Chettinad chatter

When we heard the word 'bangala', our first thought was that the book had something to do with Bengali cuisine. You must get that a lot.
Yes, that is the initial reaction until people read the entire title, which states that the book talks about flavours and recipes from Chettinad. The word bangala derives from the word bungalow. The Bangala is a beautiful boutique hotel in the heart of Chettinad and the book chronicles the recipes that have emerged from the kitchen of the Meyyappan family.

How and why did you go about gathering Meyyappan family's recipes?
I visited The Bangala in Karaikudi a few years ago as an unsuspecting tourist and was immediately in awe of the cuisine. I remember the first meal which was served on banana leaves. The flavour profile was something that I have never experienced before. It was right then that my wife Gitanjali suggested I compile this into a book. That's when the idea was born. I teamed up with the owner of The Bangala, Meenakshi Meyyappan, and another author Jill Donenfeld, to put this book together. The process took about three years.

What differentiates Chettinadi fare from other Indian cuisines?
The Chettiars have been part of the spice trade for centuries. Along with that, they gathered influences from their extensive travels across Burma, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), as well as from neighbouring states. This resulted in a cuisine that is refined with a sophisticated understanding of spices without overpowering the palate with chillies. A typical Chettiar meal will always juxtapose mild with heat, such as comforting curd-rice with the piquant and sour vatha kozhambu (curry). Besides, the cuisine liberally uses spices in the form of dry podis and wet pastes.

Tell us about some of the unique ingredients that you discovered while working on this book.
There is mor milagai which is salted, buttermilk-soaked, sun-dried green chillies used in curries. There is goondu milagai – which are mildly pungent flavourful chillies, red in colour with a roundish cherry-like shape, grown in Tamil Nadu and Andhra. These are ubiquitous in the cuisine. My favourite usage of these is while making uppu kari or Chettinad mutton fry. The dish uses 40 of these deseeded chillies in 1kg of mutton. Then there is kavani arisi – black rice which was brought back from Burma and is now grown in parts of South India.

Is Chettinadi fare shared or pre-plated?
The cuisine doesn't follow the western concept of courses. Breakfast and tea comprises of paniyarams (small dumplings). There are a host of kootus – vegetables cooked with lentils and kozhambus, which are generally shared. However, in a festive meal or a "sappadu", the number of items on a banana leaf can exceed 21 (always an odd number). Some of these would be placed in a clockwise manner before guests are seated. And if there is a rice menu, it is usually served in courses with other mains, such as uppu kari, fish curry, pepper curry, Chettinad chicken pepper masala.

The Bangala Table – Flavours and Recipes from Chettinad is available at Amazon.in and at leading retail bookstores. For more information on The Bangala in Chettinad, see www.thebangala.com

Ingredients: 1 cup raw ponni rice, 5 tsp urad dal (hulled and split), 1/2 tsp sea salt, 2 tbsp milk, 1/4 tsp sugar, vegetable oil for frying
Method: Combine the rice and urad dal. Wash in three changes if water and then let it soak in water for an hour. Drain.
Grind rice-urad mixture in an aatu kal/wet grinder for 10-15 minutes, adding a splash of water if necessary, or run in a blender until of pouring consistency. The batter should be smooth between the fingers. Stir in salt and remove from wet grinder. This should yield about 1 1/3 cups of batter.

Add milk and sugar to batter. Mix well, beating with your hand to aerate.

Over medium high heat, add 1 inch of oil to a flat (shallow) pan. Once oil is hot, add a ladle (about 3 tbsp) of batter to center of the pan. When it floats up, flip it, ladle oil from the pan over it ans fry for 1 minute. The paniyaran should stay white and not colour. Remove with a slotted spoon and let it cool slightly on a paper towel-covered plate.

Repeat till batter is used up.