Padmapriya Radhakrishnan’s Karuveppilai chicken curry, garlic ghee rice and wheat rava kesari won her the first prize in The Hindu Group’s ‘Our State-Our Taste’ competition on Saturday. A very excited Ms. Radhakrishnan, who hails from Coimbatore, said she wanted to try more traditional foods.

“This is a big achievement for me. I want to try out more foods using traditional ingredients. I never eat junk food and I ensure that I give healthy dishes to my son and husband,” said the homemaker who was given the title of ‘Master Chef of Tamil Nadu’ by Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar.

Vaideki Rammohan, 39, of Rajapalayam, who made ‘varagu arisi saadham’, ‘keerai masiyal’ and ‘paasi parupu payasam’ came in second and the third place went to S. Bagamperiyal, 72, of Thoothukudi, who made ‘iral gravy’, ‘vanjara meen kuzhambu’ and ‘paal payasam’.

Speaking at the finals of the contest that was conducted in 10 districts in the State, Mr. Jayakumar said that food played a major role in shaping the personality of a person. He stressed the need to maintain health and consume healthy foods, especially millets. “Regular exercise and a balanced diet keeps the body fit,” he said, while congratulating The Hindu group for conducting the contest.

Chef Damu, the knowledge partner for the contest, said that among the 10 cities where the contest was held, contestants from Thanjavur, Madurai and Puducherry really did well. “We got to see dishes like ‘Kayiru gola’ (minced meat wound and cooked), ‘takadi’ (rice balls in minced meat gravy) and ‘ukkarai’ being made by participants. These are dishes that have medicinal values but many have forgotten,” he said. Mr. Damu suggested that The Hindu bring out a book of such recipes.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – June 30th, 2018