This page is dedicated to South Indian and especially Chettinad recipes. If you have any good recipes, please email them to me and I will add them to this page.
Chettiar Cuisine
(from http://www.greatestescapes.com)
Chettiars are meat-eaters, a fact which has always set their cooking apart in the largely-Hindu region. For centuries Chettiar cuisine was inspired by the caste's contacts with Southeast Asian countries such as Burma, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Ceylon. At the height of Chettinadu power, banquets—served to as many as 2,000 guests—lasted for days. After independence from Britain, however, the caste's fortunes fell drastically and their cuisine was nearly forgotten by outsiders. In the last decade or so, though, this style of cooking has experienced a renaissance and a few good Chettinadu restaurants have sprung up.
As compared to the spicy food of Kerala and the hearty cuisine of the Coorgs, Chettinadu cooking is aromatic: black pepper is preferred to red chili, perfumed spices like saffron to cumin and coriander. Marinades are used for meat, rendering it extremely tender. Organ meats are common, as well as simple preparations of chicken and seafood.
THREE IN ONE PANIYARAM by Mrs. Meena Sivalingam
Ingredients for Batter:
Rice: 3 cups
Urad Dhal: 2.5 cups
Soak both together for about 3 to 4 hours. Grind it into fine batter. Now divide this batter into 3 equal portions, for the three different paniyarams.
1. PAAL-PANIYARAM
Ingredients:
milk 1 litre
sugar to taste
cardamom
essence - any flavour
saffron
oil for frying
Method:
Take one portion of the above made batter, add 3 teaspoons of sugar & mix well. Heat oil in deep pan. Drop batter into hot oil with tip of fingers. Let drops be size of pebbles. Turn it over & fry till golden brown. Hence making the paniyarams.
Boil 1 litre of milk, add sugar to taste. Flavour with cardamom, essence & saffron.
Now soak all the paniyarams in the milk, leave it for about ten minutes before serving.
2. SEEYAM
Ingredients:
Coconut 1
Moong Dhal Half cup fairly cooked
cardamoms a few
cashewnut pieces 3 teaspoons
brown sugar to taste
oil for frying
Method:
Grate coconut, grind the cooked moong dhal coarsely without water. Roast the grated coconut with 3 teaspoons of ghee, till slightly brown. Add brown sugar to coconut & fry well, add cardamom & fried cashewnut pieces. Remove from fire and add the dhal and mix well. Roll into small balls.
Take the 2nd portion of the batter, add 2 teaspoons of sugar and mix well.
Dip the balls into the batter and deep fry in hot oil till golden brown.
3. MASALA PANIYARAM
Ingredients:
Onion 1 large
Mustard seeds 2 teaspoons
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
green chillies 4 optional
grated coconut 2 tablespoons
Ginger paste half teaspoon
oil for frying
Method:
Finely chop onions. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil. Allow mustard seed to splutter, add onions & curry leaves, fry well. Add this to the remaining portion of the batter, then add ginger paste, coriander leaves,grated coconut & green chillies and mix well.
Heat oil in a deep pan. Take the batter with your fingers, drop one at a time into the oil, filling the pan. ( Let the size of each drop be equal). Fry till golden brown. Serve it hot.
Three recipes by Dr. Unnamalai Letchumanan:
Recipe 1: VANGI BHAT (Kathirikkai Sadham or aubergine rice)
Ingredients for powder mixture:
Channa dhal 1 tbl spoon
Urid dhal 1 tbl spoon
Dhaniya 1 tbl spoon
Cloves 3
Cinnamon 2 sticks
Desicated coconut 1 tea spoon
Red chillies (dried) 5 - 10
Roast the above ingredients and grind them together to form a powder mixture.
Ingredients for seasoning:
Mustard seeds
Channa dhal
Urid dahl
Curry leaves
Cashew nuts
Asafoetida
Poppy seeds
Cooking method:
Cut aubergines into thin slices and fry them with the above seasoning. Cook them on a very low flame. When aubergines are cooked, add the powder mixture. Mix this with normal boiled white rice (according to taste). Add lemon juice to taste and coriander to garnish.
Recipe 2: SAMBHAR SADHAM
Ingredients:
Rice 1 cup
Toor dhal ½ cup
Green peas 100 grams
Tomatoes 100 grams
Oil ½ cup
Ghee 100 gram
Tamarind nellikkai alavu (or 1 tea spoon tamarind paste)
Turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Onion 1
Ingredients for sambhar powder:
Red chillies (dried) 8
Dhaniya seeds 8 tea spoons
Channa dhal 4 tea spoons
Fenugreek seeds ¼ tea spoon
Pepper corns 8
Coconut (shredded) 2 tea spoons
Seasoning:
Red chillies (dried) 4
Mustard seeds 1 tea spoon
Asafoetida
Cooking method:
Chop the onion and tomatoes into small pieces. Roast carefully the ingredients for sambhar powder in a small amount of oil. Then grind all these ingredients into a powder.
Cook the rice and the dhal in 4 cups of water in a pressure cooker. When the rice and the dhal are cooked, add the green peas. When the peas are cooked, add the tamarind, salt and turmeric. Then add the sambhar powder made earlier, and the chopped tomatoes. Stir well for 10 minutes until it boils.
Then, heat the ghee in a pan and add the seasoning ingredients. Next, add the chopped onions and fry until golden brown. Pour this mixture into the cooked rice and then add the remaining ghee and oil to it. Mix well. Cashew nuts can also be fried and added to it if desired.
Recipe 3: VEGETABLE SAMBHAR SADHAM
Ingredients:
Rice 2 cups
Toor dhal 1 cup
Carrot 1
Potato 1
Aubergines (small) 2
Green peas 100 gram
Onion 100 gram
Tomato 1
Green chillies 2
Red chillies (dried) 10
Dhaniya seeds 4 tea spoons
Poppy seeds ½ tea spoon
Dried roasted Channa dhal (pottukkadalai) 2 tea spoons
Pepper corn 10
Fenugreek seeds ¼ tea spoon
Coconut (shredded) 2 tea spoon
Asafoetida
Turmeric
Tamarind 2 nellikkai alavu (or 2 tea spoons tamarind paste)
Salt to taste
Curry leaves
Ghee and oil mixed 1 cup
Mustard seeds to season
Cooking method:
Chop the onions and aubergines and into small pieces. Grate the potato and the carrot. Put the tomatoes in hot water. Then remove, skin and chop the them. Slit the green chillies.
Put some oil in a pan, and add all the masala ingredients (red chillies, dhaniya, poppy seeds, channa dhal, pepper corn, fenugreek seeds, coconut and asafoetida added separately in this order) and lightly roast, and then grind into powder.
Cook the rice and dhal in 4 cups of water. Put some of the oil/ghee mixture in a pan and add the chopped onions and slit green chillies. Fry, then add all the vegetables. Add salt and turmeric to taste. Add ½ cup of water and sauté the vegetables.
Put the tamarind water and salt in a pan and allow to boil. When it has boiled, add the masala powder made earlier and the sautéed vegetables, onions and tomatoes, and allow to boil. Next, add the cooked rice and stir well, ensuring there are no lumps remaining.
Put a little bit of oil/ghee mixture into a pan. Pop the mustard seeds and add a little asafoetida. Add this and the remaining oil/ghee mixture to the rice along with some curry leaves and stir well.
Two Recipes by Mrs. Geetha Thiyagarajan
Recipe 1: Chettinad Fried Chicken (4)
Ingredients:
3 lb chicken
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground turmeric
4 tbsps vegetable oil
½ tsp black mustard seeds
½ tsp skinned urad dal
½ tsp whole fennel seeds
5 whole dried red chillies
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
Instructions:
1) Cut the chicken into small serving peices as one might for chinese food. The breast should be split in half and each half cut into 6-8 peices. Thighs and drumsticks should be halved.Rub 3/4 tsp salt and the turmeric onto the chicken and set aside for 15 minutes.
2) Put the remaining salt in a bowl with 3 tbsps water and set aside.
3) Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan over a medium high flame. When hot add the mustard seeds. As soon as they begin to pop add the dal. As soon as this turns red put in the fennel seeds and red chillies. When they start to darken add the onion and stir and fry until it browns lightly.
4) Add the chicken peices and stir and fry for about 5 minutes. Start sprinkling a little salted water at atime from the bowl over the chicken and keep stirring and frying over a medium high flame. Fry the chicken for about 10-15 mins.All the salt water should be used up.
5) When the chicken is cooked through and slightly browned remove with a slotted spoon and serve.This goes well with Mysore Spinach with Dill, Cauliflower with Dried Chillies and Mustard seeds, Plain Rice and Mysore Split Peas with whole shallots.
Recipe 2: Chettiar Ginger Chicken (2 - 4)
Ingredients:
1¼ lb skinned chicken thighs, each cut into 2 peices
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1¼ tsps salt
3" fresh ginger, peeled & finely chopped
4-5 tbsps vegetable oil
1-2 dried chillies, broken into 2or 3 pieces
¾ tsp brown mustard seeds
¾ tsp urad dal
½ tsp fennel seeds
2 small sticks cinnamon
5-6 garlic cloves, peeled & finely chopped
1 onion, peeled & sliced in fine rings
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
½ tsp cayenne pepper
lots of freshly ground black pepper
coriander to garnish
Instructions:
1. Put the chicken pieces into a bowl and add the turmeric and 1 tsp salt.
2. Chop the ginger finely and put into a blender along with about 2 tbsps water.Blend to a paste. Squeeze the juice through a strainer over the chicken, discarding the pulp. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours but preferably overnight.
3. Heat the oil in a wok over a medium heat. When hot add the chillies, mustard seeds, urad dal , fennel and cinnamon. Stir for a few seconds until the mustard seeds pop.
4. Add the garlic and stir, then add the onion and stir and saute until soft and just starting to brown. Add the tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the chicken and its marinade, cayenne pepper and the remaining salt. Stir and fry on a high heat for about 6 minutes until browned. Cover, turn heat to low and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Remove the cover and sprinkle in the black pepper. If there is any liquid left turn up the heat and dry off before serving. Sprinkle with freshly chopped coriander.