‘Chettinad Food Festival’ at AGH

Chettinad Foods are now on show at the 'Society' of Taj Airport Garden till the July 29. 'Society' has transform itself into 'The Karaikudi Village' situated in the interiors of South India with its vibrant culture and exotic tastes. We are proud to present to the famed Chettinad Cuisine of Nattukottai Chettiars at the Airport Garden in all its fiery splendour' said Ashok Fernando, the Manager Sales and Markrting.

To make the occasion really authentic and special, Chef Thiagarajan, who normally wields his specialty at the famed 'Rain Tree' restaurant of Taj Connemara, Chennai, is being specially flown in along with a host of culinary delights and secret recipes, many of which have been handed down through generations of master chefs.

Chettinad (a region in South India) is situated in Tamil Nadu state located 20 miles to the west of the coastal line of Bay of Bengal. Historical records show that the people of Chettinad were wooed and invited by the King of 13th century Pandyan dynasty to settle down in a region which later became popular as Chettinad. The Chettinad cuisine is reflective of the lifestyle of the Nattukottai Chettiars who originate from this region. Their cuisine specializes in non-vegetarian food with richly ground spices topped with a boiled egg, which is considered essential for the dish.

Chettinad cuisine also offers sun dried and salted vegetables, which use every seed, fruit and legume that can be conceived of. Their basic dishes are essentially South Indian such as dosais ,appams and idiappams. An interesting infusion of the Burmese culture where the Chettinad community often traded is the preparation of certain dishes with sticky red rice that is cooked into rice puddings or made into red tinged string hoppers.

The most popular dishes include Kozhi Kozhumbu a chicken preparation with spices and curry leaf, Kuruvapillai yera, a spicy mélange of prawns and curry leaf and Kozhi Melagu Chettinad- Chicken pepper fry. A specialized dessert offering is the Karvanarisi Halwa a black rice pudding.

The secrets of Chef Thiagarajan's culinary delights would be on display on a dinner buffet at the Society, between 7.00pm and 10.30pm.