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Bamboo Shoot Curry – Coorg style Baimbale Kari

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Those of you who are following the recent posts on this blog would have seen the references to the Facebook Food Bloggers Group of which I am a member, viz Shhhhh Cooking Secretly Challenge , which has got us cooking from the varied cuisines of the States of India. Working our way alphabetically, we have reached Karnataka, the beautiful State which is now my home. From my experiences with this theme over the last few months, it was no surprise to find that there is no one Karnataka cuisine, but that each region of the State celebrates its ethnicity with its own favourite foods and its special methods of preparation. The Bamboo Shoot Curry that I selected as my contribution to August 2018’s rich theme is one such recipe, popular in Coorg or Kodagu and in Mangalore.

A bowl of bamboo shoot curry with a garnish of coriander leaves and with props showing the Karnataka theme- A guide book to Karnataka, a book by R K Narayanan who lived at Mysore, a Mysore silk saree
Bamboo shoot curry Coorg style

Logo for shhh cooking secretly challenge group

My partner for the month is Priya Iyer. Priya and I had a lengthy discussion on what ingredients to pick. Both of us wanted to cook with something special or unique to Karnataka. Priya suggested I used Bamboo Shoots and coconut as the two ‘secret’ ingredients which the members of the group would have to guess, once I posted the image of the dish on our group. The bamboo shoot curry was the result of this discussion.

Priya blogs at The Girl Next Door. Please visit her blog to see the well written recipes as well as her interesting notes on the exotic places she has travelled to. I suggested two ingredients for Priya, urad dhal and ginger so that she would have the options to select the main ingredients for the recipe. Have a look at this Karnataka Bonda Soup that she has prepared! It looks so delicious and easy to make too!

Preparing the Bamboo Shoot Curry (also known as Kalale, Kanile or Baimbale Kari) needs some patience, though it is not difficult. The actual curry is easy to make, while the preparation of the shoots for cooking can be a stumbling block if you have not used them as an ingredient before. In the recipe below I have tried to make this simple with step by step directions. Bamboo shoots are known to have a toxic content, and fermenting or boiling is carried out to expel the toxins as well as remove the bitter taste of the raw shoots.

Fresh Bamboo Shoots at Jayanagar Market, Bangalore
Fresh Bamboo Shoots at Jayanagar Market, Bangalore

The fresh bamboo shoots have a tough husk which can be peeled off without difficulty, and the bamboo sliced as required. I was lucky to find an online store, OnlineMangaloreStore which delivered the bamboo to my residence, already peeled and sliced into thick rounds. I then soaked for 72 hours as explained in the instructions below. Most recipes suggest that 48 hours of soaking should do, but after some research I decided to soak the shoots for an extra day before I sliced them into thin matchsticks and boiled them with turmeric. The online store was interesting, I was able to pick up quite a few items which I would normally have to scour the Mangalore Stores around for. I plan to get Breadfruit from them and try a curry out of that too.

My friends Kevin and Anirudh had dropped in the day the Bamboo Shoot Curry was made, and as Kevin is from Mangalore and a devoted foodie as well as being no stranger to the kitchen, I requested him to taste it. He felt that it lacked a certain tartness or sourness and suggested the addition of tamarind. I have to say it lifted the curry up a notch and has therefore found its way into the final recipe.

Bamboo shoot curry served in a brass bowl with garnish of coriander leaves, resting on a banana leaf with a pale pink mysore silk saree alongside
Bamboo shoot curry from fresh bamboo shoots

Coming to the food of Coorg, the cuisine is based on locally available ingredients and though new vegetable types have crept in, the popular traditional food comprises rice based dishes such as otti, nooputtu, kadumbuttu, and plain rice accompanied by rich curries made of pork, mutton or chicken and a variety of vegetable based curries such as bamboo shoot curry and those made using jackfruit, mushrooms, colocasia leaves, breadfruit and banana, depending on seasonal availability. Meat based recipes predominate.

I realised while reading up on the food here that it has ingredients more in common with India’s North East than any other part of the country. The Bamboo shoot curry for example, though prepared a little differently from the same in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Sikkim etc, is rarely found on the dining table in other parts of India.

 

 

Bamboo shoot curry garnished with coriander leaves and a guide to Karnataka and a book by Mysore based author R K Narayanan alongside
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Bamboo Shoot Curry - Coorg style Baimbale Kari

Bamboo Shoot Curry. A Coorg Style Kalale or Baimbale Kari made from fresh bamboo shoots that are fermented and then cooked with garlic, onion, tamarind and a coconut paste. With instructions for preparing the fresh Bamboo shoots before cooking
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time40 mins
Total Time2 d 50 mins
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Sujata Shukla

Ingredients

Preparing Raw Bamboo Shoot for Cooking

  • 250 gms Bamboo Shoots Sliced into juliennes
  • water For soaking - as per instructions below
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • water For boiling - as per instructions below

For Coconut Paste

  • 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
  • 2 teaspoons Coriander seeds
  • 1/2 cup fresh Coconut grated/ or grated desiccated coconut
  • ¼ cup water or as required for grinding into paste

For Rice Powder

  • 2 teaspoons rice Boiled rice/ Idli rice/ Red rice

For Bamboo Shoot Curry

  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • ¼ teaspoon Mustard seeds
  • 3-4 cloves garlic sliced
  • 1 cup minced Onion about 75 gms or 1 large onion
  • 1 dry red chilli
  • 4-5 curry leaves
  • Cooked Bamboo
  • Coconut Paste as per instructions
  • 1 teaspoon salt or as per taste
  • 1 cup Tamarind water as per instructions
  • ½ cup water if required
  • Rice Powder as per instructions
  • Fresh coriander leaves for garnish

For Tamarind Water

  • 1 marble sized Tamarind pulp or about 50 gms of tamarind
  • ½ cup water

Instructions

To Prepare Raw Bamboo Shoots for Cooking

  • Remove the outer thick peels of the Bamboo shoots. Slice into rounds or large chunks as convenient. Rinse and soak in sufficient water to more than cover the top of the shoots. Cover and allow to soak for at least 48 hours. I soaked the shoots for 3 days (72 hours) After every 24 hours, drain, rinse and again soak the bamboo in fresh water.
  • Drain, rinse and slice the bamboo into juliennes (thin matchstick slices). The thinner they are the faster they will cook. Boil with ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder with sufficient water to cover the top of the slices, for at least 20 minutes. Remove from stove, drain and set aside till required.
    Rounds of bamboo shoots being sliced into thin juliennes for making curry

To Prepare Tamarind Water

  • While the bamboo is being cooked, soak the ball of tamarind in water for about 20 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind and filter, saving the Tamarind water in a bowl for use when required.

To Make Coconut Paste for Bamboo Shoot Curry

  • Again while the Bamboo Shoot is cooking, make the Coconut Paste. Roast the cumin seeds in a dry pan for about 30 seconds, stirring so they do not burn. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil to the hot pan and fry the Coriander seeds. Remove from pan and set aside to cool
  • Grind the grated coconut, roasted cumin and fried coriander into a thick paste, adding only as much water as is required for it to make a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl and set aside till required.

To Make Rice Powder

  • Roast the Rice in a dry pan for about 1 minute till it begins to brown, stirring frequently. Remove from the pan and cool. Powder in a mixie or food processor. Set aside till required.

To Make Bamboo Shoot Curry Coorg Style

  • Mince the garlic and onion and keep aside. Heat coconut oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, let them splutter. Add sliced garlic, sauté on low flame for 1 minute or till they begin to darken. Add minced onions. Sauté for 3-4 minutes till translucent, stirring so that they do not char.
  • Add red chilli and then curry leaves. I always shred the curry leaves into bits so that there is a better chance of their being eaten rather than have the leaves with their nutrients being discarded on the side of the plate.
  • Add the coconut paste, stir. Add the cooked, drained Bamboo shoots. Stir well, add a little salt. You can check and add more if required, later.
    Adding coconut cumin and coriander paste to the gravy for bamboo curry
  • Add the strained tamarind water. Bring to a boil and then allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Add a little plain water (one tablespoon at a time) if the curry is beginning to look dry. Taste for salt and that the bamboo is cooked. Add salt if required, taking care to add only a little and taste again.
  • Add the rice flour/powder and stir it into the bamboo curry. Transfer to a serving dish and serve hot with rice roti or hot rice, garnished with fresh coriander leaves.
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Comments

  4. Kalyani says

    September 13, 2018 at 17:33

    never tasted Bamboo Shoots, and I guess you are right – the cuisine does seem similar to the North EAstern states.. interesting indeed that a small town in the Western Ghats has picked up those similarties. the curry looks great..

    Reply

    • Sujata Shukla says

      September 13, 2018 at 20:14

      Thank you Kalyani! Yes, it’s interesting. Maybe it’s because similar plants/ vegetation grown in both these places and formed the basis of their cuisines!

      Reply

  5. jagruti says

    September 10, 2018 at 21:10

    I have only eaten bamboo shoots in Nepali cuisine. You have made this delicious curry from the humble ingredient, love to try at least once 🙂

    Reply

  6. Priya says

    September 10, 2018 at 17:31

    Have never used bamboo shoots in my life…now here is a recipe to try using this ingredient. thanks for the lovely recipe 🙂

    Reply

    • Sujata Shukla says

      September 10, 2018 at 08:05

      Thank you Veena! I used bamboo shoots for the first time too, and it was surprisingly easy once I understood how to prepare it for cooking!

      Reply

  10. Aruna says

    September 8, 2018 at 10:22

    I had a chance to taste a similar dish at a Kodava (Coorgi) wedding I attended in August. I must say I feel in love with it and your detailed recipe gives me the confidence to try it at home.

    Reply

    • Sujata Shukla says

      September 10, 2018 at 08:12

      I haven’t tasted anything made of bamboo shoots earlier Aruna! I was happy when a Mangalorean friend did sample the curry I made and said it was good! Now I can try different recipes with this interesting ingredient.

      Reply

  13. Renu says

    September 6, 2018 at 17:07

    Must say your recipes are always so different. I remember as a child peeling those bamboo shoots using teeths :-)…Now I won’t haha… The recipe is new to me, and will love to try this. Thank you for an awesome share.

    Reply

    • Sujata Shukla says

      September 10, 2018 at 08:15

      Thank you Renu! Peeling the shoots with your teeth, that must have been rather tough as the raw bamboo would have a bitter aftertaste?

      Reply

  14. Mayuri Patel says

    September 6, 2018 at 14:26

    Sujata I love how you come up with not so run of the mill kind of recipes. I’ve never cooked with bamboo, though have had it in a Chinese Restaurant here. I know that food made in Coorg is quite different from the rest of Karnataka. Bamboo Shoot Curry looks very tempting.

    Reply

    • Sujata Shukla says

      September 10, 2018 at 08:16

      Thank you so much for the appreciation, Mayuri Patel. This theme of cooking from different Indian cuisines is indeed an eye opener – we seem to have so many cuisines within each State itself!

      Reply

  16. Vidya Narayan says

    September 2, 2018 at 08:14

    Your persistence in finding and cooking with the right ingredients is praiseworthy which makes the end result look amazing. Coorg is a special place, had visited last year and fell in love with the nature and food! Would definitely love to try out this recipe as soon as I can find some bamboo shoots. PS – No, I didnt miss those lovely books on the side again! ha ha.

    Reply

    • Sujata Shukla says

      September 3, 2018 at 16:19

      Thank you Vidya! Yes, I couldn’t leave Malgudi Days out in a post on Karnataka, could I ?

      Reply

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