In the villages of Tirunelveli, farmers carry tumblers of rice for lunch when they set off from home to their fields. The rest of the meal is prepared at the field! On hot days, they pluck veggies, coriander leaves and chillies from the fields, bung it into the rice and prepare a curry koottu, which keeps them healthy and content all day. And for a side dish is thoviyal — made of tamarind pulp, chilli and sesame seeds (hand-plucked from the fields). The rice, with its water content, is a relief, in blazing hot afternoons in Tirunelvelli.
Chef Ashok , who hails from Tirunelveli, narrates this story as I dig into a spoon of uzhunthu paruppu choru (rice made of black dal) offered at the Tirunelveli Food Festival at the Residency, which showcases the traditional dishes that most of us have forgotten.
Many of the dishes here are home-made delicacies. Vegetarians can rejoice, as the menu comes with mouth-watering delicacies such as kozhukkattais, murukkus, stew and noolputtu, kathrika kosthu and so on.
I am served Panakam, a traditional welcome drink made of ginger and jaggery. It is followed by piping hot coin parottas, just as big as my palm. These are shallow-fried in oil, and usually served with non-vegetarian gravies. Coin parottas and kothu curry (minced mutton) is a highly recommended combination. Ashok shows me how to eat it right. “Crush the parotta in your palms a little. Unlike the Kerala parotta, this is crisp. Back in our village, we shred it to pieces, mash it with minced meat and have it like kothu parotta.”
Salt, tamarind, and chilly — this is the magic formulae for most of Tirunelveli dishes. Almost all gravies, including vatha kuzhambus and thoviyals, have a tamarind base. But nothing can beat the tanginess of the irupuli curry — a combination of two gravies, tamarind and butter milk. It is so tangy that I actually squint while having it with rice.
The trick is to eat the right combination, says Ashok. For instance, idli, which is not my favourite dish, tastes perfect with the sesame-based thoviyal. He, then, asks me to taste idlis with the irupuli and they blend like a dream! “In Tirunelveli, we never eat idlis with chutney or sambar. It’s either served with a non-vegetarian curry or vathakuzhambu, a tangy gravy cooked with garlic and topped with coriander leaves.”
My mouth waters at the sight of the dessert; three types of halwas —karuppatti, coconut and the traditional melt-in-the-mouth Tirunelveli halwa. Do not forget to taste the karuppatti mittai (a chewy sweet made with palm jaggery), sukhiyan (a sweet stuffed with Bengal gram) and athirasam.
Tirunelveli cuisine gives priority to both taste and health, says Ashok. “Even the sweets come with ginger, so that it digests well. Herbs are used in rasams. And, kambu koozhu (made of millets) is healthier than rice-based dishes. Also, in Tirunelveli, there are a lot of palm trees so many of our desserts are made of palm sugar. These are good healthy recipes. You cannot find them in our restaurants any more. This festival is an attempt to revive these forgotten flavours.”
(The festival is on till September 20. On weekdays, buffet is available only for lunch. On weekends, they are available for lunch and dinner. For details, call 0422-2241414.)
