6 Mouthwatering Karnataka Dishes You Must Try

Karnataka has one of the mildest cuisines in India. It has many different and diverse regions, each with their own unique Karnataka foods to try. Regions in Karnataka like North Karnataka, South Karnataka, Kodagu, Udupi, and Mangalore have their own staples and specialities, from vegetarian dishes to seafood and meat curries. The staple food items of Karnataka include rice, raagi, and jower (millet). A traditional meal in Karnataka is made up of huli (thick broth cooked with vegetables, lentils and ground paste of coconut, chili, tamarind, and spices), palya (vegetables), tovve (cooked lentils with minimal seasoning), kootu, kosambari (lentil and vegetable salad), saaru (clear pepper broth), obattu (sweet flatbread also called holige), payasa, papad, puri (rolled from wheat flour), pickles, and curd. This is served on banana leaves or muttuga leaves (these leaves are sewn together).

Famous dishes in Karnataka include: bisi bele bhath, Davanagere benne dosa, uppittu, ragi rotti, akki rotti, saaru, kesari bath, bangi bath, khara bath, and ragi mudde. Popular sweet dishes of Karnataka include Mysore pak, chiroti (a light flaky pastry that is sprinkled with granulated sugar and is later soaked in almond milk), obbattu or holige (a flat, thin chapatti/crepe filled with a mixture of jaggery, coconut or copra and sugar and toasted gently on a skillet), gokak, Dharwad peda, kardantu, sakkare acchuhaala-puri, ladoo and shavige payasa (made from milk, vermicelli, sugar and cardamom).

# Bisi Bele Bhath

Bisi Bele Bhath is one of the most popular Karnataka foods. Essentially a blend of rice, lentils, vegetables and spices, all cooked together to create a flavourful all-in-one dish. It is often served with generous helpings of ghee and potato chips or boondi. Bisi means hot in Kannada and hence this dish is best eaten piping hot.

# Dosas

Dosas are a popular dish all across India, and Karnataka is no different. They are essentially pancakes made with fermented batter of rice and black gram, and served with sambar (lentil stew) and chutney. The southern state is known for its many varieties of dosa. One of the most well-known is Davangere benne dosa, which is made with generous amounts of butter, while Mysore masala dosa is smeared with chutneys stuffed with spicy potato filling. Set dosas are thicker versions, while you can also get dosas made with ragi (millets) and rave (semolina). Another popular variation is the neer dosa that comes from Mangalore, where the rice is soaked in water overnight rather than being fermented.

# Mysore Pak

Mysore Pak is a well known sweet from Karnataka. It was first created in the kitchens of the Mysore Palace and is made with chickpea flour, ghee (clarified butter) and sugar. The texture varies with the amount of ghee added to the dish from hard and porous (less ghee), to soft, dense, and fudge-y (more ghee).

# Maddur Vada

A popular snack, the Maddur Vada gets its name from Maddur town in Mandya. Unlike regular vadas which resemble doughnuts, Maddur Vadas are large and circular. They are made with flour, onions, semolina, and spices, and fried until crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside. They are quite popular among Karnataka foods.

# Tatte Idli

Like dosas, idlis are enjoyed across South India. These steamed rice cakes are made with a fermented batter of black lentils and rice and served with chutney and sambar. A popular variation in Karnataka is the thatte idli, a plate-sized flattened variant (thatte is the Kannada word for a plate). Other variations popular in Karnataka are the rava idli, made from rava (or semolina), and Muday idli found in Mangalore.

# Dharwad Peda

Named for the city of Dharwad in Karnataka, this sweet is made with milk which is heated and stirred continuously, along with sugar and condensed milk. It is said that that the Dahrwad peda was first created by a 19th-century confectioner in Dharwad, and has been given a Geographical Indication tag making it quite famous among the various Karnataka foods.