Sathwik Homestay – A Nestle Away from Daily Hustle and Bustle

When someone is born in modern times with all the qualities of being an entrepreneur with an option to indulge in commercial activities more than preserving heritage, nature and tradition, I have found someone, who is different. He is much different than others from his own generation. Much different in attitude, passion and love for nature, who has invested and developed his ancestral property for the joy of travelers who would like to indulge in pure bliss of pristine rural atmosphere amidst lush greenery shrouding a resort, planned and commissioned with a traditional title ‘Sathwik Homestay’ in a quiet place, not so distant from the hustle and bustle of the urban commercial hub of Uttara Kannada, Sirsi. 

I am talking about Vivek Divekar, a youngster in his Thirties hailing from this small village called Devanalli(Devanahalli), 21 Kms from Sirsi. Vivek’s family owns 25 Acre farm land in Devanalli situated amidst thick Malnad forest. They have planted mainly arecanut trees along with by-crops like pepper, betel leaf, kokum, cardamom, vanilla, nutmeg, lime, lemon, agarwood, cashew and cocoa. 

Vivek, like any youngsters is well qualified with BCom and MBA in business. He runs a BPO firm in Sirsi town since last 6 years. His interest in travel, tourism and books made him aspirant about developing a piece of land adjoining their farm into home stay. Shankar Divekar, his uncle in Sirsi who is a businessman also gave him idea about how to go about it, and he has always been inspirational to Vivek in developing his entrepreneur skills. Besides, surrounding places like Yana, Vibhuti Falls and Venkatramana Temple at Manjaguni made him think about providing clean neat and safe facility with pure vegetarian homely food to the travelers. Thus Sathwik Homestay came into existence.

Today, Vivek is supported by his entire family in running the place, his father Vittal Divekar being the guiding force and uncle Narasimha Divekar(co-owner) and aunt Sheetal Divekar the main pillars of support, his wife Varsha Divekar and son Vismay Divekar are his inspiration.

Though Vivek is a distant relative of mine who is cousin of Shridhar Isloor of Sirsi, I never had any contact with him before. Shridhar is nephew of my brother in law Dr Suresh D Isloor of Shivamogga hailing from famous Isloor family of Rayarpet Sirsi. I was invited by Dr Arun Isloor, another nephew of Dr Isloor to visit Arun’s farm Sahyadri Greens in Devanahalli on April 9. Arun arranged for my overnight stay at Sathwik Homestay. 

I started by train to Kumta and then on by bus from there to Sirsi. From Sirsi I caught a bus going to Mattighatta which has the picturesque Vibhuti Falls. On the way, after covering the 21 Kms winding up the new State Highway under construction, I reached Devanalli. Devanalli has a few shops and restaurants on the main road. Buses frequent almost hourly from Sirsi towards Mattighatta or Yana. Sathwik Homestay is at a stone’s throw distance from Devanalli bus stop. I met Vivek there, who welcomed me and led me to show the accommodation.

There are in total 5 cottages in Sathwik Homestay with a landscaped garden and an open dining hall cum recreation center. The facility is well designed with ample parking space in front and a veranda with fixed stone benches as well as chairs to relax and watch nature. Tile roofing with false ceiling, self contained rooms with wall fans, coffee table and plush sofa, dressing mirror, soft cotton double beds and pillows, warm and cool blankets and Indo-Western toilets with hot and cold water, hand wash and clean flooring and insect screens and beautiful clean curtains on windows are the main highlights. Surprisingly I didn’t find a single mosquito in Devanalli during my overnight stay!

Tariff is Rs 800/- per person per night, which includes breakfast and dinner, morning and evening coffee/tea. Children below 5 years are accommodated free, and those between 5-12 years are charged Rs.500/- per head. Simple South Indian traditional breakfast with idli, shyavige uppittu, chow chow bhaat or neeru dosa and dinner with chapati curry, rice sambar, playa, sweet and curd are served. Lunch is served on demand as extra, and is charged Rs.100/-. 

Since I was Arun’s guest and it was not high season to visit Devanalli, Vivek offered me whatever they prepared for themselves at their home. The taste of awesome soft rava and rice dosas and rice mumbris with tambuli chutney and baingan bharta still linger on my taste buds! Sachin the friendly room boy attended to me with zeal and made my stay more comfortable and homely. Narasimha and Vivek were very much concerned about my necessities and they monitored from time to time to see if I needed anything. 

After dark, the ambiance turns into a quiet isolated haven with occasional buzz of insects and passing by scooters or pedestrians with torch lights. By 9:00pm, one is into total bliss with silent nature and a romantic feeling!  

Early morning mist welcomes you into the vast farm scientifically planted with arecanut trees and other plants. After morning tea and biscuits followed by breakfast one hour later, Vivek led me into the garden but normally Narasimha takes care of the travelers, as he is much more experienced and knowledgeable about the plants and agriculture. 

Vivek showed me most of the plants that are listed above in this article, and told me, Kokum is a fruit found mostly in all the forests of Uttara Kannada and there are industries extracting Kokum juice for commercial marketing. I saw many Kokum plants in their garden. However, due to scorching summer, the natural spring water stream had dried up. Vivek said, from August until March the water keeps flowing nonstop and travelers may rejoice bathing and playing in the stream. Heritage walk into the farm is part of the home stay package. A drive into the forest or other local village farms is optional, and experienced guide is provided at extra cost.

My quick round in the farm rejuvenated my breathing and blood circulation and I felt good. After spending almost 14 hours at Sathwik Homestay, I started off to Sirsi, while Narasimha, Vivek and Sachin stood at the entrance to bid me farewell.

I appreciate Vivek’s objective about home stay, the clean and neat setup, the pristine beauty of the tastefully decorated landscaped garden and of course the beautiful green farm with hundreds of plants and trees. Of course I was there in off season; otherwise I would have also enjoyed the flow of cool stream of spring water that runs 24x7x365 through the farm from August to March, attracting birds and other lovely creatures. I heartily wish Vivek, Narasimha and their family at Sathwik Homestay, a long mileage in hosting travelers with the same level of enthusiasm, while upholding the rich cultural and traditional heritage of Uttara Kannada.

Watch this video(Kannada Version)

Contact info: 

Address: 

Sathwik Homestay,

Devanalli 581403

Sirsi Tq

Karnataka

Contact Phone no.: 

Vivek 09481818154

Getting there:

Distance from Sirsi - 21Kms(via Sirsi Mattighatta Road)

From Kumta: 49Kms(via Kumta - Manjaguni on Kumta Sirsi Road) 

From Karwar: 114Kms(via Kumta Manjaguni) 

Best season:

September to February

Further info: 

http://www.sathwikhomestay.com/

https://www.facebook.com/sathwikhomestay

Travel website listing:

https://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Review-g2294723-d6200485-Reviews-Sathwik_Homestay-Sirsi_Karnataka.html

https://www.makemytrip.com/hotels/sathwik_homestay-details-sirsi.html

http://www.agoda.com/en-in/sathwik-homestay/hotel/karwar-in.html

http://www.goibibo.com/hotels/sathwik-homestay-hotel-in-sirsi-2414473332405545674/

http://www.travelguru.com/hotels/India/sirsi/sathwik-homestay-photos-and-videos-00020680

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Coconut Milk Extraction(Traditional Method)

Those living in the West Coast of India habitually include coconut in their cuisine. Coconut is used in many forms in making curries, fried, snacks, sweets and desserts. Not just coconut masala, coconut milk also plays an important role in making many delicacies, veg or nonveg. Mangalorean Kori Ghasi, Kundapur Koli Thalna, Kerala Sadhyam, Payasam, Goan Rosachi Kadi and of course the pick me up Kokum Kadi. They all need coconut milk to prepare. GSB delicacy Valval and Brahmin dessert Rasayana also have added coconut milk in them. Coconut milk/cream of late has gained international importance by being one of the key ingredients in making Vodka and rum based cocktails and liqueurs.

In thesee modern times, we have seen coconut products like milk, cream, milk powder, desiccated powder and many more byproducts flooding the markets, on the shelves of super stores. Yet, traditionally extracted fresh coconut milk has its own taste and flavour. It makes the preparations very delicious and aromatic. More so, if right grading of coconut is used for extracting milk. Since my childhood, I have been watching my mother extract coconut milk from green fresh coconut manually grated on the coconut scraping stool, manually ground using the grinding stone and squeeze out the milk by straining through a muslin cloth. Today we have electric coconut scrapers and mixer grinders that make our job easy. Strainers with fine stainless steel or plastic sieve are also available in the market. Yet, obtaining green coconut is not so easy! Not many stores or vegetable vendors stock them, as they are fast perishable. Some may give whitish looking coconuts saying they are suitable, but the kernel might have grown and contain oil content, which does not give the same flavour as tender one. Those who have coconut trees in their garden are lucky, if the coconut plucker obliges and plucks couple of green coconuts and facilitates extraction of good quality coconut milk!

We are lucky that our coconut plucker Ananda came yesterday to pluck coconuts and I asked him to pluck a green one. He plucked one and also peeled it for me. It was looking big and heavy, but had lot of water inside and the kernel was rather tender and thin. Yet, the coconut milk I extracted tasted exactly like what my mother used to extract during my childhood days! We made Valval, delicious GSB style mixed veg curry with the milk extracted from that coconut today.

The art of grating/scraping coconut manually is not mastered by many youngsters from the the newer generation. We still belong to the older generation and I have helped my mother in cooking since our only sister, our eldest was married off as early as when I was 7 years old! I used to grate coconut, grind masala on the stone, prepare tea coffee and few simple snacks, make rice daalithove and upkari when I was in school, when mother was away at sister's town Shivamogga. Later when I was in PUC, I also remember doing voluntary work with my GSB friends at the Venkatramana Temple Car Street during the annual Rathotsava, grating coconuts in the early hours, soon after Small Rathotsava was over. There they have long  benches with coconut scraping blades fixed at calculated gaps, and at a time 6-10 people can sit together and grate coconuts on one bench!

Meena still does coconut scraping manually, using the fantastic coconut scraping stool we got from Pilikula Heritage Village in 2009. She has demonstarted here, how to make coconut milk, starting from breaking the coconut using a 'Koiti/Katthi' or a sickle, drain and collect the coconut water for drinking, scrape the coconut, grind it in the mixer and extract thick and thin milk. Thick coconut milk is also called as coconut cream. It is the main base for curries, payasams and desserts. The thin milk is used in cooking vegetables and lentils or while grinding rice and daal for dosas and sannas. Of late, I have also made fine toddy, fermenting thin coconut thin milk by adding sugar and yeast. That toddy can be used for making sannas, aapams and dosas.

To Extract 4 Cups of thick coconut milk, you need a medium size coconut. Since the green coconut we used had thick kernel, we got just 2 cups of thick coconut milk and 2 cups of thin milk. More fibrous kernel yields more milk but also adds some percentage of oil content to the milk!

Implements you need:
Sickle or an iron rod for breaking the coconut
Coconut Scraping Board/Stool
A wide platter for collecting grated coconut.
Mixer/Grinder
Strainer with Fine Stainless or plastic mesh, or 2 ft x 2 ft wet muslin cloth
A spatula, spoon or ladle.
1 wide mouth vessel for collecting coconut water.
2 vessels of 1 liter capacity each for collecting thick and thin milk separately.

Ingredients:
Coconut - 1 medium(or 4 Cups grated coconut)
Water - 4-6 Cups

Method:
Remove the fibers sticking to the peeled coconut and wash the coconut under tap water.
Cup your left hand and hold the coconut firmly as in the picture.
Using the blunt edge of the sickle blade, tap on the middle portion of the coconut shell on the segment between two ridges using moderate force.
Turn the coconut and tap on the second segment between the ridges.
Turn again and tap on the third segment.
Now the coconut shell must have cracked.
Insert the tip of the sickle blade, widen the crack between two coconut halves, hold the coconut above the vessel and drain the water.
You can either consume this fresh sweet coconut water immediately, or keep it in the fridge for a day, and use it for grinding rice to make akki rotti, neeru dosa, undi or string hoppers.
You can also make toddy with coconut water.
Once the water is empty, separate the two halves.
Using the coconut scraper, grate the kernel and collect the grated coconut.
If you are using the grated coconut later, place the platter covered, in the fridge for 8-10 hours.
Take the grated coconut and 1-2 cup of water in the grinding jar of the mixer or a stand alone grinder.
Close the lid and run the mixer/grinder at slow speed for 2 minutes and at medium speed for 2 minutes.
Check to see if the mass is ground to a smooth paste.
If not, run the mixer at medium speed for another minute or so.
Pour the ground paste into the strainer little by little, use the spatula or spoon to stir the contents and extract milk.
Alternatively you can pour the ground paste into the wet muslin cloth, tie it securely and squeeze out the milk.
Once you get the thick milk, transfer the residue back into the mixer, add two more cups of water and run the mixer for 1-2 minutes.
Pour the contents into the strainer or muslin cloth and extract thin milk into a separate vessel.
repeat the process again if you feel the residue has some more thin milk to yield. 
Use in recipes as per instructions.
Store the thick and thin milk in the fridge for 4-6 hours if you want to use them later for cooking, but don't keep them in the freezer.

Murg Tikka Paan Rolls

The Indian Sweet Betel Leaf or paan is an essential mouth freshener cum digestive chewed by many in daily life. It is mostly chewed after the meals. Though there are hundreds of paans with added tobacco and other intoxicating agents available in almost every nook and corner of India, sweet paan is most sought sfter, which is liked by men, women and children. Any festive dinner is highlighted by paan. Paanwalas can bee seen near restaurants and markets with their petty make shift stalls. As per my knowledge, Mumbai has the highest number of paanwalas in the entire world!

Some years ago, Chef Sanjeev Kapoor had demonstrated on Khana Khazana,  how to make Shaam Savera, a spinach and cottage cheese dish which attracted my attention. Later in year 2010 when we used to frequent Vintaage Inn, a restaurant that was being run by an enterprising guy called Vinayak. He introduced many innovative dishes and he used to ask us if we would like to try new dishes. One such starter dish was 'Beeda Kebab'. Vinayak told me that it looks like paan roll and tastes similar to paan. I was surprised to hear that and we did order and taste it. It was OK, but not great. It lacked flavours. The filling tasted as if chicken is stuffed with Biscuit Rotti filling. The added grated coconut in the filling spoiled the taste.

Years rolled by and recently it was our good friend Uma Shenoi's birthday. I wanted to present a starter dish for Uma, something exotic, something unique and something she had never tasted before!

Using my imagination, borrowing the idea from what Vinayak had served us at Vintaage Inn that day in 2010, I came out with this one that I named 'Murg Tikka Paan Rolls'. It has the subtle taste of spinach blended with with a hint of mint and the biting taste and flavour of betel leaves. It has succulent juicy marinated chicken filled with sweet aromatic filling of fennel seeds, nuts and dry fruits with the redness of Kashmiri Chilli Powder and the tongue tickling taste of dry ginger. In a way, Kashmiri cuisine has much influence over this recipe.

Before we proceed to check the recipe, let me mention in brief about what any typical Indian Meetha Paan(Sweet Betel Leaf) consists of. Following the traditional preparation of paan, I have formulated the dish, of course with my own imagination to replace certain ingredients with suitable ones. After all, this is a chicken dish and we should also get the taste of chicken. Yet, adding garlic and onion to this may spoil the flavour. Hence I suggest, don't add any of those into this!

Essential constituents of a typical Meetha Paan(Sweet Betel Leaf):

Paan has its own good and bad effects on individuals due to tobacco and arecanut as per research studies, but I am highlighting some of the safe and healthy substitutes that I have added to suit the dish, at the same time giving almost the same flavour and taste as a typical pan has.

1. Any good variety of betel leaf - Kolkata, Banarasi, Salem leaves are very famous. They are sweeter than the Madras and Mangalorean leaf. Here I have used the local Mangalorean leaf which is quite pungent. To neutralise the pungency, I have added paalak leaves. If you use Kolkata or Banarasi Paan, you can double up the number of paan and reduce number of paalak leaves. Mint leaves are added for that minty flavour you get while chewing the paan. Make a paste of all the leaves add spices to the paste and use for marination.

2. Chuna(Lime paste) - Lime paste mixed with paan gives a different feeling for the paan chewer. Here I have symbolically represented chuna with hung curd with added Kashmiri Red Chilli powder for colour and other spice powders for flavour.

3. Gulkand(Rose-Honey Preserve) - Gulkand is made from wild pink rose and honey traditionally processed and preserved in ceramic jars. It is the sweetener added to make the paan tasty and succulent.  Sadvaidyashala of Nanjangud was famous for Gulkand in Karnataka. I have personally seen how they make Gulkand in 1988, since Meena was close to the owner BV Balasubramaniam son of BV Pandit, the founder of Sadvaidyashala. As newly married couple then in September 1988, we were invited by him to wish us and bless us.

I have represented gulkand with chopped candied pineapple, Tutti Fruity and raisins with added honey. You may add dates if you prefer and eliminate candied pineapple. I had stock of pineapple candy from Soans Farm Bannadka, hence used that.

4. Supari(Arecanut) pieces/flakes, Saunf(Fennel), Dhania(Coriander), Catechu(Acacia powder extract), Elaichi(Cardamom), Menthol, Jeera Mithai(Sugar coated Cumin) - These are dry ingredients that are added over gulkand for substance. They add to flavour and help in digestion. In these paan rolls, Dry fruits like roasted almonds, pista and cashew bits mixed with Khuskhus(Poppy Seeds), cardamom powder and nutmeg powder are added. Nutmeg belongs to the Arecanut family and looks similar. However, being very strong in flavour, I used just a pinch of nutmeg.

I am sure, this will be liked by all age group people. Surprise your family and friends with this. They wouldn't mind asking you to repeat the dish often, especially in these cold and dark winter months. You may serve this as a starter dish or a side dish with rotis and curry or any rice dish.

Ingredients:

For Marination:
Chicken Breast - 1 or approx 400Gms
Salt - To taste
Hung Curd - 1 Tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 Tsp
Kashmiri Chilli Pwder - 1 Tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 Tsp
Black Pepper powder - 1/2 Tsp
Lemon - 1/2 

For the Green Paste: 
Palak(Spinach Leaves) - A handful chopped
Mangalore Betel Leaves - 2 chopped(or Salem, Kolkata Or Banarasi leaves 4-6)
Mint Leaves - 1 sprig chopped
Cumin Powder - 1/4 Tsp
Black Pepper powder - 1/2 Tsp
Dry Ginger powder - 1/4 Tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/4 Tsp
Corn flour - 1 Tbsp
Egg white - 1

For the Filling:

Fruity Filling:
Candied Pineapple or de-seeded Dates - 6 chopped
Raisins - A handful chopped
Tutti Fruity - A handful
Dry Ginger Powder - 1/4 Tsp
Cardamom powder - A pinch
Nutmeg powder - A pinch
Honey - 2-3 Tsp

Nutty Filling:
Tiny Cashew Bits - A handful
Almonds - 8-10 chopped
Pistachios - 15 chopped
Toasted Fennel Seeds - 1 Tsp
Toasted Poppy Seeds - 1 Tsp

For final baking:
Butter - For basting
Wooden strong Toothpicks
Whole Clove(Optional)

Method:

Preparing Murg Paan Rolls:
Wash the chicken breast, carefully slice the chicken breast with a sharp knife and separate two heart shaped sheets from both sides.
Pat dry them or dry them with a kitchen towel.
Grind palak leaves with mint leaves and betel leaves into a thick puree without adding much water.
Add 1/4 Tsp dry ginger powder, pepper powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, corn flour, salt to taste and mix well.
Spread this paste on a platter.
Combine juice of half lemon, hung curd, turmeric powder,  Kashmiri chilli powder, garam masala powder, salt and pepper, rub over the chicken sheets on one side.
Place the chicken slices over the green paste and marinate for 30 mins to one hour in the fridge.
Mix the tutti fruity, raisins and dates with cardamom powder, 1/4 tsp dry ginger powder, nutmeg powder and honey.
Lighly crush roasted almonds, pistachios, fennel seeds, poppy seeds and mix with cashew bits.

Baking:

Preheat oven with baking tray lined with aluminum foil for 10 mins at 180°C.
Grease the baking tray with sufficient butter, spread the sheets of marinated chicken on the tray, green side down.
Apply sufficient fruity filling on them.
Top them up with sufficient nutty filling.
Roll the sheets into half moon fold to cover the filling.
Apply half the left over green paste from marination on them to cover them properly.
Bake at 180°C for 15 mins, baste with butter, flip them upside down,  apply remaining green paste, bake for another 10 mins or till slightly browned.
Baste with butter, flip them over and prick toothpicks at one inch gap and optionally prick with cloves or just leave the toothpicks intact.
Beat egg white till frothy.
Brush the beaten egg white all over the rolls and bake them for another 10 mins or till golden.
(Coating with egg white gives that leafy glaze all over the rolls).
Remove from the oven and slice the pieces with a sharp knife between the toothpicks.
Serve on a platter with choice of salad and lemon wedges.