The rather parochial Chettinadu chicken and the Udupi dosai have been roasted to death. Treat your tastebuds to something more mainstream and yet lesser known to the rest of India with Kongunadu cuisine. This is the food of Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Nammakal, Tiruppur, Palani, Pollachi…Inland cooking, rather than coastal.
Humble gourds, millets, alongside desiccated rather than fresh coconut, dry ginger, roasted turmeric, sesame seeds and peanuts, plus dried meat vadagams and gingelly pickles take centrestage. Drumstick and gooseberry soups, banana blossom- or tulsi-stuffed vadai, paniyaram, mushroom ‘biryani’ and rice flavoured with betel leaves, cashew masala and okra thokku, and molasses-blackened halwa and sweet appams, payasam with tender coconut are on the pure-veg menu of Rassa restaurant in Chennai (044-42126685, in T. Nagar). Millet-laden ‘breads’ are popular at the Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore (ishayoga.org). For short eats, look out for ragi pakodas and sweet banana fritters while travelling in the region. For more elaborate and urbane meals, load up your wallet and check into the Shenbaga Vilaasam in Pollachi (shenbagavilaasam.in).
Even harder to get a lock on for a curated meal is Nanjilnadu cuisine from the Kanyakumari end of the state, aka Nagercoil, rich in the meats of the sea and much coconut, both flesh and oil — predilections shared with neighbouring Kerala’s olans and theeyals. Other Nadar specialities include an urad dal ‘khichdi’ (ulunthanchoru), which might be served with roasted coconut ‘black’ chutney, egg avial and potato wafers. This cuisine is mostly the preserve of local ‘hotels’ or roadside diners and a rare beast at big-hotel food festivals such as those of the ITC Grand Chola’s Madras Pavilion. If you hear of better, please throw us a line and haul us over!