|
Chennai is
noted for its delectable South Indian
cuisine, so distinct from North Indian
cuisine but equally famous and much
sought after everywhere. From the idli,
vada, and idiyappam to uppuma and dosa,
Chennai provides delicious variety for
the taste buds. There are numerous
vegetarian restaurants in Chennai
serving simple meals where a thali lunch
is served on a banana leaf to sumptuous
spreads in the big hotels. One can also
savour non-vegetarian Chettinad cuisine
that is a specialty in Tamil Nadu and
will be a delight for those who like hot
and spicy non-vegetarian food. This type
of food has several variations of fish,
mutton, and chicken dishes of which the
Chettinad Pepper Chicken is special.
Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai, is
famous for its filter coffee as most
Tamils have a subtle contempt for
instant coffee. The making of filter
coffee is almost a ritual, for the
coffee beans have to be first roasted
and then ground. The powder is put into
a filter set and boiling hot water is
added to prepare the decoction and
allowed to set for about 15 minutes. The
decoction is then added to milk with
sugar to taste. The final drink is
poured from one container to another in
rapid succession to make the ideal
frothy cup of filter coffee.
As Chennai is still a city absorbed in
Tamil culture & tradition, the tradition
reflects in the food of the Chennaites.
Rice being the major staple food of the
South Indians, Chennai is no exception.
Riceforms an important ingredient of
breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lunch or
meals consist of cooked rice served with
an array of vegetable dishes, sambar,
chutneys, rasam and curd (yogurt). For a
non-vegetarian lunch, curries or dishes
cooked with mutton, chicken or fish is
included. The meals are incomplete
without crisp papads or appalam.
Breakfast or tiffin includes idly, dosai
and lentils crisp fried on a pan, vada
(deep fried doughnuts made from a batter
of lentils), pongal (a mish mash of rice
and lentils boiled together and seasoned
with ghee, cashew nuts, pepper and
cummin seed), uppuma (cooked semolina
seasoned in oil with mustard, pepper,
cummin seed and dry lentils.) There are
several variations of the dishes
mentioned above which are eaten with
coconut chutney, sambar (seasoned lentil
broth) and mulaga podi (a powdered mix
of several dried lentils eaten with
oil).
The Chennai cuisine has a variety of
recipes. The menus are usually
influenced by the menu of different
people who have moved into Chennai from
different parts of Tamil Nadu. Each
ingredient in a dish has some medicinal
value associated with it. On festival
occasions, even today the traditional
Chennai lunch is served on a banana
leaf. It is an ancient Tamilian belief
that the banana leaf has the ability to
take away untraceable amounts of toxins
in the food we eat.
The Chennaites also do not mind
experimenting with their taste buds
occasionally. The upcoming pizza centers
and fast food joint explain it. Spices
are added to give a distinctive taste.
The Tamil style of Mughlai food can be
savoured in the biriyanis and paya. The
later is a kind of spiced trotters broth
and is eaten with either parathas or
appam. |
