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 Tamil Nadu provides the visitor
with a wide variety of delicious food both for the vegetarians as well as the
non-vegetarians, though most food in Tamil Nadu consists of grains, lentils, rice and
vegetables. Spices are added to give a distinctive taste. |
Breakfast or tiffin
includes idly(steamed rice cakes), dosai (a pancake made from a batter of rice) and
lentils crisp fried on a pan, vada(deep fried 
doughnuts made from a batter
of lentils), pongal (a mish mash of rice and lentils boiled together and seasoned with
ghee, cashew nuts, pepper and cummin seed), uppuma(cooked semolina seasoned in oil with
mustard, pepper, cummin seed and dry lentils.)
There are several
variations of the dishes mentioned above which are eaten with coconut chutney, sambar
(seasoned lentil broth) and mulaga podi (a powdered mix of several dried lentils eaten
with oil).
Lunch or meals consists
of cooked rice served with an array of vegetable dishes, sambar, chutneys, rasam (a hot
broth made with tamarind juice and pepper) and curd(yogurt). For a non-vegetarian lunch,
curries or dishes cooked with mutton, chicken or fish is included. The meals is incomplete
without crisp papads or
appalam.
Chettinad cuisine is a
speciality in Tamil Nadu and will be a delight for those who like hot and spicy
non-vegetarian food. This type of food has several variations of fish, mutton, and chicken
dishes of which the Chettinad Pepper Chicken is a speciality. The Tamil style of Mughali
food can be savoured in the biriyanis and paya. The later is a kind of spiced trotters
broth and is eaten with either 
parathas or appam. Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai, is famous for its filter
coffee as most Tamils have a subtle contempt for instant coffee.
The making of
filter coffee is almost a ritual, for the coffee beans have to be first roasted and then
ground. The powder is put into a filter set and boiling hot water is added to prepare the
decoction and allowed to set for about 15 minutes. The decoction is then added to milk
with sugar to 
taste. The final drink is poured from one
container to another in rapid succession to make the ideal frothy cup of filter coffee.
The last process makes one wonder whether the brew could be bought by the yard.
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