If you are from Chennai, you should know that August 22 is Madras Day. (Yeah ok, this post may be tad bit late... but oh well!) and MADRAS WEEK is celebrated from August 21 to 28, this year. Year before last we (read The Chennai Photowalk club) had a photo exhibition at Mylapore and last year at Odyssey, Adyar. Go take a look, they still have the photographs displayed on the staircase-sidewall. Brownie points to those who recognize my name and my photograph. This year, though we don't have any exhibition, the regular photo walks are on... More details here.
Me being me, thought I would do a post on two things I love the most, apart from photography - Chennai and Food, though not in that order always. Ask any Amit about what comes to his mind if you say Chennai, he would promptly say Idli/Dosa. Ok some may mention the heat and the sweat, but its raining hippos and rhinos now, so IN YOUR FACE AMIT!! :-D
Not to be called an amateur blogger, I talked to couple of old citizens of Chennai to gain a little inside knowledge about the cuisine of Chennai. I got many a dreamy eyed glazed expressions and a mention of a special Madras Curry. Now, I have no clue nor have I never heard of it before. Goaded further, one 60 year old paati made her daughter-in-law make the curry for me while she gave a steady stream of instructions.
Several konjam molaga podi podu - Nalla idichi podu - illa illa ippo illa, Kari vendha apram thaan sekkanum - innum konjam molaga podi podu - Kari vendrucha paaru- molaga podi potiya?? laters, I was served with a steaming bowl of Mutton curry over white rice. Did I mention the several instructions about molaga podi aka Chilli Powder?? Yes, the curry is so hot, that you won't get out of a swimming pool for the rest of the day and not to mention the adventure at the loo the next morning. So no wonder, no one makes this Madras curry anymore or its absence on the Chennai hotel menus.
Anyway, moving on, the other dishes which the paatis told me were our good old Idli, Dosai, Medu Vadai, Masala Vadai, Keerai Vadai, and ofcourse Filter Kaapi. Besh besh, romba nalla irukku. between, this ad will whoop ass any surya-jothika-bru-coffee combination
Filter Kaapi is best had in a dabara tumbler with one third of the coffee in the tumbler and the rest in dabara. The suuurrr aka slurp sound will cool down any hot kaapi. The darker the kaapi, the better. Give any mama or maami a lighter kaapi, you will be met with scornful eyes and will be put on never-to-invite-to-any-home-functions list.
The best kaapi, I have had is at this maami's house where she served me with a tumbler of kaapi made from Indian ‘monsoon’ beans. The Indian Monsoon is named thus as the beans are exposed to rains and winds. This makes them pale,swell and gain a unique, strong flavour. It reminds you of earth, rain and that sweet smell when the first rain hits the earth. Mmmmmmmm...
Another coffee memory of mine is a pretty funny one and one which I had often repeated. Appa had the habit of buying ground coffee beans fresh from the then "Coffee day" stores (not the modern Cafe Coffee Days). Every evening after school, it was my job to prepare the dicotion (yeah yeah decoction) and keep it ready for him when he arrives from office. It was a pretty easy job, place the ground coffee powder on the upper part of the coffee strainer, press it down with the sieve disc, pour hot water over it, cover the upper part and wait for the magic to happen. What actually happens is the chicory sort of holds on to the hot water a little longer, letting the water extract more flavour from the coffee powder (straight kaapi paste from Wikipedia)
So anyways we are digressing. That interesting part of making dicotion was my job. I continued this pretty religiously. What I didn't know was that darling Appa had switched to ready made coffee powder which dissolves instantly in water. Please to imagine his thunderstruck face when he came home and found a pretty strong "dicotion" made from 4 tablespoons of instant coffee powder waiting for him. And with that I lost my coffee making job. :-(
on a leaving note, did you know that Srilankan Tamil name for kaapi is "Kottai Vadineer".. No? I didn't either... Go read this...
Me being me, thought I would do a post on two things I love the most, apart from photography - Chennai and Food, though not in that order always. Ask any Amit about what comes to his mind if you say Chennai, he would promptly say Idli/Dosa. Ok some may mention the heat and the sweat, but its raining hippos and rhinos now, so IN YOUR FACE AMIT!! :-D
Not to be called an amateur blogger, I talked to couple of old citizens of Chennai to gain a little inside knowledge about the cuisine of Chennai. I got many a dreamy eyed glazed expressions and a mention of a special Madras Curry. Now, I have no clue nor have I never heard of it before. Goaded further, one 60 year old paati made her daughter-in-law make the curry for me while she gave a steady stream of instructions.
Several konjam molaga podi podu - Nalla idichi podu - illa illa ippo illa, Kari vendha apram thaan sekkanum - innum konjam molaga podi podu - Kari vendrucha paaru- molaga podi potiya?? laters, I was served with a steaming bowl of Mutton curry over white rice. Did I mention the several instructions about molaga podi aka Chilli Powder?? Yes, the curry is so hot, that you won't get out of a swimming pool for the rest of the day and not to mention the adventure at the loo the next morning. So no wonder, no one makes this Madras curry anymore or its absence on the Chennai hotel menus.
Anyway, moving on, the other dishes which the paatis told me were our good old Idli, Dosai, Medu Vadai, Masala Vadai, Keerai Vadai, and ofcourse Filter Kaapi. Besh besh, romba nalla irukku. between, this ad will whoop ass any surya-jothika-bru-coffee combination
Filter Kaapi is best had in a dabara tumbler with one third of the coffee in the tumbler and the rest in dabara. The suuurrr aka slurp sound will cool down any hot kaapi. The darker the kaapi, the better. Give any mama or maami a lighter kaapi, you will be met with scornful eyes and will be put on never-to-invite-to-any-home-functions list.
The best kaapi, I have had is at this maami's house where she served me with a tumbler of kaapi made from Indian ‘monsoon’ beans. The Indian Monsoon is named thus as the beans are exposed to rains and winds. This makes them pale,swell and gain a unique, strong flavour. It reminds you of earth, rain and that sweet smell when the first rain hits the earth. Mmmmmmmm...
Another coffee memory of mine is a pretty funny one and one which I had often repeated. Appa had the habit of buying ground coffee beans fresh from the then "Coffee day" stores (not the modern Cafe Coffee Days). Every evening after school, it was my job to prepare the dicotion (yeah yeah decoction) and keep it ready for him when he arrives from office. It was a pretty easy job, place the ground coffee powder on the upper part of the coffee strainer, press it down with the sieve disc, pour hot water over it, cover the upper part and wait for the magic to happen. What actually happens is the chicory sort of holds on to the hot water a little longer, letting the water extract more flavour from the coffee powder (straight kaapi paste from Wikipedia)
So anyways we are digressing. That interesting part of making dicotion was my job. I continued this pretty religiously. What I didn't know was that darling Appa had switched to ready made coffee powder which dissolves instantly in water. Please to imagine his thunderstruck face when he came home and found a pretty strong "dicotion" made from 4 tablespoons of instant coffee powder waiting for him. And with that I lost my coffee making job. :-(
on a leaving note, did you know that Srilankan Tamil name for kaapi is "Kottai Vadineer".. No? I didn't either... Go read this...
