It has been a long time since I traveled to a South Indian state. South Indian snacks are a staple and the cuisine of choice for breakfast for most. But you hardly ever get to explore South Indian cuisine beyond a Masala Dosa or Sambhar Wada. There are a couple of specialty restaurants that serve Appam and stew but that’s the most you get.
I was pretty excited to find out that Four Points by Sheraton, Pune is hosting a South Indian Festival this week. The festival will host a Dinner Buffet at The Eatery from 18th July to 26th July and offer some exotic south Indian dishes I am sure most of you wouldn’t have heard of or tried before.
So I was hoping to see dishes that you wouldn’t find in other usual South Indian restaurants or multi cuisine restaurants. And Chef Parama Sivam did not disappoint. Specialty Chef Parama Sivam is hosting the Flavors From South festival and has more than 13 years of experience in creating delicious recipes from Kerala, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, and Chettinad.
We started our journey of South India with a very peppery Makkasolam Fry (Baby corn fried in rice flour and Gram flour). Fried to perfection, the core of the baby corn was tender but the cover wasn’t over fried. Although you couldn’t see any chili and it appeared bland, the whole thing was quite spicy.
The buffet will typically serve two vegetarian and two non-vegetarian snacks along with the main course. The menu will be curated based on selection from each of the South Indian states and you will get to experience the taste from each of these different cultures.
There is no better cure for blocked sinuses than a cup of hot soup. Rasam, a daal based soup infused with pepper can work wonders if you like the tangy South Indian flavors.
Malli Rasam had the heat from loads of Pepper mixed with fresh coriander leaves and stock and some tang from lemon juice. The pepper in the soup will surely clear your sinuses on a wet monsoon day.
I don’t usually associate South Indian food with non vegetarian options. But Chef Parama Sivam served us delectable boneless chicken bites tossed in Karnataka style spice mix. The heat this time came from cloves and green chilis and the tang was of Tamarind.
It is important the the chicken stays juicy so that you don’t have to work your jaw or be left with a thready blob that just can’t be chewed any further. Coorg Chicken was juicy and simply melted in my mouth and was consumed before the spice cover was exhausted.
Chicken Drumsticks, you have to love them. But when they are offered with a completely new flavor profile, they become irresistible. So if you are more of chicken-on-the-bone person, Kozhi Ularthiyadu is definitely the appetizer for you.
This yummy Chicken Pepper Fry will have you begging for more. You can taste the spice that took over the West deep until the bone as the chicken is marinated overnight before it is served to the patrons.
Although we didn’t have anything specific from Andhra today, the buffet will have different dishes each day. It is not every day that you get to taste so many new and delicious preparations from South India in one place. Aren’t these food festivals a great way to explore food from different cultures?
As I said there were so may specialty dishes from South India – many I have never heard of or seen before. Kerala’s Kola Puttu was another big surprise. Puttu was a cylindrical shaped cake of a rough textured rice and coconut. Although made of rice it wasn’t sticky. I must say it was something very different and new.
You can eat this starchy preparation with a vegetable curry like Nilagiri Kai Korma – vegetables cooked in Coriander, Curry Leaves, Mint and Coconut paste, or Nantu Milagu Varuval, which is a Tamil Nadu inspired crab masala heavy on Pepper.
Although Rice and its different derivatives are a South Indian staple, you simply cannot do a culinary tour of south without the Malabari Parotta. So if rice cakes are not your thing and you just can’t do without the roti, the multi layered, crisp Malabar Parotta is an excellent choice to go with the crab masala.
I was already full and in food heaven after tasting bites of so many new and different preparations. But Chef Parama Sivam kept surprising us. I have heard of, but never had the opportunity to taste Iddiappam. Iddiappam is a kind of noodle cake and is served with Stew.
After all the spicy delights, the stew served with Iddiappam was a coconut milk based preparation that was heavy on the taste of veggies and spiced mildly. You could taste the spices, but they were not too hot.
Just as Malabar Parotta is synonymous with South Indian bread, Payasam is the thread that binds all of South in case of the dessert. I have tasted a few different types of Payasam, but what Chef Parama Sivam presented was really out of this world.
Elaneer Payasam from the state of Tamil Nadu will make you wonder if you should first gorge on this and then move on to the rest.
Elaneer Payasam was a thick, creamy, milk based preparation flavored with tender coconut and topped with tender coconut spirals. The blend of cooked down milk and tender coconut was a perfect dessert to finish off the meal.
So no matter how much of an expert you think you are on South Indian food, I am sure Flavors of South at The Eatery, Sheraton, Pune will surprise you with dishes that you have not tasted before. If you are planning for a dinner but are bored of the same old, same old, head on to the The Eatery to try something different. A time most appropriate for atibhakṣaṇaṁ kaḻikkuka!
Thanks to the Four Points Sheraton Pune for inviting me and making this post possible.