The Cacao Residency in 6 Unforgettable Dishes by Chef Gokul

At the recently-held Cacao Residency in Varanashi Farms, Vijayalakshmi Sridhar found herself most intrigued by the meals she had, courtesy of chef Gokul Kumar. Here, she notes down her favourite dishes.

Cacao has the most bewitching history. It is one of several crops grown in the 100 acres of Varanashi Farms in Adyanadka, Karnataka, where sustainable farming practices mean that 35% of the farm is left intentionally wild.

In early October, the farm was host to the 3-day Cacao Residency, hosted in partnership with Goya Media, and the Indian Cacao & Craft Chocolate Festival. We explored the region’s cacao journey from chemical farming to regenerative cultivation, workshopped fermentation techniques—from paocai and chunda to tepache and sauerkraut—and dug into food storytelling and photography. Between floor-circle discussions, farmer interactions, and a bit of wild foraging, it all came together beautifully. The residency sessions ended with a chocolate tasting session, and a community cook-out. 

Varanashi Farms is abundant in produce: from arecanut to coconut to cacao, jackfruit, pineapple, moringa, the vegetables, including the tubers and gourd creepers—both wild and tamed, spread over 100 acres.

Meal times at the residency were as exciting as the workshops and tastings. Each menu was curated by Chef Gokul Kumar, aka Chef Goku, who had tenured at Michelin-starred restaurants like Aureole, The Clocktower, Rezdora and Junoon. His creations carried international inspirations, made with farm-local ingredients. “The people of the land, and the stories and flavours of the wild fuel my creativity,” he grins.

Cacao was expectedly the star: It laced our drinks, was ground, melted and stirred into desserts, even main course and salads. Interestingly, the oldest tree at Varanashi Farms is 65 years old. It lost ground in one of the cyclones that ravaged the locality, yet is still bearing fruit.

Dinners at Varanashi were around a beautiful community table. Despite exciting long days filled with new experiences and lessons, we sat down to slowly savour the flavours of each meal. Each dish was prepared with care and serious aplomb, and deserved to be explored and experienced thoroughly. Here are 6 dishes that encapsulate both the incredible produce at Varanashi Farms, the Cacao Residency, and chef Gokul’s creative journey.

Pozol

Pozol was a delicious drink from dinner at opening night, showcasing the earthiness of corn and richness from chocolate. “The Aztec (Mesoamerican civilisation from Mexico) believe that human beings were created from corn. Chocolate is also very dear to them,” explains Goku. Pozol, with both ingredients, is a ceremonial drink, which he felt was an apt drink to open the residency. “Originally made using masa (Masa Harina) flour, at the farm, I substituted the flour with fresh corn kernels, then roasted and blended it with chocolate and jaggery.” 

Kaje Jaya Moringa Fried Rice

When you have a super food like moringa, you let its colour, flavour and nutritional goodness highlight the dish. But there is also Kaje Jaya here — the rural Dakshina Kannada rice variety that is hand-transplanted and rain-fed at Varanashi Farms. This fried rice was intense, and a disruptive take on the Chinese staple. “Moringa is used in a lot of rice dishes in Sri Lanka. Kaje Jaya is a boiled rice variety and is a non-sticky, fluffy rice. Though I made a typical fried rice, I wanted both the rice and moringa to shine through,” says Goku. 

Yam Mash with Insulin Leaf Chimichurri

Costus Igneus, commonly known as the insulin plant that has its genesis in Brazil and Argentina, is abundant at Varanashi Farms — dense along the hedges, down the footbridges and around the trees. Chewing the fresh leaves is said to work as a natural cure for regulating blood sugar. A chimichurri with these leaves, together with garlic, finely sliced native kanthari chillies and olive oil was sharp, tangy and hot. “I planned the yam mash similar to how Keralites make kappa — boiling and mashing the yam, and then adding onions, chillies and lemon juice, not unlike a Mexican guacamole. I used insulin leaves in place of parsley in the chimichurri, and Kanthari chillies from the farm to balance the sourness. It pairs beautifully with the creamy mash.”

Wild Taro Fry 

Both wild and cultivated taro belong to the Western Ghats, and is an important crop in the state of Karnataka. The Varanashi wild taro (Colocasia esculenta) has a spiky exterior, and its flesh packs a stinging-punch — it must be carefully cured before it is cut into chunky cubes and marinated in spices and deep-fried. These hulking great cubes are fat, meaty and melt-in-the-mouth. “Before the potato, both yam and taro used to be an integral part of the South Indian meal platter. In fact, there are a lot of wild varieties that we don’t consume anymore. This particular wild variety taro is native to Mangalore. The taro is cubed, marinated with spices and then pan-fried like fish-fry,” says Goku.

Beetroot Halwa with 45% Milk Chocolate

This marvellous veggie-chocolate final course is dark, formidable and a memorable ode to one of Varanashi Farms’ finest produce: its cacao. While the halwa’s texture can be attributed to roasting the beets in ghee and then cooking in milk, its creaminess comes from the addition of milk chocolate. To chef Goku, this halwa tastes of of home and his childhood. “I paired it with this chocolate for its complexity, acidity and citrus after-taste. This balances the beetroot’s earthiness and brings the dessert together with its a certain depth of flavour,” he says.

Uruli

“Uruli is a classic of the Siddi community (an ethnic group, descendants of the Bantu people from Africa). Most Siddi desserts are made from forest produce, and is uruli—a vegan cold chocolate made with horsegram which is roasted until it takes on a smoky flavour, and then blended with jaggery,” explains Goku. Dark chocolate from the farm lent a silkiness to the drink, while roasted and ground horsegram added nuttiness and body.

RECIPE FOR URULI

Ingredients

250g horse gram
1 l water
100g milk or dark chocolate
50g jaggery
Pinch of salt

Method
Dry-roast the horse gram on medium heat until it turns aromatic and toasty.
Add cold water, rinse well a couple of times to remove any residue, and drain.
In a pot, add a litre of water and jaggery. Melt completely, strain, and chill the jaggery water.
In a blender, add the roasted horse gram, chocolate, and enough chilled jaggery water to grind into a smooth, rich paste.
Transfer the mixture to a container. Add more cold jaggery water or ice water to thin it down to a drinkable consistency.
Add a pinch of salt. Adjust sweetness or chocolate depth as needed.
Pour over ice and serve chilled.

Vijayalakshmi Sridhar is a features and fiction writer from Chennai. 

ALSO ON GOYA