The people of North Karnataka have a taste for wheat and jowar rottis (unleavened bread made of millet), a delicacy best savored with a variety of chutnies or spicy curries. Apart from the jowar rottis and the trademark yenne badanekayi (brinjal curry), North Karnataka fare boasts a wide range of rottis to choose from: Jolada rotti, safe peet, khadak rotti and sajja rotti (bajra rotti). These rottis are accompanied by side dishes like yenne badanekayi, kaalu palya, soppu palya, usli (made from spicy sprouted gram) and jholka (made from channa dal flour). The best North Karnataka cuisines are Dharwad peda, Gokak khardantu, Belgaum khunda, shenga holige and yellu holige, besides the local hoornada holige.

Traditional Fare
The traditional culinary fare of Karnataka is a sumptuous spread that includes several essential menu items. These include protein-rich cereal salads like kosambri, safet (warm vegetable salads made out of parboiled vegetables chopped fine and tossed with desiccated coconut, green chillies, curry leaves and mustard seasoning), gojju (a vegetable cooked in tamarind juice with chilli powder in it), tovve (cooked dal without too much seasoning), huli (a thick broth of lentils and vegetables cooked together with ground, including chitranna (rice with lime juice, green chilli, turmeric powder sprinkled with fried coconut, spices, tamarind and chilli powder) and pappad.

A complete range of rice-based dishes groundnuts and coriander leaves), vangibhath (spiced rice with eggplant), and pulliyogare (rice flavoured with tamarind juice and spiced with groundnuts) form an integral part of the traditional repertoire. The most distinctive Karnataka dish, however, is the celebrated bisibelebhath, a unique combination of rice, dal, tamarind, chilli powder and a dash of cinnamon. In rural areas, ragi (steam-cooked finger millet rolled into large balls) served either with mutton curry or soppina saaru forms the staple diet.