Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 13
State: Karnataka
Dish: Pathir Pheni with Almond milk
After exploring the states from the North, we are travelling to southwest India today to Karnataka. It was created in 1956 and was originally known as the State of Mysore, it was renamed as Karnataka in 1973. Karnataka shares a border with my home state Andhra Pradesh and the language spoken, Kannada, has some similarities to our language, Telugu. Kannada script is also similar to that of Telugu. So I can probably say that I understand and read about 5% of Kannada.
When I was about 12 years old, my dad took us on a vacation to places in Southern India. We visited some famous touristy places in all 4 southern states. I still remember the beautiful Mysore Brindavan gardens, especially the light show at night. Hampi, Bellur, Halebeedu, Shravanabelogola are some of the places I still remember. My mom still has the pictures from our trip.
Cuisine: Kannadigas (people from Karnataka) make a wide array of snacks, main dishes and desserts. The variety of dishes they make with just rice and flattened rice is mind boggling. Karnataka's cuisine includes both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes that have influences from the neighboring regions and communities. South Karnataka is famous for its typical dishes like Bisi bele bhath, Jolada Rotti, ragi rotti etc., Famous Masala dosa traces its origin to Udupi cuisine. Coastal Karnataka is famous for its tasty seafood specialties and pork curries. Coorg, the hilly district in Kodagu has its unique cuisine that includes spicy meat dishes.
Staple Food: Rice, Ragi, Sorghum etc.,
Today's Dish: During our Kaaja making session, I was chitchatting with my mom and was telling her about the mega marathon and the dishes I had planned to make for each state. For Karnataka, I told her I had planned to make Chiroti, but they sounded so much similar to kaaja that I was planning to change it to something else. My mom said she tasted chirotis long time back at a kannadiga friend's wedding and she said there is no comparison between kaaja & chiroti and both of them belong to different category altogether.
This made me thinking and after looking at the recipes, they sure were very different. So I decided to give chiroti/ pathir pheni a try. While kaajas are compact, flaky and juicy, chirotis are wide, very very flaky and less sweet. I made the pathir pheni version were the fried chirotis are dunked in almond milk.
I'm glad I'm catching up on some of the ICC dishes that I had missed in the past. I followed Ambika's & Suma's recipes to make these pathir phenis.
To serve sprinkle some powdered sugar on the pheni and then top it with some nuts, if desired. Pour some warm almond milk and let them soak for 15~20 minutes before serving.
Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 39.
Linking to Fabulous Feast Friday# 10 being hosted by Valli & Prachi.
Cauvery
Thanks a lot Pavani, such an enthusiastically written article. my first attempt at a traditional sweet dish turned out so well. I am yet to make the almond milk, but the chiroti with cardmom flavoured sugar alone has turned out so well! My daughter is finishing them off before I even get a chance to dunk them in milk!