Baimbalé Curry

In Kodagu, the arrival of the monsoon also means bamboo shoots pushing their way out of the ground, and apparently the correct response to this is to dig them up and begin a cooking process that lasts several days.

Fresh baimbalé is peeled down to its tender core, sliced and soaked in water, traditionally developing a distinctive sour, lightly fermented character before it ever reaches the curry pot. By the time it does, the rest is almost suspiciously easy. Coconut, onions, curry leaves and spices roasted very dark form the gravy, with jaggery and Kodagu’s formidable kachampuli sorting out the sweet-sour end of things.

I bought 1.5 kg of bamboo shoot, peeled away two-thirds of it, soaked the remaining 500 grams for two days, boiled it for another half hour, and then finally made lunch.

Monsoon ingredients, it seems, come with their own administrative procedures.