Chennai is one metro which has managed to maintain it's identity as a traditional place even after the influx of huge number of people from other parts of the country. I am a chennaivaasi(resident of Chennai) who has a penchant for exploring food joints in the city.
My Sunday evening started with a bike ride with my dear friend Balakrishnan along Dr.Natesan road. We crossed Ratna Cafe which is very famous for it's piping hot Sambar & idly combo. Sambar idly is a typical chennaivaasi's all time favourite.One can proudly call oneself a true chennaivaasi only if he would have savoured sambar idly atleast once in his life. However our evening was lot more than just trying out the dishes in famous hotels, we wanted to explore the food eaten by the people of Thiruvallikeni or Triplicane. This ancient place is much older than Chennai itself and has a rich blend of Hindu(Brahmins) as well as muslims. Hence there is no dearth in the variety of food items sold in the streets of Triplicane.
We wanted to start with something sweet and came across a small sweet shop called "Tamil Nadu Halwa House" which sells a traditional halwa called "Dumkaroat Halwa". This is a rava halwa which contains a rich helping of ghee pistachio nuts and sugar. This mouth watering dish just melts in your mouth and will surely make you want more. The local muslim population has given given us a lot of meat dishes. The variety of biriyanies and Kebabs shops that one could see on this road is mind blowing. Each and every street corner has a Kebab shop where a beef sheek kebab or mutton kebab would be rolling over a slim fire. The ratting sound made while hitting the biriyani vessel is something that will attract any foodie. We had tried out biriyani in a local eatery called "Ramzan Biriyani". The biriyani was very well made and the exquisite taste has still not left our palette. The gravy served along with the biriyani added to the taste making it a wonderful experience. Imagine we had spent only 100 rupees per person for the biriyani and dumkaroat halwa.
With our stomach half full and to fill the rest of our stomach we wandered through Whites Road leading to Sathyam Theater(a famous multiplex in Chennai). Our search took us to a restaurant called Kerala Hut.
We had tasted traditional kerala dishes in our very own Chennai. There different meat dishes which was prepared in typical Kerala style. Balakrishnan is a big fan of fish and he had ordered Mathi fish fry while i had ordered Chicken 82 which was similar to Chilli Chicken except for the fact that the chicken was crisp on side and this made it succulent. We wanted to try another bird dish and were in a dilemma whether to go for Kadai(a small bird) or Duck. Ultimately we ordered duck fry prepared in traditional Kerala style.Then we ordered the regular Kerala Paratha and the very special "Egg Appam". The Appam was cooked to perfection .
We had a wonderful evening exploring the different facets of Chennai..The money we spent was worth every penny ....
My Sunday evening started with a bike ride with my dear friend Balakrishnan along Dr.Natesan road. We crossed Ratna Cafe which is very famous for it's piping hot Sambar & idly combo. Sambar idly is a typical chennaivaasi's all time favourite.One can proudly call oneself a true chennaivaasi only if he would have savoured sambar idly atleast once in his life. However our evening was lot more than just trying out the dishes in famous hotels, we wanted to explore the food eaten by the people of Thiruvallikeni or Triplicane. This ancient place is much older than Chennai itself and has a rich blend of Hindu(Brahmins) as well as muslims. Hence there is no dearth in the variety of food items sold in the streets of Triplicane.
We wanted to start with something sweet and came across a small sweet shop called "Tamil Nadu Halwa House" which sells a traditional halwa called "Dumkaroat Halwa". This is a rava halwa which contains a rich helping of ghee pistachio nuts and sugar. This mouth watering dish just melts in your mouth and will surely make you want more. The local muslim population has given given us a lot of meat dishes. The variety of biriyanies and Kebabs shops that one could see on this road is mind blowing. Each and every street corner has a Kebab shop where a beef sheek kebab or mutton kebab would be rolling over a slim fire. The ratting sound made while hitting the biriyani vessel is something that will attract any foodie. We had tried out biriyani in a local eatery called "Ramzan Biriyani". The biriyani was very well made and the exquisite taste has still not left our palette. The gravy served along with the biriyani added to the taste making it a wonderful experience. Imagine we had spent only 100 rupees per person for the biriyani and dumkaroat halwa.
With our stomach half full and to fill the rest of our stomach we wandered through Whites Road leading to Sathyam Theater(a famous multiplex in Chennai). Our search took us to a restaurant called Kerala Hut.
We had a wonderful evening exploring the different facets of Chennai..The money we spent was worth every penny ....
