Have a yearning for rice or dishes prepared from rice? The ongoing Chettinad Food Festival at The Gateway Hotel is the right place for you.
One can have spicy rasam as a starter, move on to coriander rice, boiled rice, idiappam (string hoppers) and rice pancakes. The meal can be ended with another sweet rice preparation (boiled dried rice) and yoghurt.
“A complete Chettinad meal would have some sweetness, spiciness and sourness. Chettinad food uses coconut oil sparingly and is comparatively less spicy compared to typical south Indian food. The cuisine also uses sun-dried and salted vegetables, seeds and fruits to enhance their flavour,” according to executive chef Saratchandra Banerji.
Although the Chettiars are well-known for their delicious vegetarian preparations, their recipes also include fish and meats. Rice, more specifically par boiled rice, is the basic accompaniment to most Chettinad dishes. Apart from being cooked, it is also ground and made into idlis and dosa, small bits of fermented rice ‘panniyarams’ and appam (rice pancakes).
Another Chettiar speciality is the iddiappam (string hoppers) which is made from extruded from ground rice like noodles to make a nest shape. Authentic Chettinad food includes ingredients from South East Asia that the Chettiar men brought home to India with them such as star anise, a typical Chinese spice and red rice from Burma. Other fragrant spices include: coriander, turmeric, cumin, pepper, fenugreek and cinnamon.
Eating off a banana leaf adds to the authenticity of Chettinad food. Rice is served with dal and a bit of ghee, then come the condiments like sambar, puli kulambu, rasam, thairu and lastly the sweet payasam.
The hotel has roped in the services of Saraswathi and Kali Muthu from Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu for the festival. The festival, which is on at GAD restaurant, is available for buffet dinner from 7.30 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. till October 7.
source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Visakhapatnam, September 29th, 2012