Tamilnadu is the 11th largest state in India and 7th largest in population.This state has been the home to the Tamil People since almost 1500 BC.Since this is a rather long post, you can read more details about this state here so that I can continue with the cuisine.
Tamilnade is the house of several well known and lesser known cuisine like the famous Chettinad cuisine,Nanjilnaadu cuisine [Kanyakumari district],Kongunaad cuisine, etc. You can read more about it here.
Each cuisine and each district have their own methods and choice of ingredients that make the dishes unique and special. I have handpicked some cuisines from Tamil Nadu that are not so famous yet have a rich culinary tradition…
I will be serving…
Neeragaram – A rustic breakfast
Avaray Gaasu Uthaka – a stew of lentils and potatoes from the Badaga cuisine for Lunch
Ragi pakoda and Kachayam– Finger millet fritters and a sweet fritter from Kongunad cuisine for Tea time
Kothu Idiyappam – Minced rice noodles from Nadar Cuisine for dinner
Neeragaram – A rustic breakfast
Avaray Gaasu Uthaka – a stew of lentils and potatoes from the Badaga cuisine for Lunch
Ragi pakoda and Kachayam– Finger millet fritters and a sweet fritter from Kongunad cuisine for Tea time
Kothu Idiyappam – Minced rice noodles from Nadar Cuisine for dinner
Behind the scene:
The Neeragaram recipe was something that I have been wanting to post for a long time and finally made it for this event. I loved it.Actually, I made this just for me!It was really cooling and tastes great from the crunch of the onions and heat from the chilies.
For the Badaga recipe, I turned to my neighbor who is a Badaga.True to their hospitality,she happily invited me home the very next day I asked her for some simple recipe and cooked this for me. I happily clicked the pics.She also gave a half of the gravy to take back and we all enjoyed it with steamed rice.A huge Thanks to Rani Aunty!!
The Kongunadu snacks were delcious and the kids loved the sweet. We had the ragi pakoda with coffee. I now have another way to include drumstick greens in the menu…
The Kothu idiyappam had mixed reactions. I felt it was little odd to have masala in the idyappam as I am used to the lemon and curd versions.Hubby and MIL however felt it was good.The kids refused to eat it! They preferred the plain ones with milk and sugar.
Hope you enjoyed the culinary tour of Tamil Nadu..See you tomorrow with another dish from another state…
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 39
Bon Appetit…
Omg, mindblowing spread again,So many dishes and each dishes speaks a lot about their origin, especially that bagada tribe's dish soo fantastic.
Oh what a feast ….I am so hungry …Everything looks fantastic ..
Such an awesome spread! Love each and every dish for each part of the day! Loved reading your post PJ 🙂
Wow! Such simple dishes and all are so well prepared. Loved reading your post. Very nicely done.
Wow wow I didn't expect anything less PJ..great job..each course is simply stunning and enjoyed reading your posts..you have taken so much efforts..many of the local cuisines I am not aware at all..thanks for writing on them..
mind blowing PJ, i have read your post word by word, but i will come back again i am sure, i loved the fact that i learnt so many recipes and they are all made from heart, lovely spread
Nice Ice biriyani 😀
that is a feast!!! very well done PJ!! Love it!!
And your write up about the cuisines is well researched!!
Thank you for showcasing so many traditional dishes from Tamil Nadu PJ. I have to come back in leisure to read the post again.. Bookmarked!!
Wow great work, PJ. Thank you for introducing us to the relatively unknown recipes from TN.
Wow!!!!!Such a mind blowing spread,sounds very interesting and nice to know about badaga cuisine…
Loved all day TN feast. Well, I do not know where to start to comment on this post. All I can say is I am speechless! Everything on the menu looks delicious.
My cousin lives in Chennai and when I visited her about 15 years ago she made idiyappam. I do not know if the ones she made were the same as the ones you made but she made both savory and sweet ones.
Love each and every one of the dishes. I am not very exposed to any other style of cooking other than the Tamil Bramhin cuisine. This is a very informative post for me to learn a bot beyond my capacity 🙂
i loved it that you picked the little known dishes… fantastic effort and wonderful choice of dishes. they look fabulous.
Amazing spread PJ!!! how did you manage all this with your LO, hats-off girl!!!Love that sweet, kaaram coffee , would love to invite myself for that!! 🙂
as I scrolled down each dish tempted me more and more – also interesting to learn about the bacteria benefits of the rice
wow fabulous post PJ very nice to know about the bagada tribe and all the traditional dish hats off to your efforts 🙂 Am speechless on were to start everything looks so tempting , I wud never mind to invite myself to your place 🙂 fabulous seriously 🙂
Wow what a super post..so much effort and such a good read..I went on scrolling and discovering new dishez..have book marked az of now sill read in detail later.
Nice blog. Being a Badaga, a little intrigued about the photo you have chosen for Badaga Cuisine & the mention of Nanjanaadu cuisine within Kanyakumari Dist. Nanjanaadu is a Badaga Hatti [village] in the Nilgiris Dist. You can see more of Badaga recipes in my websites and blogs – http://www.badaga.co and http://www.badag-recipes.blogspot.com
Sir, Thanks for dropping by..The photo that you have mentioned is a collage of all the dishes that were represented for Tamil Nadu.Also I have mentioned it as Nanjilnaadu which is Kanyakumari and not as Nanjanadu..