Ganesha Habba isn't just about colourful idols, ceremonies and family time — it's about food as well.
On the two days of the festival, kitchens in the City get busy. Homes as well as restaurants and eateries churn out a host of tempting dishes, traditionally associated with the habba.
These offerings — whether sweet or savoury — tend to be steamed and off-set with flavoursome chutneys.
One of the most common delicacies that is an integral part of the habba is kodabu — a sort of rice-flour dumpling, seasoned with coconut, jaggery and cardamom. Ranjit, a professional, recalls partaking of the delicious sweet every year during the habba.
"My wife and mother make two or three varieties of kodabu at home. One has grated coconut, and the other is made with a seed called nuglu," he describes.
On the festival day, his family enjoys a late brunch. "The focus is on the celebrations, so we tend to have a late breakfast-cum-lunch. We eat idli and chutney and sometimes, we prepare obat as well.
Other than the kind which is made with jaggery, we have poorna dal — which is a kind of obat made with dal. These are dishes which are generally made at weddings, but we have them on both days of the festival," says Ranjit.
Given the festive nature of the occasion, there is a lot of emphasis on sweet food — payasam and holige are made in huge quantities in most homes.
Restaurants capitalise on this and come out with habba specials — extensive meals, culminating in a variety of sweet dishes.
Babu Rao, the manager of Hallimane — an eatery in Malleswaram — says that his cooks concoct a variety of eats in honour of the festival.
"On Ganesha Habba and Gowri Ganesha, we put a lot of dishes like modak and karchikai — a traditional North Karnataka dish made with coconut and khus khus — on the menu.
The modak is made with coconut, jaggery and cardamom," he describes. Along with this, other special eats like holige are also made. "We also make a variety of chutneys to have with the dishes," adds Babu.
Although the emphasis is on the sweet, savoury dishes are an integral part of the festival too. Kosambari, a fresh salad made with split lentils and flavoured with mustard seeds, is found on many tables.
While some families go for steamed idlis, others made delicious gojjus — thick chutneys — which is made with either pineapple or capsicum. Shruthi Anantharam, a professional, says that her mother makes a variety of spicy and sweet preparations for the habba.
"We make kolkatte — both sweet as well as khara — and modak and kadabu, of course. Other than that, we tend to eat palya, puliyogare and rice, with either sambar or rasam," she shares.
On the two days of the festival, kitchens in the City get busy. Homes as well as restaurants and eateries churn out a host of tempting dishes, traditionally associated with the habba.
These offerings — whether sweet or savoury — tend to be steamed and off-set with flavoursome chutneys.
One of the most common delicacies that is an integral part of the habba is kodabu — a sort of rice-flour dumpling, seasoned with coconut, jaggery and cardamom. Ranjit, a professional, recalls partaking of the delicious sweet every year during the habba.
"My wife and mother make two or three varieties of kodabu at home. One has grated coconut, and the other is made with a seed called nuglu," he describes.
On the festival day, his family enjoys a late brunch. "The focus is on the celebrations, so we tend to have a late breakfast-cum-lunch. We eat idli and chutney and sometimes, we prepare obat as well.
Other than the kind which is made with jaggery, we have poorna dal — which is a kind of obat made with dal. These are dishes which are generally made at weddings, but we have them on both days of the festival," says Ranjit.
Given the festive nature of the occasion, there is a lot of emphasis on sweet food — payasam and holige are made in huge quantities in most homes.
Restaurants capitalise on this and come out with habba specials — extensive meals, culminating in a variety of sweet dishes.
Babu Rao, the manager of Hallimane — an eatery in Malleswaram — says that his cooks concoct a variety of eats in honour of the festival.
"On Ganesha Habba and Gowri Ganesha, we put a lot of dishes like modak and karchikai — a traditional North Karnataka dish made with coconut and khus khus — on the menu.
The modak is made with coconut, jaggery and cardamom," he describes. Along with this, other special eats like holige are also made. "We also make a variety of chutneys to have with the dishes," adds Babu.
Although the emphasis is on the sweet, savoury dishes are an integral part of the festival too. Kosambari, a fresh salad made with split lentils and flavoured with mustard seeds, is found on many tables.
While some families go for steamed idlis, others made delicious gojjus — thick chutneys — which is made with either pineapple or capsicum. Shruthi Anantharam, a professional, says that her mother makes a variety of spicy and sweet preparations for the habba.
"We make kolkatte — both sweet as well as khara — and modak and kadabu, of course. Other than that, we tend to eat palya, puliyogare and rice, with either sambar or rasam," she shares.