest setting of the grater since we’ll grind it later.
4. Dry roast the poppy seeds and shredded coconut in medium-low heat until coconut turns light brown. Turn off the heat. Note: Do not over-roast it.
5. Cooldown to room temperature and transfer to a grinder jar.
6. Pulse 2-3 times in very short spells to grind it coarsely.
7. Heat a pan on a medium-low flame and add ghee.
8. Let it melt completely.
9. Add jaggery powder/ pound jaggery.
10. Mix well and let the jaggery melt completely. Note: Ghee and jaggery don’t exactly form a homogenous mixture, there’ll be separation and it is perfectly okay.
11. Continue warming it while stirring continuously until it begins to bubble. Note: We are not looking to form a string consistency here.
12. Add the ground dry coconut and poppy seeds mix.
13. Mix well.
14. Add the roasted gram/hurigadale powder and turn off the heat.
15. Using a spatula, mix well.
16. Once the laddu mix is warm enough to touch with bare hands, mix it well rubbing ghee into the mix. Take a fistful of laddu mix and shape them into laddus.
17. Repeat with all the laddu mix.
18. Store in an airtight container for up to one week and refrigerated for longer shelf life.

NOTES:

• Hurigadale is also known as fried gram, roasted gram, roasted chana, putani, kadle pappu.
• Traditionally, these tambittu are entirely bound by ghee and jaggery only. This improves their shelf life on the counter without refrigeration and provides much-needed warmth during the colder months.
• If you would like to cut down on the amount of ghee used, replace it with an equal quantity of ghee and milk.
• If using milk, bring it to a boil along with ghee before adding jaggery.
• Also, note that using milk in making tambittu means these will need to be refrigerated.

5. Jolad Vade/Jowar Vadi recipe by Sanjivani

I am sharing a North Karnataka special snack recipe called Jowar Vadi.

Ingredients

• 1 cup – jowar flour
• 1/2 cup – whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp – urad dal flour
• 2 tbsp – besan
• salt to taste
• oil for frying
• 2-3 tbsp – Coriander leaves
• 7-8 – curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp – cumin powder
• 1-2 tsp green chilli paste or red chilli powder

Method:

• Mix all the flour and paste. Make a soft dough by adding little water at a time.
• Rest the dough overnight in a muslin cloth. If you don’t have enough time then rest it for 2hours.
• Make a small size poori’s using fingers and deep fry in hot oil.
• Poori’s consume very less oil and serve it with coconut chutney or curd.

6. Whole moong flour Laddu recipe by Shrikripa

Green gram Laddu/Whole moong flour Laddu: Green gram/whole moong is very nutritious and loved by everyone at our home. So, I am sharing the recipe with you all. 

Ingredients:

• Green gram flour/ whole Moong flour  – 3 cups
• Sugar – 2 ¼ cups (powdered) 
• Ghee – 1 ¼  cup
• Roasted dry fruits – 1 cup ( ½ cup – Almond, ½ cup -cashew bits) 
• Cardamom powder – 1 teaspoon

Method:

1. Take one thick Kadai, add green gram flour, in a low flame, start roasting. 
2. When it is a little hot, start adding ghee little by little during the roasting process.
3. Do not add or pour all the ghee at one go. It will not help to roast evenly, and it will form a muddy consistency and will affect it in even roasting. I took exactly 20 minutes over a small flame. At this time, the mixture looks brown, switch off the gas. Cool the mixture. (takes 30 to 40 min)
4. Now add powdered sugar, cardamom powder, and roasted dry fruits and mix everything properly.
5. Now start using your hand and mix it once and start making small roundels by taking little mixture at a time.-Store it in a dry container and enjoy it with your family.

7. Kayi Holige/Coconut sweet flatbread recipe by Soumya

Kayi Holige/Coconut sweet flatbread. Holige is a very famous and most liked sweet dish in kannada naadu. While there is “hurnada holige” which is made out of yellow gram filling, kayi holige is made with coconut and jaggery. Since the coconut is roasted well, this holige has a longer shelf life.  Traditionally it is made with Maida, rave and rice flour combination, she has made it with whole wheat flour

Ingredients

For the covering:

• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 to 3/4 the cup of water to mix the dough (depends on the quality of the flour)

For the filling:

• 2 cups of grated coconut
• 1 cup jaggery (grated or powdered)
• 3 no’s of cardamom powdered
• 1 tbsp. ghee

Method:

1. In a wide bowl mix wheat flour, ghee, turmeric powder. Add water little by little to make a smooth dough. The dough should not be too soft like chapatti dough or too hard like poori dough. It should be soft yet firm. Cover it and keep aside for 15 minutes.
2. In a thick bottom pan on the stove, add ghee and grated coconut. Roast on a low flame. Add the jaggery and mix well. The jaggery will start to melt and the entire mixture will come together like a lump.  Add the cardamom powder and give it a good mix. Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool. 
3. Some people also grind the coconut and jaggery to a smooth paste and then cook it. She prefers to do it this way.
4. Make medium sized balls from the prepared wheat dough. Roll it thick to about 4 inches. Place a spoonful of the cooled coconut-jaggery mixture in the center. Carefully fold over the filling from all sides such that the filling is entirely covered. Gently roll the stuffed mixture into a thin circle.
5. Place this rolled holige on a hot Tawa. You can use ghee or oil to fry it. Using this helps to crisp up the holige which gives it a yummy taste. Serve the kayi holige hot topped with ghee generously! 
6. You can store this in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Just before eating, warm it in the microwave and top it with ghee.

1. Mysore Pak recipe by Akshatha

Mysore Pak – The Royal Sweet. It is a mouthwatering sweet dish of India made with gram flour and clarified butter which gives the aroma and taste to the sweet.

Ingredients:

1. Gram Flour – 1.5 cup
2. Ghee – 1.5 to 2 cup
3. Sugar – 1.5 to 2 cup
4. Water – ½ cup

Method:

• In a large heavy-bottomed Kadai take sugar and water and get it to a boiling state.
• Keep boiling and stirring till the sugar attains one string consistency.
• Keep the flame on very low and add sieved gram flour little by little.
• Keep stirring making sure no lumps are formed (adding in batches and continuously stirring avoids forming lumps).
• In another pan warm up the ghee. Take a ladleful of warm ghee and pour over the besan mixture while continuously stirring.
• Continue to stir until the ghee is absorbed and the mixture starts to separate from the pan.
• Immediately, transfer the mixture to a greased tray of enough depth. this helps to continue cooking and get golden brown color in between.
• After 5 minutes cut into pieces as desired and allow it to cool down for 30 mins before separating the pieces.

 2. Vegetable Sagu recipe by Anupama

I wasn’t a fan of vegetables until recently. Whenever any healthy and nutritious recipe was cooked at home, I was reluctant to try it. But after moving to Germany, I gradually started to change and chose health as my first priority. Taste is also still important to me but now I check the nutritional value of the food that I am eating.

Vegetable Kurma/Sagu is a Karnataka special side-dish recipe that is perfect for picky eaters. It is healthy, nutritious, and very delicious. It is easy to make too. This recipe has different kinds of vegetables and is full of flavours which is added by whole spices and fresh ingredients like coconut, green chillies, etc,. It is a very versatile dish that can be served with Chapathi, poori, set dose, Her favorite combo is Poori-sagu. I can have it as breakfast for the rest of my life! 

Ingredients:

Veggies required

• ¼ cup carrots roughly chopped into cubes
• ½ cup green peas
• ¼ cup potatoes roughly chopped into cubes
• ¼ cup capsicum roughly chopped into ½ inch pieces
• ¼ cup beans roughly chopped into ½ inch pieces
• ¼ cup bottle gourd roughly chopped into cubes

For the masala

• 3 numbers green chillies
• ½ cup freshly grated coconut
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 3 numbers cloves
• 2 numbers tomatoes roughly chopped
• 6 numbers cashews
• 1 inch ginger
• ½ cup fresh coriander leaves

For the tempering

• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• ¼ tsp Asafoetida/hing
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder

Instructions:

1. Pressure cook all the vegetables by adding 2 cups of water for only one whistle.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the masala paste by adding coriander seeds, cloves, stick, cloves, coriander leaves, grated coconut, ginger tomatoes, cardamom, and cashews into a blender and blend it into a fine paste.
3. In a pan, add oil. Once the oil is slightly hot, add mustard seeds and asafoetida.
4. Add in the masala paste and cook it on a low flame.
5. Drain the excess water from the vegetables and keep it aside.
6. To the masala paste, add red chilli powder and turmeric and cook it for a minute.
7. Add all the vegetables to the gravy and add the drained water from the vegetables to the gravy according to your desired consistency.
8. Add in salt to taste and cook it on a low flame for 5-7 minutes.
9. Vegetable Kurma is ready to be served with Chapathi/Rice/pooris.

Notes:

• Don’t overcook the vegetables. Cook them only for a whistle. Otherwise, the vegetables will be mushy.
• If you are using frozen peas, don’t add them to the pressure cooker. Add them directly while cooking.
• You can add any vegetables that you like. Generally, carrots, beans, cauliflowers, beans, potatoes, and green peas are added.
• You can also add poppy seeds while making the masala paste.

3. Sajjappa recipe by Bhoomika

Sajjappa is an authentic traditional sweet prepared for festivals in Karnataka especially around Mysore, Bangalore region. 

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1. 1 cup chiroti rave/fine sooji
2. ½ cup maida/all-purpose flour
3. pinch of salt
4. pinch of turmeric powder
5. ¾ cup water(use as needed)

For Filling (hurna):

1. 2 cups grated coconut(make sure there are no big pieces)
2. 1.5 or little more jaggery
3. ½ cup upma Rava
4. 5 to 6 cardamoms
5. little more than ¼ cup water

Also, we need:

• oil to fry

Method:

• Let’s make dough first, Dry roast chiroti rava for 2-3 minutes till raw smell goes away. Add this to a bowl, Maida, salt, turmeric powder, and mix everything well. 
• Add water little by little to form a dough. The dough has to be loose like poori dough but not too soft.
• Apply oil/ghee and cover it with a wet cloth, keep aside for 1-2 hours.
• Now let’s make hurna/filling – Dry roast rava and keep it aside.
• To a pan, add jaggery & little water. When it melts add grated coconut and mix well. Cook till little dry and all the moisture evaporates. Switch off the flame and add cardamom powder. 
• Let it cool completely later make round balls.
• Now, Knead the dough again and make the soft dough and divide the balls into small lemon sized balls. 
• Take a deep kadhai and keep oil to heating.
• Take one lemon size ball and flatten it into a disc. Keep little stuffing (hurna) in the middle. Close all the sides with extra dough. Roll gently into a small poori. Make sure stuffing doesn’t come out. 
• Deep fry in oil, on medium heat, till outer covering is golden brown and crispy. Remove onto a paper napkin to remove excess oil. Continue the process.
• Crispy sajjappa is ready to enjoy. Store them in an airtight container after it cools and enjoy them for 10-15days.