Culinary Traditions

This story is about how the endings in South India are always with a betel leaf.

An intimate journey of how rivers shape the way we cook and eat.

From bustling morning auctions at Bunder to quiet monsoon days along the estuary, Mangaluru’s food culture is inseparable from its waters. A sensory journey through the dishes, people, and rhythms that define coastal Dakshina Kannada.

Pravah, part of Pinch of South’s Story Table series, turned dining into an exploration of ecology. Inspired by Understanding Our Backyard: Rivers of the Western Ghats, it connected food, rivers, and community through storytelling and shared meals. Each dish traced a river’s journey, reminding diners that nourishment flows from nature — turning awareness into empathy and care for the living systems that sustain us.

"Taste of Bathukamma", a nine-day festival where each day's offering of a simple, seasonal dish represents a different phase of life. The food mirrors the rhythm of the land—from uncooked rice flour on Day 1 to a feast of five rice dishes on Day 9. Offerings symbolize core values like strength, sharing, care, patience, effort, and rest. The cycle culminates on Saddula Bathukamma with a communal meal, representing harvest, gratitude, and the full spectrum of life's flavors.

Nisha Thomas, a city-dweller-turned-farmer, reflects on the fleeting joys of foraging wild kumm in Coorg and the deeper belonging she’s found in the mist and memory of monsoon rains.