In the absence of a maid to cook us wholesome meals, we are eating out more often. Yesterday was another such day.
Dinner was at Kumarakom, one of those Kerala restaurants that are well-patronised partly because the fare is good but mainly because anything that swears by the name of God's own country sells amongst homesick Malayalis craving for naadan food. In fact, Kumarakom has eclipsed the age-old Malayali hotel in Chennai, Kalpaka, and even Kayal. Their Anna Nagar branch has been in the field for the past two years at least.
A bit crowded, with the tables set too close for comfort, the one redeeming factor was the actual rendition (and I initially thought they were playing the film cassette, sung by Yesudas) of a popular Malayalam film song Kallayi Kadavathu... by one of the waiters in uniform. When I visited their Nungambakkam branch some years back, I heard the restaurant owner himself sing. So I guess the music is part of the menu.
We pacified our growling tummies with the many layered parotas, appam and Kerala Chicken curry, which was too spicy for my liking. Ash however licked the gravy clean off his plate. He is one for hot and spicy stuff - I wonder if I ate too much spicy stuff when I was expecting him. I remember keeping off green chillies because someone said it could burn the feotus's eyes!
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4 comments:
parotas, appam what are these I love hearing about the diff culture and foods but some just escapes me totally
They are Indian/Kerala breads! You could check out the cuisine page on www.keralatourism.org
Appam is a rice-based bread I make by grinding 1/2 kg raw rice and half a coconut grated (plus 2 tbsp of cooked rice). I add a tsp of instant yeast and 4 tbsp of sugar to it and let it ferment overnight. The next morn, I pour the semi-watery batter, a ladle each, into a special vessel meant for making appams. Twirl it once so that the sides turn crisp and frilly while the centre remains hot. It can be had with chicken.
It can also be made with rice powder and coconut milk.
Parotas involve more effort and I have never made them at home. The dough is made from wheat flour.
that sounds awesome I want to try Appam
I forgot to mention that the rice has to be soaked in water for at least 4 hrs. The appam can be cooked in any concave vessel with lid so long as u get the sides frilly and the centre thicker. Or you can make it like a small round pancake on a flat pan, turn it upside down so that the top also turns brown. The consistency for the latter variety is not too watery. Check this site too: http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/04/07/stories/2007040701820300.htm and http://www.bsbazaar.com/appliances/pd.aspx?sku=TTK0306200515
Oh, dear! I hope i am not making it sound too complicated. Maybe I should give a photo-supported cooking class like Ree.
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