She has been living in Thiruvananthapuram for only four months, but Pragati Garimella of Hyderabad successfully wooed everyone with her tender coconut payasam in half shells of chocolate, boiled and seasoned tapioca shaped like ‘modakam,’ ‘chira’ ada, ghee rice, beetroot thoran, and two relishes, a turmeric tuille to win the first prize in the finale of the Premier Cookware and Appliances – The Hindu Group ‘Our State Our Taste’ cooking contest conducted at SP Grand Days hotel here.
Nearly 50 participants from across the State and even the Gulf took part in the live cooking event, selected after four regional rounds – in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Thrissur, and Kozhikode.
Minister for Tourism Kadakampally Surendran inaugurated the contest on Sunday morning.
Traditional cuisines
The State government was very happy that a contest that focussed on traditional cuisines of States was being organised in Kerala too this time, after editions in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, he said.
At a time when experiential tourism was the rage, the traditional cuisine of the State was what visitors to the State, foreign and domestic, wanted to savour.
Many of them went to great lengths by visiting rural areas to see and taste the flavours of the State. This had become a source of income for many people too, the Minister said.
He lauded the importance and support extended by all publications of The Hindu Group to the State’s tourism sector.
Such cooking contests provided a fillip to the tourism sector of the State, he said, adding that the Tourism Department had decided to organise a culinary festival in the coming year.
The contest with participation by men and women in the 25-70 age group, saw a majority of the contestants dish up non-vegetarian fare, but there were some novel vegetarian dishes too such as the one incorporating 13 types of leaves, or a kootu in which peanuts and pepper add flavour, or an ada made with amaranthus and milet flour.
Prawns, chicken, fish were all the heroes of non-vegetarian dishes, each participant giving their own twist to the ingredients.
A couple of participants cooked with duck too. Ghee rice, Christmas special ‘pothi chor,’ coconut rice, tamarind rice, biryani, navara rice kanji...rice too came in a host of avatars.
Participants went all out to ensure that no only did their food look and taste great and use various ingredients in novel ways, but also that they were healthy… all within two-and-a-half hours.
The dishes were judged by a three-member team, led by Lekshmi Nair and comprising Suresh Pillai, corporate chief, Leela Raviz Hotels, and Rajesh Subramanian, executive chef, SP Grand Days.
Busy schedule
Dubbing artiste Bhagyalakshmi was the chief guest at the prize distribution ceremony. She recalled how her busy schedule prevented her from cooking for a long time, but was slowly finding time to don the apron again, explore the State’s cuisine anew and look for ways to make whatever she cooked exciting.
Good selection
Ms. Lekshmi Nair said the majority of the dishes were good, with a lot of effort going into selection of dishes, themes, presentation. However, there were some dishes that were a cut above the rest, and were being rewarded.
Reinvented
Mr. Suresh Pillai said it was amazing that there was a large variety of traditional recipes that had been reinvented with a lot of effort by the participants. It was heartening to see them thinking on the lines of professional chefs to make their dishes stand out. Mr. Subramanian said it was good to note the innovation introduced by the participants in their dishes, paying attention to the freshest of ingredients and minutest details.
Pragati Garimella walked away with a cash prize of ₹25,000, petrol card for ₹10,000 from Indian Oil Corporation, and gift vouchers for ₹5,000 from Daily Fish. The first runner-up Shafeela Arif, who is settled in the Gulf, got a cash prize of ₹15,000 and a gift voucher for ₹2,500 from Daily Fish.
The second runner-up was Jessie Stanly of Thrissur. She got a cash prize of ₹10,000 and a gift voucher for ₹1,000 from Daily Fish. Nishi Mubeen of Kochi secured the fourth prize – a cash prize of ₹2,000 and IOC card for ₹1,500. Seena Vijayan of Kozhikode who was fifth got a cash prize of ₹1,000 and a petrol card for ₹1,000 from IOC.
All winners got a gift hamper from Double Horse.
Premier Cookware and Appliances was the presenting sponsor for the contest, an initiative by THEME. The event was supported by Kerala Tourism. RKG Ghee was the Ghee partner. Indane was the Energy partner. It was powered by Double Horse and co-powered by Daily Fish.
