The Mylapore magic

Mylapore in addition to being one of the oldest residential areas and cultural hubs known for its ancient temples is also famous for its food walks and Brahmin vegetarian food joints.

When legendary chef of ITC hotels, Chef Rajan came down to ITC Kakatiya’s Dakshin restaurant for the Mylapore Food Festival it means a whole lot of vegetarian delicacies – quintessentially Tamil Brahmin in their nature (chef tweaked it a bit and used the otherwise no-no ingredients like onion and garlic) and a lot of interesting stories.

After the signature Vasantha neer and Iyer’s trolley – a Dakshin feature followed by Tanjore Kunuku (Rice and lentil dumplings with coconut, curry leaves) and Dal vada (crispy lentil dumpling) reminiscent of the popular vegetarian snacks of the tiffin centres of Mylapore, there is also the Bread Bom – a chef Rajan creation – tossed veggies spiked with spices and wrapped in bread and fried.

Also on the side is the tangy and hot Thekkali rasam – tomato rasam with just a dash of pepper, cumin and garlic in the place of soup.

The main course tantalizes with flavours that are mild and are satiating to the taste buds. Urlai roast (baby potatoes tossed in onion), the Malabar Avial (mild in spice levels and rich in terms of vegetables cooked with coconut milk, Thakkali parapu (Tomato dal) with a dash of seasoning in ghee, Murmagaikai varthakuzambu (drumsticks in the tangy and mildly sweet gravy) and Bendakai Morkuzambu (lady finger cooked in yoghurt), more or less wrap up the veggie fare.

In order to not restrain the festival to vegetarians, the chef has devised a non-vegetarian menu that has some unputdownable dishes like Yera Varthadu (deep fried masala marinated prawns), Melegu kodi chettinad (chicken cooked in Chettinad style),

Veinchina mamsam (a delicious preparation from Telugu land with the lamb tossed with spices and onion), Malabar meen curry, Keema sadam (Keema rice), chicken dosa and keema dosa.

The desserts could have been more extensive; there is basundi, semiya payasam, and parapu payasam on the menu.

Chef Rajan and his food promotion will be on till July 31, and while you check out the food, do not miss the opportunity to meet 70-year-old chef who is known to have travelled with MS Subbulakshmi and former President Venkatraman on their world tours to ensure their South Indian menu is not disturbed;

whose Masala dosa MS Dhoni never misses if he is in Delhi, a friend whom SP Balasubramaniam makes it a point to meet when he is in the city, and a chef who has made his way into people’s hearts with his food across India.