In Karnataka, holige or obattu, is rolled out for all special occasions. The wafer thin pancakes are stuffed with daal, jaggery or coconut. It is during Ugadi that obattu holds centre stage.

Ugadi is the New Year's day observed in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh according to the lunar calendar and falls in March or April of the Gregorian calendar. It is also celebrated as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra, Thapna in Rajasthan, as Cheti Chand with Sindhis, and Meetei Cheiraoba for the Manipuris.

Ugadi is the time for extended family get togethers with the table groaning with all manner of dainties including the happy, glistening-with-ghee obattu, the bevu-bella (neem leaf or buds with jaggery) and fresh, grated mango evocative of the flavours of life — sweet, sour, tangy, bitter and salty.

While the popular obattu variants are bele (lentil) and kaayi (coconut), obattu has newer stuffings including vegetables, fruits and nuts. “All the Holige Mane’s in Karnataka showcase nearly 50 kinds of obattu in sweet and savoury versions,” says Vijayalakshmi Reddy who has nearly two dozen cookbooks to her credit, nearly 7,000 cookery shows on TV and has taught cooking for four decades.

“Till 10 years ago, I taught only bele and kaayi obattu. The first vegetable to sidle into this sweet dish was carrot, for the health conscious,” says Vijayalakshmi. The last decade, has seen a mind-boggling variety of fillings from genasu (sweet potato), beetroot, spinach and dates to mixed fruit, badami, rava, horsegram avarekaalu and sesame-khova.”

Vijayalakshmi makes it sound easy, although most agree that preparing obattu is a rather tedious process. It is essentially a sweet stuffing (hoorana) inside an outer cover of maida or rava (kanaka), and rolled out and put on the tava. “I learnt most of my traditional recipes watching my grandma cook,” recalls Vijayalakshmi.

A good obattu has to score on three dimensions according to Vijayalakshmi. “First, the layers have to be puffy and flaky not sticky; the thinner you are able to roll out the cover, the better. The covering has to be soft and shining like Mysore silk, as my grandma would say.”

Bele obattu is made using toor or chana daal. “In Karnataka the recipe varies from region to region. Jaggery, coconut, cardamom, a pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon powder and a few cloves are also used. For the covering, wheat flour is added to maida or thin rava and mixed with water and generous amounts of oil to make the dough. Obattu is like a aloo paratha where the aloo is replaced with a sweet mixture and wheat is replaced with maida for elasticity.”