TAMIL
NADU CUISINE
INTRODUCTION
Tamil
Nadu is famous for its deep belief that serving food to others is a service to
humanity, as is common in many regions of India. The region has a rich cuisine
involving both traditional vegetarian, as well as non-vegetarian dishes. Tamil
cuisine was developed by Tamilians many centuries ago in Southern India. It is
characterized by the use of rice, legumes and lentils, its distinct aroma and
flavour achieved by the blending of spices including curry leaves, tamarind,
coriander, ginger, garlic, chilli, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, cumin,
nutmeg, coconut and rosewater.
REGIONAL CUISINE
Over
a period of time, each geographical area where Tamils have lived has developed
its own distinct variant of the common dishes in addition to dishes native to
itself. The four divisions of ancient Tamilakam
are the primary means of dividing Tamil cuisine.
·
The Chettinad
region comprising Karaikudi and adjoining areas is known for both
traditional vegetarian dishes like idiyappam, uthappam, paal paniyaram and
non-vegetarian dishes made primarily using chicken. Chettinad cuisine has
gained popularity in non-Tamil speaking areas as well.
·
Madurai, Tirunelveli
and the other southern districts of Tamil Nadu
are known for non-vegetarian food made of mutton, chicken and fish. Paratha
made with maida or all-purpose flour, and loosely similar to the north Indian
wheat flour-based Paratha, is served at food outlets in Tamil Nadu, especially
in districts like Madurai, Virudhunagar, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli and the
adjoining areas. Madurai has its own unique foods such as jigarthanda,
muttaiparotta (minced parotta and scrambled egg), paruthipal (made of
cottonseeds),Karidosai (dosai with mutton stuffing) & ennaidosai (dosai
with lots of oil) which are rarely found in other parts of Tamil Nadu.
·
Nanjilnadu
(Kanyakumari district) region is famous for
its fish curry since the region is surrounded by the three great water bodies
of Asia: (Indian ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal). Fish forms an integral part
of life. Owing to its unique cultural affinity and the availability of coconut,
coconut oil forms a base for almost all the preparations of the region.
·
The western Kongunadu
region has specialities like
Santhakai/Sandhavai (a noodle like item of rice), Oputtu (a sweet tasting
pizza-like dish that is dry outside with a sweet stuffing), and kola urundai
(meatballs), Thengai Paal (sweet hot milk made of jaggery, coconut and cotton
seeds), Ulundu Kali(Sweet made out of Jaggery, Gingely Oil and Black Gram),
Ragi puttumavu, Arisi Puttumavu, Vazhaipoo Poriyal, Kambu Paniyaram, Ragi
Pakoda, Thengai Parpi, Kadalai Urundai, Ellu Urundai, Pori Urundai. The natural
crops of this region forms the main ingredients in this Kongunadu cuisine
Ceylon Tamil cuisine,
bears similarities to Tamil Nadu cuisine but also has many unique vegetarian
and non-vegetarian dishes. It features dishes such as (steamed rice cake) and idiyappam or sevai, (known in other
parts of the world as string hoppers).
Eating-out
in its capital city Chennai, is a great experience and provides a glimpse of
the unique lifestyle of the city. Chennai is known for its cuisine, brought to
the city by people who have migrated from different parts of Tamil Nadu.
Chennai has a large collection of restaurants, some of them are unique
'Speciality Restaurants,' which serve 'Indian Cuisine' with an ambience to
match, while most others cater South Indian tiffin and meals, at very
reasonable prices.
COOKING
EQUIPMENTS
·
EYYA CHOMBU:
It is a vessel made from lead to impart the right flavour to rasam
·
KAL CHATTI:
It is a stoneware used for preparing tempering
·
KUZIAPPA CHATTI:
It is normally made of heavy bronze. It is circular in shape and has shallow
depressions resembling a cup. The leftover sour dosa batter is poured inside it
and cooked.
·
THENKUZAL NAAZHI:
This equipment is used for making crisp lentil fritters called murukkus. It can also be used to press
the rice dough to make vermicelli.
·
DOSA THIRUPPI:
A flat slicer that is used for spreading oil on the dosa and also for scraping
dosa off the hot plate or tawa.
·
ADDAIKAL:
it is a thicker tawa than the dosa tawa usually used for cooking addai and
hence the name.
·
IDLI PANAI:
This vessel is used for making idlis, as many as 40-50 idlis can be made
together depending on the number of plated used.
·
THURUVAMMAI:
It si an equipment, used both as a coconut scraper and as a vegetable chopper.
This is used in some households to cut fish or meat.
·
URULI:
It is very heavy pot that is used for cooking. Sambhar, vegetables and meat are
using are usually cooked using the vessel. They come in a range of sizes
depending on the quantity of food to be cooked. This is a very beneficial
vessel because the food cooked in this vessel remains hot for a long time.
FEATURES
OF THE C
·
Coconut
oil is used as the medium of cooking.
Gingelly oil or sesame seed oil is used for finishing some dishes.
·
Rice
is the staple food of Tamil Nadu. Parboiled
rice is eaten for its high nutritive value and this dominates in all the
dishes starting from appetizers to desserts. They eat Rice (staple diet) with
sambar, dhal, kootu, vegetable curry, papad, buttermilk. Black rice (Kavunarisi) is used commonly in
Chettinad cuisine to prepare sweet puddings.
·
Arhar
dal, urad dal and chana dal are the commonly
used lentils.
·
Rice is usually
combined with the lentils to make various dishes like idlis, dosas, vadas,
uttapams. These are usually fermented
for easy digestion as well as development of the typical sour flavour.
·
Coconut,
tamarind and asafoetida are a must for almost
all vegetarian recipes.
·
Tamil people use a
variety of ingredients like ginger, garlic, pepper, nutmeg, tamarind, chilly,
cumin, cardamom, coconut, Marathi mokku
(capers), Stone flower (kalpasi),
Fresh neem flower (Veepam poo) and
curry leaves to give aroma and superb taste to their foods.
·
Food is generally
more towards the spicy (due to the
use of crushed black pepper corn, red and green chillies) and sour side (which is due to fermentation
and also due to the extensive use of tamarind).
·
Curd also finds a
common use in the cuisine and is utilised to balance the hotness which results
due to the use of spices.
·
Coconut
chutney and sambar invariably form a
part of most of the Tamil dishes. Mulaga
podi (a powdered mix of several dried lentils with oil or ghee)is also
serves at times.
·
Use of various seafoods and chicken is also common.
·
A major feature of
Tamil Nadu cuisine is the wide varieties of Tiffin
items. They are served in the evening as a snack and a few tiffin items
also feature in the breakfast. Dishes like idli, sevai, upma, pongal,, uttapam, dosai,
puttu, aval, chapathi, adai, Vadai.
·
Filter coffee is the
main beverage along with this tiffin.
Tamil
feast - Virundhu Sappadu
During
a Virundhu
Sappadu, the feastly meal, the guests sits on a mat and the meal is
served on a banana leaf which is spread in front of the guests. Traditionally, the
banana leaf is laid so that the leaf tip is pointed left.
The
dishes are served in a particular order, and each dish has its own specific
spot on the leaf. Everyone starts together and ends the meal together.
The top half of the banana leaf is for the side
dishes and the bottom part is for the main dish.
Payasam, Kesari, Sweet Pongal or any Dessert also occupies a portion of the
bottom part. The top left includes a pinch of salt, a dash of pickle and a
spoon of salad, a spoon of pachadi. In the middle of the leaf there may be a
banana chips, potato chips and fried papads and a vadai. The top right hand
corner is reserved for spicy foods including a wide array of curries and
gravies. Dry and wet curries are placed one after the other. They are called
poriyal and koothu. A minimum of three curries are served in a feast.
Traditionally,
sweets are eaten first. Sambar rice is eaten first with a spoon of ghee. This
is followed by Kuzhambu and then Rasam. Finally rice with curd or buttermilk is
eaten at the end of the meal. In the end, the meal is complete with a banana.
The
style of service and the items offered in Virundhu Sappadu has got regional
variations too.
A TAMIL MEAL DESIGN
Breakfast or tiffin
includes idli (steamed rice cakes), dosai (a pancake made from a batter of
rice and lentils crisp fried on a pan), vada
(deep fried doughnuts made from a batter of lentils), pongal (a mash of rice and lentils boiled together and seasoned
with ghee, cashew nuts, pepper and cumin seed), uppuma (cooked semolina seasoned in oil with mustard, pepper, cumin
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).
Lunch or meals
consists of cooked rice served with an array of vegetable dishes, sambar,
chutneys, rasam (a hot broth made with tamarind juice and pepper) and curd (yogurt - Moru/Thayir). For a non-vegetarian lunch, curries or dishes cooked
with mutton, chicken or fish is included. The meals is incomplete without crisp
papads or appalam. After finishing their meal, they like
to have payasam.
For
dinner, Tamilians eat uthappam, dosa,
idli or simply rice kanji (gruel). They also have milk before going to bed.
FILTER
COFFEE OF TAMIL NADU – A NOTE
The
making of the famous filter coffee is traditional, where coffee beans are first
roasted and then ground. The powder is then added into a filter and boiling hot
water is added to it, to prepare the decoction. The decoction is then added to
milk with sugar. The drink is poured from one container to another in rapid
succession to make an ideal frothy cup of filter coffee. It is also known as meter
kapee as it is poured from a small steel glass into a bowl (katori) and vice varsa from
almost a distance of a meter to make it frothy.
SOME SPECIALITY ITEMS OF THE CUISINE:
KOLAMBHU:
Kolambhu or kozhambu is a thin stew
of vegetables with spices. It can also be of various types. The most common
type is moar kolambhu, where
buttermilk is used as the base and thickened with a paste of rice and lentils
to make it into a spicy stew with vegetables inside.
DOSA
/ DOSAI: These are made from rice and
urad dal and the batter is fermented. This fermented batter is cooked on a
large tawa in shape of pancakes. They are filled with various types of
fillings. The various types of dosa found here includes the following:
i.
Kal
dosa: This dosa is made from the same
batter made with rice and urad dal, the only difference is the consistency of
this batter is thick and is cooked on a thick iron pans to resemble the an uttapam.
ii.
Adai:
This batter is made by grinding soaked parboiled rice, red gram, Bengal gram
and black gram. Both red and green chillies are used to make the adai spicy. Although it is prepared
like any other dosa, it must be spread slightly thicker than the regular dosa. A hole is created in the
centre and a few table spoons of oil are poured inside the hole. The adai is
cooked on both sides.
iii.
Rava
dosa: the dosa batter is made by combining
semolina with rice flour and spiced with grated ginger and green chillies. The
batter is really thin and is sprinkled over a large tawa to prepare a crisp
rava dosa.
IDLI:
Idlis made in South India are of various kinds and each has its own traditional
ways. The process of cooking is however common for all which is steaming. The
most common one is made with urad dal and parboiled rice. The batter is made by
grinding both separately and leaving it overnight to ferment. The next day it
is steamed in the idli vessel. A few examples of different idlis include: a) Rava idli: it is made by using semolina,
cashewnuts and yoghurt. b)Vermicelli idli:
the base is same as that of Rava idli but fried vermicelli is added to the
batter and then the idlis are prepared.
PAYASAM: It is a sweet preparation
and various kinds of payasam are eaten on various festive occasions. Few common
payasams are as follows:
i)
Pal
payasam: this payasam is made with rice and
milk and is made similar to a kheer.
ii)
Parupu
payasam: this is made by cooking lentils in
milk and jiggery.
iii)
Aval
payasam: This payasam is made by cooking
flaked rice with jiggery and milk.
PACHADI:
These can be regarded as South Indian raitas. A variety of ingredients such as
grated carrots, deep fried sliced okra, roasted and mashed brinjals etc are
mixed along with smooth thick curd to prepare pachadi. These are served tempered with curry leaves, mustard, urad
dal, and whole red chillies. The ingredient used with the curd can be sauted or
deep fat fried before being added to it.
KOOTTU:
There are many varieties of koottu. It is usually made by boiling green
gram along with bite size pieces of
vegetables and also fruits such as jackfruit and raw bananas. It is flavoured
with turmeric and red chillies. Grated coconut and rice paste are used for
thickening the koottu. It is usually finished with coconut oil.
VADAI: This can be termed as a fritter. Various
kinds of vadai are prepared under Tamil cuisine. A few of the common vadais are
as follows:
i)
Ulundhu vada: It is
prepared by making a coarse paste of soaked urad dal and combining the same
with chopped onion, green chillies, coriander, and asafoetida. This paste is
then shaped as roundels and a hole is made in the centre using wet hands. These
are then deep fat fried in hot oil until crisp.
ii)
Kola vadai: Flaked
rice is soaked in water and then squeezed out. It is kneaded into a dough and
combined with grated coconut, green chillies and ginger. They are rolled into
small balls and then into half in thick slices. Each slice is shallow fried
until crisp and then served.
THENKUZALS
AND MURUKKU: These are commonly
eaten snacks prepared on many festive occasions and marriages. Various kinds of
thenkuzals are popularly made in
Tamil Nadu. Rice flour and lentil flour are kneaded along with ghee and spices
and pressed through a perforated die of a thenkuzal
press into hot oil. They are fried until crisp. Murukku is even crispier and is pressed through a circular die of
thenkuzal press in circular motions.
******************************************************************
CHETTINAD CUISINE FOLLOWS…………………….
CHETTINAD
CUISINE:
Chettinad
is a region of the Sivaganga district of southern Tamil Nadu. Karaikudi is
known as the capital of Chettinad, which includes Karaikudi and 74 other
villages. Chettinad is the homeland of the Nattukottai Chettiars (Nagarathar),
a prosperous banking and business community, many of whose members migrated to South
and Southeast Asia, particularly Ceylon and Burma, in the19th and early 20th
centuries. The people of Chettinad speak Tamil. Chettinad is one of the driest
regions of south India.
Culinary
delicacies:
Chettinad
is known for its culinary delicacies. Chettinad food, now is one of the many reasons
why people get to know Chettinad. Chettinad food is essentially spicy, with a
standard full meal consisting of cooked dhal, eggplant (brinjal) curry, drumstick,
sambar, ghee for flavouring rice, and sweetmeats like payasam and paal
paniyaram.
The
classical "kara kozhambu" is widely regarded as the best tasting south
indian sambar. Chettinad cuisine hails from the deep southern region of Tamil
Nadu. Chettinad cuisine is far from the bland cuisine of traditional Tamilian
Brahmins—it is one of the spiciest, oiliest and most aromatic in India. The
dishes are hot and pungent with fresh ground masalas.
Although
the Chettiars are well known for their delicious vegetarian preparations, their
repertoire of food items is famous and includes all manner of fish, fowl and
meats. They also use carefully preserved sun-dried legumes and berries that the
Chettiar ladies make into curries. They also use a variety of sun dried meats
reflecting the dry environment of the region. Oil and spices are liberally used
in cooking and most dishes have generous amounts of peppercorn, cinnamon, bay
leaves, cardamom, fenugreek, saunf, nutmeg, green and red chillies, marathi
mokku, anasipoo, kalpasi, patthar ke phool etc. Tamarind is also used in this
cuisine.
The
meat is restricted to fish, prawn, lobster, crab, chicken and mutton. Chettiars
do not eat beef and pork. Most of the dishes are eaten with rice and rice based
accompaniments such as dosais, appams, iddiappams, adais and idlis.
Some
of the popular dishes in Chettinad menu are
·
Varuval -- a dry dish
fried with onions and spices (chicken, fish or vegetables sautéed),
·
Poriyal – a curry
·
Kuzambu --which has
the ingredients stewed in a gravy of coconut milk and spices.
·
Chicken chettinad
In
the same range, one can include the numerous pickles, powders, specially
roasted and ground spices, dry snacks, papads, appalam and vada.
Numerous
shops now sell pre-packed snacks like murukkus (small spirals of fried rice dough),
chips, thattai, masala vada and so on.
The
Chettinad people through their mercantile contacts with Burma, learnt to
prepare a type of rice pudding made with sticky red rice. Kavunarisi – a black rice is also used to prepare desserts.
********************************************************
