As I walk into The Madurai Kitchen at Courtyard by Marriott for a sneak peek of its upcoming food festival, I see junior sous chef Ravishankar S, rushing in with a big Mahi Mahi fish. He places it on a table covered with banana leaves alongside a variety of neatly-arranged clams, prawns, squid, scallops, seer, tomato and lady fish, mussels, pomfrets, Indian salmon, mackerels, crabs, shrimps, kingfish, basa, nethili and ooli .
At an adjacent counter, a choice of marinades and curries lend colour and aroma; the live station is ready to go.
I wait for the food to be cooked as I watch, and Executive Chef Somasundaram Gopalakrishnan asks me to first choose my fish and decide the ingredients too. “What you want to add to your grub is your choice,” he insists. There is no fixed menu at the live counter and this is my chance to experiment with flavours.
I go for salmon marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, pepper and salt, pan-seared and served with grilled zucchini and prawns. The young chef prepares the dish for me and I know that I would have never put an expensive fish through trial and error recipes at home.
With inputs from his team, Somasundaram has curated an extensive sea food menu that will run for 10 days at the main restaurant. “The highlight is to eat freshly-prepared sea food of your choice,” says Somasundaram.
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Every day, fresh catch would be displayed on the table and guests can choose, mix and match, try out any number of combinations with different ingredients. The team of chefs has been specially trained to meet the preferences of the guests. You can get the fish of your choice grilled, fried, steamed, pan-seared or wok-tossed.
“Sea food, though popular, is expensive in this city of meat lovers,” says F & B Manager Saravana Kumar R G. “We are serving local as well as nominally-priced exotic varieties,” he adds.
Besides this, the regular buffet will also have dishes such as Goan fish curry, Tandoori prawns, Herb crusted salmon, Prawn pulao , Puffed corn-crusted fish fry and more.
The fish for the festival is being sourced from Rameswaram, Tuticorin and the local Karimedu Meen Market. “The freshness of the fish and the masalas used are equally important to how the dish turns out,” says Somasundaram.
The Seafood Dinner Buffet
Date and Time: April 5 to 13; 7pm to 10.30 pm
Price: Rs.999 plus Tax (includes a mocktail), Rs.696 plus Tax for kids
The Seafood Brunch
Date and Time: April 13 and 14; 12.30pm to 3.30 pm
Price: Rs.1295 Plus Tax (Non Alcohol) and Rs.1995 plus Tax (with alcohol). Includes pool usage.
For reservations call: 0452-4244555, 8884049495, 9384838403
The Chef recommends:
Arachu vacha meen kuzhambu
Ingredients:
Seer fish darne : One kg; Gingelly oil: 200ml; Mustard seeds: 10 gm; Fenugreek seeds, Turmeric powder and curry leaves: Five gm each; Chopped shallots and tomato puree: 500 gm each; Ginger-garlic and coconut paste: 100 gm each; Tamarind pulp: 75 gm; Coriander and red chilli powder: 20 gm each; Slit green chilli : 10; Chopped coriander leaves: 15 gm
Method:
Pre marinate the seer fish with little salt, turmeric. Make a paste of coconut and cumin seeds and keep aside. Heat oil in a kadai, crackle mustard and fenugreek seeds. Add shallots, green chilli, curry leaves and sauté until the shallots turns brown. Add ginger-garlic paste, tomato puree and dry masala powder. Boil until the oil comes out.
Add the fish pieces and coconut paste and cook on slow fire. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.