Chettinad Cuisine: Food from Tamil Nadu in India

Chettinad is a region located in the south Indian state Tamil Nadu. The predominant Chettiar community trace their lineage to traders and merchants who made fortunes with businesses in Southeast Asia. Their travel had an influence on their lifestyle.

The unique style of majestic fort-like mansions combining eastern and western architectural styles are testament to the wealth of Chettiars. Most of these spectacular palatial mansions are more than 100 years old and are some of the most attractive tourist spots in Chettinad apart from magnificent temples and vibrant streets.

Chettiars International travel had a slight influence on the cuisine as well. The most notable feature is the introduction of black rice that is a star ingredient in a traditional dessert. 

Chettinad cuisine is renowned for its complexity of flavours. This cuisine uses various essential spices such as star anise, whole red chillies, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves, cumin and a few special spices such as kalpasi and black stone flower. Spices used are the most defining aspect of this cuisine. Contrary to popular belief, unlike Rajasthani and Kathiyawadi  cuisines this cuisine is not chilly hot spicy, rather each dish has an intense flavour created by the blend of spices. 

List of vegetarian Chettinad dishes:

Chettinad Vellai Kurma: mildly spiced vegetable cooked in a coconut based sauce. A great side dish to pair with chapati, parotta or puri. This curry makes a great accompaniment with idiyappam from Malabar Cuisine.

Poondu Vengaya Kuzhambu:  spicy and tangy curry made with plenty of pearl onion and garlic in a tamarind based gravy. It is paired with rice. 

Kuzhi Paniyaram: savoury balls made with fermented rice and lentil batter in a special pan that resembles a Danish pancake pan. It is a typical breakfast served either with a chutney or sambar. Paniyaram is a renowned dish in most of the restaurant’s south Indian menu. 

Mandi: rice is washed to remove the impurities and then soaked in water for a few minutes. The starch water extracted from this rice is called mandi. Mandi is then used to make side dishes with vegetables.

Vegetable Chettinad: delicious mixed vegetable curry made with freshly ground chettinad masala. It goes well with chapati, parotta and Punjabi naan or kulcha from Awadhi cuisine. 

Poondu Rasam: rasam is a staple gluten-free soup-like dish in South Indian households. Poondu rasam is a typical Chettinad style rasam made with garlic, chettinad spices and tamarind. 

Paal Kozhukattai: traditional dessert of this cuisine made with coconut milk, jaggery and rice. It is specifically made for festivals. 

Kavuni Arisi: black rice pudding popular from this cuisine made with black rice and flavoured with cardamom.

Kandarappam: deep fried dessert made with rice, jaggery and lentils.