Bamboo Shoot (Baimballe) Curry

Bamboo shoot or Baimballe is a forest vegetable. Like literally, you don't find it anywhere but in forest and they also happen to be a favorite of the Elephants. I love elephants, they are my favorite animal! Close to where my grandmother lives, there is this beautiful elephant camp, Dubare, where they train them. When we were kids, my uncle would drive us down to Dubare  and we would spend an entire day there. It also happens to be by the banks of the river Kaveri. We would play in the shallow waters, cross the river on small pebbles and go on to the other side. The other side was where the elephants were kept, in huge wooden cages. but that's just the wild ones, who were recently captured and needed some disciplining and training by the mahouts. During lunch time, they would make HUGE raagi balls and feed the elephants! I've fed them and it's such a beautiful feeling. This huge creature opening it's mouth in front of you for it's food and after it swallows the ball, it bows it's head to say "thank you". There's so much we humans can learn from animals! Anyway, Dubare used to be one of my favorite places to go to as a kid. And on our lucky days we could even watch the mahout bathe elephants! Dubare is a little crowded now, and there are these stupid "Uncle Chips" type stalls that have opened up on the banks and people litter all the time. But watching the elephants is still awesome and since we know a few people in the forest department, they give us special access :)

Oops, I did it again. I got talking about elephants didn't I ? ok So back to bamboo shoot. I love bamboo shoot curry or the dry sabji (we say pallia in Coorgi). I think it's available throughout the year, but it's especially found during monsoons. My uncles would come back from the estates with bamboo shoots on their shoulders and I would screech with joy. It's tedious to prepare. My mom and grandmother would then sit out on the steps of the kitchen balcony and shred and thinly slice the shoots. And put them in big plastic buckets of water.Not steel, because steel tends to react with steel.  Fresh bamboo shoot is poisonous. So they would keep it in water for 2-3 days I think, of course changing the water twice everyday. The second day they would cover the bucket with just enough water to cover the shoots and cover it with a muslin cloth and keep it in a warm place. Finally on the third day they would cook the bamboo shoot in the same water. The water is a little tangy and sour. I haven't seen this curing process anywhere else, and maybe this process also adds to the taste a little.

Even though it's a quintessential Coorgi dish, it's cooked very differently in different households! It all actually depends on how you slice the bamboo. Today I'm going to share with you all my grandmother's recipe. My mother makes it lightly differently, I'll share that sometime later.

Ingredients

1/2 kg Bamboo Shoot (cooked in turmeric and salt)
2 1/2 Onions : thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons of rice flour
5-7 garlic cloves sliced
1/2 teaspoon jeera powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 cup freshly ground coconut/ grated coconut will also do
2-3 red chillies
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
few curry leaves/kadi-patta
3 tablespoons cooking oil

Process

• Cook the cured bamboo shoot in turmeric and salt in it's original water. For those of you who don't have access fresh forest bamboo shoot (which is all of us :) ), soak the bamboo shoot you buy in the market overnight in water. Cook it with turmeric and salt in the same water on slow flame.
• In a different pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Let it splutter.
• Add garlic and red chilies. After a minute, add the onions and continue frying.
• Add the rice flour, jeera powder, coriander powder.
• Continue frying the masala for 10-12 minutes and add the bamboo shoot. 
• Mix well and immediately add the ground/grated coconut. The difference between grated and ground, is that grated causes the curry to be grainy unlike the smooth texture of finely ground coconut. So do try to grind the coconut if you can!
• Add 1-2 glasses of water and cover the pan with a lid for the gravy to retain it's flavor and fragrance. You might need to add more water depending on how watery the curry gets.
• Make sure to always cook on a slow/low flame, that is true for cooking in  general and not only this recipe. 
• After a couple of minute open the lid, check for the consistency of the gravy. it shouldn't be too watery, the thicker the better. Also check for salt.  
• Bring it to a boil and switch off the gas. Shut with the lid and let cool.

Ta Da ! That was easy, right? It's best had with hot rice or rice rotis (we call it Ottis). I'll share the recipe for otti soon. And if you don't know how to make rice, please YouTube it! 

Have a great meal guys!