Rasam cooked in Eeya Sombu, a traditional
alloy tin pot has its own unique flavour
Name: Sandhya
Ramakrishnan
Bio: A microbiologist with an active
lifestyle and busy family, Sandhya
loves to eat and travel. Travelling
has opened her up to different
cuisines. She began documenting
her experiences with food and travel
on her cooking blog. She belongs
to Tamil Nadu, so it is the cuisine
closest to her heart
Blog: www.mycookingjourney.com
Cuisine: Tamil Nadu
Signature Dishes: Sambar,
Rasam, Paruppu
82 Travel Secrets September-October 2015
On My Plate: Tamil Nadu cuisine offers a stunning variety of flavours.
The staple of the region is rice. Coming from a typical Tamil Nadu family,
my everyday cooking reflects the cuisine. Our typical lunch consists of
rice, sambhar, a vegetable, rasam along with nei (ghee) and paruppu
(dal). The meal is eaten using our hands and not with cutlery.
In this Thaali, I have white rice, mullangi (radish) sambhar, tomato
rasam, mango pachadi, Vendakkai curry, paruppu, nei and yoghurt.
Radish sambhar is mixed along with rice, paruppu and nei and eaten as
the first course.
Rasam is eaten as the second course mixed with rice. I have to mention
that rasam made in Eeya Sombu (alloy tin pot) has its own unique flavor.
Mango pachadi is a sweet side made with raw mango and jaggery. It is
exclusively made during the mango season.
Vendakkai curry is a dry poriyal and eaten along with the sambhar rice
and rasam rice.
We end the meal with rice mixed with yoghurt, also referred to as
thayir saadham. We eat it along with some pickle or with the sambhar.
Paruppu or lentil is cooked for sambhar and rasam and a small portion
of it is kept aside to be mixed with rice. This ensures a good protein
intake.
Nei or ghee is made traditionally at home using butter and it renders a
good flavour to the dishes.