Chettinad cuisine

Chicken Chettinad a popular dish from the region.

Chettinad cuisine is the cuisine of the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu state in South India. The Chettiar community, who are a majority in this region, are a very successful trading community. Chettinad cuisine is one of the spiciest and the most aromatic in India.

Chettinad cuisine is famous for its use of a variety of spices used in preparing mainly non-vegetarian food. The dishes are hot and pungent with fresh ground masalas. They also use a variety of sun dried meats and salted vegetables, reflecting the dry environment of the region. The meat is restricted to fish, prawn, crab, chicken and lamb. Chettiars do not eat beef and pork.

Most of the dishes are eaten with rice and rice based accompaniments such as dosais, appams, idiyappams, adais and idlis. The Chettinad people through their mercantile contacts with Burma, learnt to prepare a type of rice pudding made with sticky red rice.

Chettinad cuisine offers a variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Some of the popular vegetarian dishes include idiyappam, paniyaram, vellai paniyaram, karuppatti paniyaram, paal paniyaram, kuzhi paniyaram, kozhakattai, masala paniyaram, adikoozh, kandharappam, seeyam, masala seeyam, kavuni arisi & athirasam.

Spices used

Chettinad Non-vegetarian cuisine is popular in Tamil Nadu hotels. Here is the sample exhibit tray Anandas Chettinad Hotel, Coimbatore

In Chettinad food, the most important spices are anasipoo (star aniseed) and kalpasi (a lichen known as the "black stone flower" or Patthar Ke Phool, also known as dagad phool). In addition, tamarind, whole red chillies, and sombu (fennel seed) are also used along with pattai (cinnamon), lavangam (cloves), bay leaf, karu miLagu (peppercorn), jeeragam (cumin seeds), and venthayam (also called mendhiyam) (fenugreek).

See also

• Tamil cuisine

References

• Indian Foods Co - South Indian Cuisine

External links

• The Hindu - Varieties from Chettinad cuisine