Indian · regional cuisine

Tamil (including Chettinad)

Rice with sambar, rasam, kuzhambu and poriyal, fermented idli and dosa batters, temple food, and the intensely spiced merchant cooking of Chettinad.

Flavour character: Tamarind-sour and pepper-hot, with mustard seed, urad dal, curry leaves and asafoetida in the tempering (thalippu), lentil-thickened gravies, and roasted-spice depth in Chettinad dishes. Curd rice and buttermilk cool the meal.

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History

Classical Tamil Sangam poetry (early centuries CE) describes rice, meat, pepper and toddy. Temple kitchens, which cook prasadam such as pongal and puliyodarai, preserved vegetarian Brahmin traditions. The Nattukottai Chettiars of Chettinad (around Karaikudi), a banking and trading community active in Burma, Ceylon and South-East Asia in the 19th and early 20th centuries, created a distinctive cuisine with star anise, kalpasi (stone flower), marathi mokku and sun-dried meat. Maratha rule at Thanjavur (1674–1855) left its mark; the story that sambar was invented there is popular but disputed. Muslim cooking gave Ambur and Dindigul biryani, and Madras (Chennai) was the hub of the British curry-powder trade.

Commonly told; not firmly documented

Geography and influences

The Kaveri delta (rice bowl around Thanjavur), dry interior plains growing millets, pulses and groundnut, the Kongu belt in the west, and a long Bay of Bengal coast with fishing communities.

Temple and Brahmin vegetarian cooking
Chettiar trade with Burma and South-East Asia
Thanjavur Maratha court
Muslim biryani traditions (Arcot, Ambur)
British Madras and Anglo-Indian cooking
French Pondicherry

Regional variations

Chettinad: Roasted spice pastes with star anise, kalpasi, marathi mokku and black pepper; paniyaram, sun-dried meats and vegetables.
Kongu Nadu (Coimbatore, Erode): Coconut, groundnut and horse gram; arisi paruppu sadam; milder masalas.
Madurai and the south: Kari dosa, mutton chukka, jigarthanda, Tirunelveli halwa, parotta-salna culture.
Thanjavur and the Kaveri delta: Temple and Brahmin vegetarian cooking, Maratha-influenced dishes.
Chennai and Pondicherry: Anglo-Indian and Muslim cooking in Chennai; French-Tamil Creole dishes in Pondicherry.

Festive and seasonal food

Thai Pongal (mid-January): sakkarai pongal cooked in a new pot until it boils over, ven pongal, sugarcane
Deepavali: murukku, adhirasam, ribbon pakoda, mysore pak
Navaratri: a different sundal each evening
Tamil New Year (mid-April): mango pachadi with neem flower, jaggery and raw mango for all tastes of life
Karthigai Deepam: pori urundai and nei appam

Signature dishes

Not on the site yet: Ven pongal and sakkarai pongal, Puliyodarai, Kuzhi paniyaram, Chettinad pepper chicken (milagu varuval), Kothu parotta, Ambur and Dindigul biryani, Mor kuzhambu, Vatha kuzhambu, Kootu and poriyal, Adhirasam, Tirunelveli halwa, Murukku