Chennai :

Men in veshtis welcome us at the Mylai Maami Samayal food festival at Deccan Plaza. Huge banners of  traditional kolams, bharatanatyam poses and auspicious mud pots hug the walls. On one corner we see bharanis of pickles arranged much like the kolu set up, and on the other corner a dosa and neiappam counter.

Prema maami, the chef behind the 45 varieties of dishes that the festival menu boasts of, pours dosa maavu on the pan to make a perfect circle. In no time, it looks like a mild gold sheet of cotton. Soft podi dosas pile up on the plate. After it makes its way around the restaurant, the plate is empty. She repeats the process again. “This was my idea, to make hot dosas for customers,” says maami, adjusting her red madisar sari.

Everything, from the traditional Kumbakonam special vendakka mor kuzhambu to ragi payasam in the menu, has been prepared by her. She enters the kitchen early each morning, and gets the dishes ready by service time, 7 pm. A handful of chefs assist her with moving heavy vessels, but otherwise she does all the cooking by herself. Don’t you get tired putting all this together yourself? we ask. She just smiles, and finding out she started cooking when she was just a child, poured over the authentic Kumbakonam recipes, followed by working as a chef in Dubai, New Jersey and Muscat, and later started a catering service of her own,  we understand why.

While our plates gradually fill up with podi rice, keerai kootu and vazhapoo usili, she prompts us to try everything else. “Rasavangi is a special Kumbakonam dish, so is akkaravadisal among the sweet dishes,” she says. We learn that mor kali, a  blend of buttermilk and rice flour, should be accompanied with vetha kozhambu, and panagam, a brown drink tasting of ginger and jaggery, that is the best for digestion. “No panneer, cauliflower, mushrooms or lettuce, if you are searching for it. It is not part of the authentic menu,” maami explains. But one glance at the buffet, and there’s no room for disappointment. Maami’s hospitality as she points a finger at the other options (how about Paruppu podi or vepillakatti?) makes us feel  at home, quite like the flavours in her cooking.

“And all this has been cooked without any onion or garlic,” she saves this important fact for the end. Maami adds, “Most people in the North think that South Indian food lacks flavour without these ingredients. What do you think?” A satisfied burp will have to suffice in response.

The festival is on at Deccan Plaza, Royapettah till June 1. Contact 98849 32022  or   044  6677 3333.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Naveena Vijayan / May 29th, 2014