Tamil cuisine 1

Tamil cuisineTamil Nadu is famous for its deep belief that serving food to others is a service to humanity, as is common in manyregions of India. The region has a rich cuisine involving both traditional vegetarian, as well as non-vegetarian dishes.It is characterized by the use of rice, legumes and lentils. Its distinct aroma and flavour is achieved by the blendingof flavourings and spices including curry leaves, mustard seeds, coriander, ginger, garlic, chili, pepper, cinnamon,cloves, green cardamom, cumin, nutmeg, coconut and rosewater. Rice and legumes play an important role in Tamilcuisine. Lentils are also consumed extensively, either accompanying rice preparations, or in the form of independentdishes. Vegetables and dairy products are essential accompaniments, and tamarind rather than amchoor is thefavoured souring agent. Rice is the chief staple as with the rest of South India, and unlike their northern counterparts,the people of South India regard wheat-based breads of any kind as a poor diet.On special occasions, traditional Tamil dishes are prepared in almost the same way as they were centuriesago—preparations that call for elaborate and leisurely cooking, and served in traditional style and ambience. Thetraditional way of eating a meal involves being seated on the floor, having the food served on a banana leaf, andusing clean fingers of the right hand to transfer the food to the mouth. After the meal, the fingers are washed, and thebanana leaf becomes food for cows. A typical Tamilian would eat Idly/Dosai/uthappam etc. for breakfast and riceaccompanied by lentil preparations Sambar, Rasam and curd for lunch.Because of modernization, urbanization, cosmopolitan culture and the break-up of the joint family system,compromises and adaptations are being made. A movement towards a simpler cuisine can be sensed. Urbanizationhas introduced Western-style seating arrangements at traditional events with tables, chairs, plates and cutlerybecoming the norm, and food being served buffet-style. Despite changes in practices and their cultural implications,Tamil cuisine retains its basic character in the use of ingredients, and its aroma and flavour remain unchanged.

Regional CuisineOver a period of time, each geographical area where Tamils have lived has developed its own distinct variant of thecommon dishes in addition to dishes native to itself. The four divisions of ancient Tamilakam are the primary meansof dividing Tamil cuisine. The Chettinad region comprising Karaikudi and adjoining areas is known for bothtraditional vegetarian dishes like idiyappam, uthappam, paal paniyaram and non-vegetarian dishes made primarilyusing chicken. Chettinad cuisine has gained popularity in non-Tamil speaking areas as well.Madurai, Tirunelveli and the other southern districts of Tamil Nadu are known for non-vegetarian food made ofmutton, chicken and fish. Parota made with maida or all-purpose flour, and loosely similar to the north Indian wheatflour-based Paratha, is served at food outlets in Tamil Nadu, especially in districts like Madurai, Virudhunagar,Tuticorin, Tirunelveli and the adjoining areas. Parota is not commonly made at home as it is laborious and timeconsuming. Madurai has its own unique foods such as jigarthanda, muttaiparotta (minced parotta and scrambledegg), paruthipal (made of cottonseeds),Karidosai (dosai with mutton stuffing) & ennaidosai (dosai with lots of oil)which are rarely found in other parts of Tamil Nadu.Nanjilnadu (Kanyakumari district) region is famous for its fish curry since the region is surrounded by the three greatwater bodies of Asia: (Indian ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal). Fish forms an integral part of life. Owing to itsunique cultural affinity and the availability of coconut, coconut oil forms a base for almost all the preparations of theregion.The western Kongunadu region has specialities like Santhakai/Sandhavai (a noodle like item of rice), Oputtu (a sweet tasting pizza-like dish that is dry outside with a sweet stuffing), and kola urundai (meatballs), Thengai Paal (sweet hot milk made of jaggery, coconut and cotton seeds), Ulundu Kali(Sweet made out of Jaggery, Gingely Oil and Black Gram), Ragi puttumavu, Arisi Puttumavu, Vazhaipoo Poriyal, Kambu Paniyaram, Ragi Pakoda, Thengai Parpi, Kadalai Urundai, Ellu Urundai, Pori Urundai. The natural crops of this region forms the main ingredients in

Tamil cuisine 2

this Kongunadu cuisineCeylon Tamil cuisine, bears similarities to Tamil Nadu cuisine but also has many unique vegetarian andnon-vegetarian dishes. It features dishes such as (steamed rice cake) and idiyappam or sevai, (known in other parts ofthe world as string hoppers).Eating-out in its capital city Chennai, is a great experience and provides a glimpse of the unique lifestyle of the city.Chennai is known for its cuisine, brought to the city by people who have migrated from different parts of TamilNadu. Chennai has a large collection of restaurants, some of them are unique 'Speciality Restaurants,' which serve'Indian Cuisine' with an ambience to match, while most others cater South Indian tiffin and meals, at very reasonableprices.

Meals - RestaurantA meal (called Saapadu) in a restaurant consists of rice with other typical Tamilian dishes on a banana leaf. A typicalTamilian would eat in banana leaf as it gives different flavour and taste to the food. But it can also be served on astainless steel tray with a selection of different dishes in small bowls. Rice is essential to the popular definition ofmeals. While North Indian thali (meals) consists mainly Indian breads like chapati, roti, paratha, phulka or naanalong with rice, Tamil meals (Saapadu) comes mostly with rice. In North Indian cuisine pooris, chappattis areoffered first and the waiter serves the rice later, often in a separate bowl.Paayasam is usually served at the end as a dessert to finish the meal.Finally a banana, beeda, and a glass of juice or lassi will be offered. One can eat the authentic Tamil dishes in atypical restaurant in Tamil Nadu. A restaurant in other south Indian states like Andhra, Kerala and Karnataka andalso those in north India have their own versions of meals native to each state.

Influence abroadHistorically, Tamil cuisine has traveled to many parts of the world. Most notably traces were found by archeologiststhat Tamil cuisines were supplied to the ancient Rome. It traveled to Greece, Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore andThailand via traders (Nagarathar) from Tamil Nadu who are Karaikudi Chettiars. Along with Chinese, it hasinfluenced these international cuisines to what they are today, especially one can see the impact of Tamil cuisine inMalaysian cuisines like parotta kurma (Roti canai/Roti Telur) and curried items. South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago,Guyana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Mauritius, and Réunion Indian cooking is also influenced by Tamil cuisine, whichwas brought by Indians in the late 19th century.

Typical Tamil feast - Virundhu Sappadu‘Virundhu’ in Tamil means ‘feast’, when guests (friends and relatives) are invited during happy ceremonial occasionsto share food. ‘Sappadu’ means a full course meal, which will usually be a lunch or dinner affair. Marriage festivitiescould also be a 'virundhu' saapaadu at breakfast times if the marriage is solemnized in the morning hours. In theolden days guests would sit on a coir mat rolled out on the floor and a full course meal was served on a banana leaf.Nowadays, the same exercise is done but guests sit on a dinner table and have the same type of food. Traditionallythe banana leaf is laid so that the leaf tip is pointed left.

Tamil cuisine 3

Virundhu - ‘Sappadu’ served on a Banana leaf. SeeImage for extended descriptions.

The host will ensure that the menu includes as many variety ofdishes as possible and guests are served as many helpings asrequested. The dishes are served in a particular sequence, and eachdish is placed on a particular spot of the banana leaf. Guests areexpected to begin and end eating the meal together and do notleave in middle of a meal. With a look at the food on the leaf,guests will have a good idea of the community, wealth, and theregion from which part of Tamil Nadu the hosts originate.

Indian meals(Thali) served on either a Silver orStainless steel plate.

The top half of the banana leaf is reserved for accessories, thelower half for the rice. In some communities, the rice will beserved only after the guest has been seated. The lower rightportion of the leaf may have a scoop of warm sweet milky ricePayasam, Kesari, Sweet Pongal or any Dessert items. While thetop left includes a pinch of salt, a dash of pickle and a thimblefulof salad, or a smidgen of chutney. In the middle of the leaf theremay be an odd number of fried items like small circles of chipseither banana, yam or potato, thin crisp papads or frilly wafersAppalams and vadai.

The top right hand corner is reserved for spicy foods includingcurry, hot, sweet, or sour and the dry items. If it is a vegetarianmeal, the vegetables are carefully chosen, between the countryones-gourds, drumsticks, brinjals-and the 'English' ones, whichcould be carrot, cabbage, and cauliflower. (If it is a non-vegetarianmeal, a separate leaf is provided for the fried meats, chicken, fish,crab, and so on.) But again, the variations are presented carefully,one dry one next to a gravied one.

There may be side attractions such as poli, poori, Chappati, someof the famed rice preparations such as Ghee Pongal or Puliyodarai(tamarind rice) particularly if the family comes from Thanjavur,known as the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu. Traditionally, sweets are eaten first. After having worked through thepreliminaries, the long haul starts with rice. Sambar is added to rice and eaten with maybe a sprinkling of ghee. Thisis followed by rice with Kuzhambu and rice with Rasam. A final round of rice with curd or buttermilk signals theend of meals. Though there are varieties of kuzhambu, only one will be on offer in a given day. A banana may beserved last.

After the meals, betel leaves and nuts are chewed in a leisurely way. Hearty banter and small talks of the times gone by are discussed with nostalgia. It is a time to reminisce the past. The betel leaf chewing is a traditional habit and

Tamil cuisine 4

was a preserve of the older folks. The betel leaf is packed into a little 'package' with edible calcium paste layered ontop and a pinch of coarsely powdered betel nuts.

Common dishesRice is the major staple food of most of the Tamil people. Lunch or Dinner is usually a meal of steamed rice(Sooru),served with accompanying items, which typically include sambar, dry curry, rasam, kootu and thayir (curd, but asused in India refers to yogurt) or more (buttermilk).Tiffin is often served for breakfast or as an evening snack, usually including one or more dishes such as idli, pongal,dosai, aval (flattened rice), chapathi, sevai, Vadai which are of 2 kinds - (medhuvadai meaning soft vadai andparuppuvadai meaning lentils vadai) Vadai, along with coconut chutney, sambar and Milagai podi. Tiffin is usuallyaccompanied by hot filter coffee, the signature beverage of the city.• Chettinad dishes like uthappam.• Parota made with maida or all-purpose flour, perhaps similar to the north Indian wheat flour-based paratha.• Upma, made from wheat (rava), onion, green chillies. May also be substituted with broken rice granules,

flattenned rice flakes, Or almost any other cereal grain instead of broken wheat.•• Thogaiyal, made from coconut, dal or coriander leaves

Filter coffee is very popular around Tamil Nadu

Coffee is the most popular beverage. Coffee is a major socialinstitution in Southern Indian Tamil tradition. Its also called theMadras (a) Chennai Filter Coffee and is unique to this part of theworld. They generally use gourmet coffee beans of the premiumPeaberry or the less expensive Arabica variety. The making offilter coffee is like a ritual, as the coffee beans are first roasted andthen powdered. Sometimes they add chicory to enhance the aroma.They then use a filter set, few scoops of powdered coffee, enoughboiling water is added to prepare a very dark liquid called thedecoction. A 3/4 mug of hot milk with sugar, a small quantity ofdecoction is then served in Dabarah/Tumbler set, a unique Coffee

cup.

• Another popular beverage is strongly brewed tea, found in the thousands of small tea stalls across the state ofTamil Nadu and adjoining areas.

Tamil cuisine 5

The South Indian Breakfast and meals served on a banana leaf.

• Dosai, crepes made from a fermented batter of riceand urad dal (black gram), and is accompanied bySambar; also see Masala dosai.

• Idli, steamed rice-cakes, prepared from a fermentedbatter of rice and urad dal (black gram), andside-dishes are usually different kinds of chutney orsambhar.

• Puliyodarai, Puli=Tamarind, thorai/thoran=fry, is apopular Tamil dish and widely specialised amongTamil Iyengars and famous throughout Karnataka asPuliyogare. It is a mixture of fried tamarind pasteand cooked rice. The tamarind paste is fried withsesame oil, asofoetida and fenugreek powder, driedchilly, groundnuts, split chickpea, urad dal, mustardseeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves,turmeric powder and seasoned with light jaggery and salt.

• Sambar, a thick stew of lentils with vegetables and seasoned with exotic spices• Rasam, lentil soup with pepper, coriander and cumin seeds• Thayir sadam, steamed rice with curd• Sevai or Idiyappam, rice noodles made out of steamed rice cakes.•• Kottu• South Indian Coffee, also known as Filter Coffee, is a sweet milky coffee popular in Tamil Nadu. There is also a

version called Kumbakonam Degree coffee. It is quite similar to the cappuccino and latte varieties of coffee.Masala Paal (masala milk), sweetened milk with aromatic spices.

Other snack items include murukku, seedai, bajji, karapori, mixture, sevu, and pakoda which are typically savouryitems.

SpecialitiesKoozh - Porridge, also called Kanji (rice congee). It is made from millet.Kootu - a stew of vegetables or varieties of spinach, with a small amount of lentils, tamarind and black pepper whichmakes for a side dish for a meal consisting of rice, sambhar and rasam.Aviyal - a stew of vegetables with coconut, and coconut oil which makes for a side dish for a meal consisting of rice,sambhar, rasam and equally for dishes like Adai and Thosai. In hotels its a evening speciality food and advertised asAdai AviayalPuttu - Made with roasted rice flour or roasted rice flour and steamed mida/ Flour is mixed with warm water andbroken into small lumps. It is steamed puttu cylinder; grated coconut is used in between portions to make smallwheels.Paruppusilli - Made with dal and red chillies and served during weddingsKozhakkattai - Made with rice flour, grated coconut and jaggeryKali and kootu

Tamil cuisine 6

Culinary influence from other parts of the worldChennai is a major tourist destination, so it is also popular for cuisines from other parts of the world. While Indian(which includes a diverse range of cuisines from other states of India), Continental (European) cuisine, and Chinesecuisine have been around for a long time, Mexican, Italian, Thai, Korean, Japanese and Mediterranean cuisine,amongst others, have become popular with many restaurants exclusively specialising in these cuisines.

Tamil culinary terminology absorbed in English• The word curry is an anglicisation of the Tamil word kari.[1]

• The Tamil phrase milagu thanneer meaning pepper soup, literally pepper water, has been adapted in English asmulligatawny.[2]

• The word Mango is derived from the Tamil word Maangaai.[3][4]

• The English word rice may have been ultimately derived from Tamil Arisi. The Kannada Akki is a cognate withsame roots.

• The word Congee may have been derived from the Tamil word 'Kanji' (rice porridge).

Notes[1] (http:/ / www. plantcultures. org. uk/ themes/ food_curry. html)[2] (http:/ / encyclopedia. jrank. org/ MOS_NAN/ MULLIGATAWNY. html)[3] (http:/ / freshmangos. com/ factsmyths. html)[4] (http:/ / www. hinduonnet. com/ 2001/ 10/ 16/ stories/ 13160178. htm)

References• DeWitt, Dave and Nancy Gerlach. 1990. The Whole Chile Pepper Book. Boston : Little Brown and Co.• Boston.com - A new year's feast from Tamil Nadu (http:/ / www. boston. com/ ae/ food/ articles/ 2005/ 04/ 13/

a_new_years_feast_from_tamil_nadu/ )• Chettinad Cuisine (http:/ / www. hinduonnet. com/ thehindu/ mp/ 2003/ 05/ 26/ stories/ 2003052600120400. htm)

Further reading• Ammal, Meenakshi, S., The Best of Samaithu Paar: The Classic Guide to Tamil Cuisine: Penguin Books India•• Thangam E. Phillip

External links• Tamil-Israeli cuisine fusion experience (http:/ / jpgmag. com/ stories/ 17532)

Article Sources and Contributors 7

Article Sources and ContributorsTamil cuisine  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=482011855  Contributors: 1029man, 1ForTheMoney, Aandu, Abbeyvet, Ahoerstemeier, Aldis90, Angela C, Anna Frodesiak,Antandrus, Arulraja, Arvindn, Arvindx, Axlq, Badagnani, Badanedwa, Bhadani, Bhavani12, Bkris, Boing! said Zebedee, BostonMA, Bunchofgrapes, CarTick, Caspian blue, Ceyockey,Chandarsubramanian, ChildofMidnight, Ciaccona, Cmdrjameson, Cookie90, Courcelles, Cpbaherwani, CyrilThePig4, Danielb77b, Dannygeorgedgp, Davewild, David Edgar, Deadlyminds,Deeptrivia, Desiphral, Discospinster, Download, Ekabhishek, Eliduwiki, FlagSteward, Frvade2007, Ganeshk, Giraffedata, Gnafty, Gnanapiti, HolmesIV, Ilankaali, Iridescent, Iris91, Ivanavan, Jmareeswaran, J04n, JoeSmack, KVSTamilNadu, Kai445, Kanatonian, Kannanreddy, Karnesky, Karvan g, Khazar, Kongar, Kumardrf, Lawsonstu, Lupin, MCB, Meena007, Michael Devore, MildBill Hiccup, Military karthick, Minimac, Mmurali, Mothperson, Munci, Natkeeran, Ninadhardikar, Nlsanand, Numkitchen, OccamzRazor, Ohnoitsjamie, PONDHEEPANKAR, Pablo X, Prodego,Prolog, Radsganesan, Ragib, Rakkianji, Randhirreddy, Rbala99, Revathim76, SQGibbon, Saffrontrail, Sai kumar y, Seaphoto, Secret of success, Segal'sLaw, Shirik, Shoteh, Smmaran, Solidpeg,Srinisundaram, Stanley simon, Subravenkat, Sumanthk, Sundar, Surajt88, SureshRR, THB, Tabletop, Tfl, Thaamaa, Thangasivam, Tmangray, TreasuryTag, Tspradeepkumar, Umraz R,Univalonso, Utcursch, Vadakkan, Venu62, Viswesr, Wikiguru55, Wikispider02, Woohookitty, Wubbabubba, Yousou, 278 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsImage:Tamil Sappadu.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tamil_Sappadu.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: JuTa, Roland zhImage:Chennai Veg Thali.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Chennai_Veg_Thali.JPG  License: Public domain  Contributors: Magog the Ogre, Roland zhImage:Filter coffee South Indian style.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Filter_coffee_South_Indian_style.JPG  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike3.0  Contributors: AmbarishImage:Chennai Veg Cuisine.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Chennai_Veg_Cuisine.JPG  License: Public domain  Contributors: Magog the Ogre, Roland zh

LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/