Tambram Food Festival September 18, 2009

Tambram Food Festival at Southindies. The Brahmin Food Festival. Southindies, the premium South Indian vegetarian fine dining restaurant that has created a niche for itself, is the host to a first of its kind Brahmin food festival. The food festival boasts a platter of authentic Brahmin delicacies to savor the taste buds of the guests. The Food Festival is served as an Ala Carte menu for dinner only and will be available for guests to experience. The Brahmin food festival aims to introduce guests to experience the simplistic ingredients used by Brahmins to great some delectable dishes. Tamarind, mango, banana, lime, drumsticks and coconut are some of the main ingredients of the cuisine. Different spices such as fenugreek, cumin, dried legumes, beans, pepper, and turmeric are dominant in the cuisine. Brahmin cuisine has rationale that goes beyond taste and texture in cooking by using ingredients which influences a healthy meal. A five course meal specially prepared by the master chef to recreate the magic that is experienced only at traditional Tamil Brahmin homes was the highlight of the lunch. To help enrich the experience Chef Venkatesh Bhat, CEO, Billion smiles Hospitality took the guests through each course. The lunch began with Carrot soup and appetizers that are popular in Brahmin cuisine such as Ulundu bonda (Urud dal dumplings with pepper, coconut, green chilies and deep fried) Kaara kozhukattai (rice flour cakes stuffed with lentil, chilies, coconut and steamed) Urulai vadhakkal (baby potatoes shallow fried with mustard, chilies asafetida and curry leaves).The variety in the appetizers created a blend of mild and fiery to give the course a unique character. The next course topped the guest's favorite with Paharkai pitlai (bitter gourd cooked in a tamarind curry a dish from the tanjore maratha Cuisine) , Murungakkai vendaya vathal kuzhambu (a spicy and tangy curry cooked with drumstick and tamarind) ,Vendakai puli kootu (okra in sour curry with lentils, green chilies and asafetida) ,Keerai mulagootal (palaghat specialty made of moong dal and country spinach) ,Thiruvaathirai kootu (a winter dish cooked for lord Shiva's festival with sweet potato, board beans and red pumpkin) ,Melagu kuzhambu (a pepper corn based thick sour curry). The Adai (pancake made of lentils, red chilly and rice) sure helped sooth the extra tint of spice for this course) A meal without rice is definitely incomplete; the next course contained Puliyotharai (tamarind rice) and Thayir saadam (curd rice) which had a vivid spicy, peppery freshness. To give the meal its perfect full stop and satisfy the sweet tooth, the next course were the delectable favorites of the cuisine Panchamrutham (a five ingredient combination of banana, cashew, honey, jaggery and dates) & Idichi puzhinja payasam (a rice payasam with jaggery and coconut milk). Flavors of dates, jaggery, and honey proved to be quite a wholesome dessert.

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