Food (Tamil Nadu)

The food in Tamil Nadu is simple, tasty and addictive. If you do not have any aversion to South Indian food in particular, then you will fall in love with the food of this place. Yes, there is Idli, Dosa and Vada, which we love whole-heartedly and have them as our regular breakfast option. But, apart from that there is so much variety in the cuisine and each item is equally mouth watering. Here, we have listed some of the best items we had besides idli, dosa, vada and uttapam:

Pongal

Pongal is a staple dish in Tamil Nadu in which rice and moong lentil is the main ingredient. It may be both sweet and savoury. It is also the main dish during the Pongal festival. The preparation has rice, moong daal, ginger, curry leaves, cashew and lots of ghee. It has a nutty flavour and is easy on the stomach. It has coconut chutney or sambhar as accompaniment. The sweet version does not have curry leaves but has jaggery/sugar for sweetness along with cardamom and other nuts for aroma and richness.

Upma

Upma is a traditional south Indian dish made from semolina. Its preparation is similar to pongal except it does not have moong daal. However, it is tempered with urad daal and curry leaves. It is also a good breakfast option.

Lemon/Curd rice

Lemon rice is a variety of fried rice with curry leaves and mustard seeds. Lemon and turmeric is used to flavour the rice. Mostly this food item can be seen during breakfast in Tamil Nadu. It may be had as a side with any other main dish during any time of the day.

Similarly, curd rice is the cooked rice soaked in curd and tempered with chilly, curry leaves and mustard seeds. It is very good for the heat in Tamil Nadu. It keeps your stomach cool because of the curd and is also tasty. Avoid it if you do not like the taste of curd.

Tamarind rice is also another variety of rice in Tamil Nadu. Its preparation is similar to lemon rice, except, the lemon is replaced with tamarind to provide that extra tanginess in the flavour. We have found that tamarind rice tends to be spicier than lemon or curd rice. The variety of rice forms an integral part of food consumed in Tamil Nadu.

Poriyal

Poriyal is very similar to thoran in Kerala. It is basically stir fry of vegetables (any vegetable or their combo) with coconut, curry leaves and mustard. We ate different versions of it including green beans, carrot and beetrot and gourd versions. It forms an integral part of the meals served at restaurants.

Traditional Meals

During lunch hours, meals are the most ordered item in any restaurant or eatery in every city of Tami Nadu. It is a wholesome, homelike meal and fills you with satisfaction. Meals are thali with rice, sambhar, rasam, a vegetable, poriyal, chutney, papadam, achaar and buttermilk. It has everything one would like in a day meal. Generally it is restricted to vegetarian version but you may order a non vegetarian dish with it as an extra. Every restaurant may serve different versions of it but overall it includes the same dishes.

Chicken Chettinad

Chicken Chettinad is a trademark dish of Tamil Nadu which hails from the Chettinad region of the state. It is a spicy, aromatic chicken curry made in a special Chettinad masala. The coconut in it gives a creaminess to the curry. It is quite tasty and a highly recommended dish.

Mutton Chukka

This is another staple non vegetarian dish which is very famous in Tamil Nadu. It is a dry fry mutton preparation in pepper, coconut and spices. If you like eating mutton, this one dish is a must try while in Tamil Nadu.

Kesari

In sweet dishes, sweet pongal, mysore pak and payasam are some of the staple items. However, kesari is another revered item in Tamil Nadu. It is a variety of Semolina halwa with lots of saffron, cashews and ghee. Indulge if you can in this sweet wonder.

Snacks

Tamil Nadu has a variety of snacks to offer like murku, mixture, banana chips, other chips and sev etc. You will find many stalls serving banana fritters and chilly fritters along with tea.

Filter Coffee

Filter coffee is a morning ritual and bond forming staple in Tamil Nadu. Ever since baba Budan brought few coffee beans and planted them in Western Ghat, it holds a special place in South Indian food landscape. Tamil Nadu grows most of coffee in India. The filter coffee is an Indianized version of the coffee. A special metal filter is used to percolate the coffee brew. Everyone serves it in a special steel tumbler called “dabara-tumbler”. That is the identity of the filter coffee. That coffee set of two different sized tumblers is used to mix the coffee, milk and sugar, froth and also cool the coffee. It is a must try if you are visiting Tamil Nadu.

Jigarthanda

This is a home-made special cold beverage of the city of Madurai. As the name suggests, it literally cools down your heart. It has thickened milk flavoured with saffron, almonds and cardamom. There is a special ingredient called nannari which is a syrup made from a specific type of plant roots that has cooling properties. A scoop of homemade ice cream is put in it. The one that we had had chia seeds in it as well. It was great tasting and worth a try.

The food of Tamil Nadu is very representative of the culture and climate of the region. The people here love their food. Some dishes are integral to the festivities and symbolism. It is not only a fuel but a celebration of life.