Tulu Nadu in Tamil Nadu - Madras Pavillion, ITC Grand Chola

Every restaurant keeps coming up with some sort of festivals on a monthly basis and often end up not doing justice to the festivals as a result of poor research. However, a handful of them ensure all efforts are taken to recreate the classics. I’ve known of Chef’s who had brought down experts from the relevant cuisines, brought specialised cooking tools, ingredients and so on.

One such restaurant that takes their food festivals seriously is ‘Madras Pavilion’ at ‘ITC Grand Chola’. Being the finest of luxury hotels in Chennai, any festival from their restaurants have a huge expectation. Having taken a break from attending festivals for a long time because of the lack of originality, I made my mind to check out the Tulu Nadu festival this time around.

The land of Tulu is not something new to me as I’ve a couple of friends from this region of South India. Tulu is in fact an ancient language that has been around for a few centuries with majority of the Tulu speaking population concentrated around the Western coast of Karnataka including regions such as Mangalore, Udipi and also extending into Northern Kerala encompassing the district of Kasaragod. The food here is supposed to be typically home style with a strong emphasis on simplicity and flavour.

(Bana Baraida)

The meal begun with a ‘Bana Baraida’, which was basically a drink made by blending tender coconut and well ripped bananas. To complement this, we were also provided with a traditional ‘Alai’ which is a blend of buttermilk with ginger, chilli and mint. I personally preferred the Alai more as I knew I could keep having it side by side along the courses of meals that were coming since it felt very comforting on the palette. 

(Natia Kori)

(Sajja ke Tairai Roti)

Next up was the Saaru aka Soup. Saaru in Tulu as well in Tamil typically refers to the juice that is extracted from lentils and tamarind. The saaru here was a ‘Bele Saaru’ which was made up with lentils and spiced with Cumin and Pepper. The best of the evening was the ‘Natia Kori’, succulent morsels of chicken cooked in ghee and chilli paste. I just couldn’t get over with this, as I kept asking for more and more as it made a perfect accompaniment to both the ‘Sajja ke Taarai Roti’ as well as the ‘Mamsam Biryani’. To add further to our mains, we had a fantastic pineapple based gravy known as the ‘Pineapple Gojju’, some famous ‘Kori Gassi’ that already had the roti soaked in it. The sukka made using shrimps was another highlight of the evening. Both the Pineapple Gojju and Yetti Sukka were paired perfectly with the ‘Neer Dosa’. A special word of mention for the Mamsam Biryani as it was unique yet amazingly flavour. The lamb was so tender that it fell from the bone with the least effort required. 

(The Full Course)

To bring the delightful experience of Tulu Nadu, we were served with a ‘Bele Payasam’ which was almost similar to our Paruppu Payasam and a ‘Ragi Manni’ which was more like a fudge made using Ragi & Jaggery.

(Desserts)

Like I’ve mentioned in the beginning, ITC Chefs take special care when they create a festival and an extensive research is made before the festival launches. This is evident from the fact that I felt completely light at the end of the meal albeit being fasting the entire day which ensured that I needed to provide my system with a sufficient amount of food. 

The Tulu Nadu festival is on till the 25th of June, 2017 and is available as part of the Buffet at Madras Pavilion located at ITC Grand Chola, Guindy, Chennai.

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Iftar @ Café Mercare Express - ITC Grand Chola, Guindy

It’s that time of the year when piousness and festivities go hand in hand. Yes, I’m talking about the Islam’s Holy month of Ramadhan where Muslims across the world indulge in fasting from Dawn to Dusk. One of the key events during one’s fast is the Iftar, which is the breaking of the fast at the moment of Sunset. The Iftar is often a celebrated time every evening with households trying to dish out their best dishes to be savoured after about 14 hours of fasting. And for those who would like to indulge out of their homes, this is the perfect time with restaurants all over Chennai having Iftar Specials.

A trend that is catching up over the last few years across Chennai is with many 5 star properties curating their own Iftar menu. The latest to catch the bandwagon is a restaurant from one of the jewels of Chennai, the ITC Grand Chola. 

Place:

The Iftar Menu is served at Café Mercara Express, the coffee shop at ITC Grand Chola. In my opinion, Café Mercara Express seems to be the idealistic choice as the décor reflects a lot of middle eastern touches albeit not being designed to look like a middle eastern restaurant. The subtle lighting also provides the perfect ambiance to reflect back on the true intention of the entire fasting and the importance of this Holy Month.

Food:

As is customary, the Iftar starts with some Dates fruit. Dates is a fruit that looks appetizing enough in its natural form, then how do you make it more elegant? The Chefs wowed me by topping each of the dates with some edible gold leaf. This was just out of the box and was quite unexpected. To quench the thirst, a concoction of Sherbet and Roohafza was poured into a magical looking glass. The drink had both the richness to fill the tummy while at the same time the freshness to wake up your senses after a tiring fast. I just couldn’t get enough of the drink as I kept asking for more and more servings, which the waiting staff obliged with a big heart. To prepare the body for a more indulging meal that was to follow, a platter of assorted fruits aesthetically cut were brought to the table.

(Gold Leaf topped Dates)

(Sherbet Drink)

(Assorted Platter of Fruits)

With the fast being broke and the body getting the much need refreshments, I took a small break to complete my prayers before the next course of the Iftar was served. Gosh, that break really helped me to whole heartedly relish the dishes that followed. First up was the famous Hyderabadi Haleem that has now become completely associated with fasting in Chennai. While Haleem is usually available in most of the stand-alone restaurants, it being served in a 5-star property is the first I’m hearing of. This is mainly due to the process that goes in making it as a lot of physical work is involved in breaking down the lentils and mutton. So I was quite sceptical when it was served because a Haleem has to be perfect in many sense especially the spice and texture. 

(Hyderabadi Haleem)

After garnishing the bowl of Haleem with the regular condiments, the first spoon sealed my opinion. There was no need to give work to my taste buds as this was clearly by far the best Haleem I’ve ever tasted in my life. Yup, I’m sorry to say but honestly I felt this to be much better than the original ones from the streets surrounding Charminar. I just couldn’t stop wiping the bowl down and was even prepared to ask for a second serving. But I wanted to hold back as I was keen on what the other dishes were.

The Haleem was followed by another phenomenal dish, the Classical Gosht NIhari. Served along side a bread of your choice, the Nihari was fantabulous as the spice levels were perfectly matched to a palate of a person who just opened his fast. Not too spicy or choked with Masala but just enough to have a good hit of the flavour. The mutton on the other hand was falling out of the bone and was absolutely stunning. The curry was so Yumm that I resorted to spooning the remaining curry as I didn’t want to gorge on more breads.

(Gosht Nihari)

With such richness in the dishes, I was wondering on how the next dish is going to turn out. Well the next up was indeed the King of Rice dishes, our own Mutton Biryani. Although I’ve had biryani’s before for Iftar, for once it was always least preferred by me because the spice levels tend to be a little harsh on the system after the fast. But that was not the case this evening. The Chefs were precautious to this fact and balanced the biryani in a way that is completely spot on for the system. With absolutely zero oil and a very refreshing aroma of the spices, the biryani was in one word, Perfect. I was so engrossed in savouring the Biryani that I didn’t even bother to click it. That’s how delectably it was cooked.

(Phirni)

With a full and content stomach, we moved on to desserts. A known fact is that gorging on huge amounts of sugar is ideally not good for the system after such a big break. Taking this into account, the dessert on the menu was a simple Phirni. A scrumptious way to end the Iftar, desirable yet content. To give my honest verdict in a single sentence, this is by far the best Iftar I’ve ever had outside in a restaurant.

Price:

Keeping in line with the 5-star standards, the Iftar is priced at Rs. 1250 plus taxes with all the dishes served as a square meal. The square meal by itself is completely filling however if you would like to indulge in any of the dishes more, they would be more than glad to serve them again.

Location:

Café Mercara Express is located at the Ground floor of the iconic ITC Grand Chola in Guindy. The Iftar special is available everyday till the end of the Holy Month of Ramadhan which is around the 7th of July. The best part is its just not available at the time of Iftar but is available all through the evening from 6pm till 4am, which is the time of Suhoor (the Pre-Dawn Meal before the fasting begins again).

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Kitchens of India - Royal Repast of Arcot Cuisine @ Madras Pavilion - ITC Grand Chola, Chennai

Each and every time one thinks of Royal Cuisines in India, it is more than often associated with the Mughal cuisine. Coming down to regional cuisine, the erstwhile Hyderabadi royal cuisine plays a dominant role. However other regional royal cuisines seems to have been lost with time in spite of the region being home to several famous kingdoms.

Thanks to one of the leading luxury brand of hotels, we may now have a glimpse into these long forgotten royal cuisines. The ITC group of hotels are conducting a pan India food promotion titled “Kitchens of India – Royal Repast” that showcases regional royal cuisines. Keeping in line with the theme, ITC Grand Chola in association with the Nawab of Arcot bring us to glimpses of the Nawabi cuisine from this region. In order to provide a truly royal experience, the family chefs from the Arcot Nawab’s house tirelessly worked along with the expert chefs from ITC Grand Chola’s Madras Pavilion restaurant to bring their cuisine in an ITC style. 

(Badami Shorba)

(Paya Shorba)

(Nawabi Shikampur)

(Mahi Talko)

The evening started with two Nawabi styled Shorba – ‘The Paya Shorba’ and ‘The Badami Shorba’. Both Shorba had royalty embodied on them as they were both rich and flavourful. This was followed up with four different varieties of Kebabs – two non veg and two veg. The non-veg kebabs of the evening were the ‘Mahi Talko’ and ‘Nawabi Shikampur’ while the veg options were ‘Subz Gulkhand’ and ‘Palak Anjeera’. The ‘Nawabi Shikampur’ is very similar to the Shammi kebab except that it’s made using chicken instead of mutton. Although it was flavourful, I would have loved it even better had it been a little juicier. I skipped the other kebab as it was a grilled fish and I’m not too keen on fish kebabs. On the veg, I only tried the ‘Subz Gulkhand’ as it seemed intriguing to find how the flavour of gulkhand would be used. It was nothing to be wowed about but was a bit different in comparison to the different varieties I’ve tasted over the years.

(Arcot Biryani)

(Non Vegetarian Curries)

(Paneer Amir Shah)

Coming to the mains, the highlight of the evening was the ‘Arcot Biryani’ and the regular accompaniments such as ‘Raita’ and ‘Bagarhe Baingan’. On the curries, it was a trio of lamb, poultry and seafood with ‘Goolare Gosht’, ‘Murgh Shahi Korma’ and ‘Laal Baingan Jhinga’ and for the veg it was the ‘Paneer Amir Shah’. Coming to the curries first, I liked the Murgh Korma better than the rest as it was packed with spices that emanated a rich taste along with the rotis. The Jhinga and Gosht were equally good but the Murgh was better. However the Paneer was a disappointment as the core ingredient itself was very chewy and hard. I assume it could be because of being on the counter for quite some time. Now coming to the highlight of the day, the ‘Arcot Biryani’ was truly outstanding and the chefs have probably got this spot on from the Nawab’s chef. With a tinge of saffron and well cooked meat the biryani had all characteristics of a true royal meal.

(Double ka Meetha)

(Badam Halwa)

(Meethi Dahi)

How can a royal meal be complete without some great desserts? The desserts on offer for the evening were ‘Double ka Meetha’, ‘Badam Halwa’ and ‘Meethi Dahi’. To start with, the ‘Double ka Meetha’ was just one word - YUM. The bread were soaked delectably in milky sugar syrup while still retaining some crunchiness. I loved it so much so that I helped myself with two servings of the same. While the dahi was not unique, the halwa was great in its own way. Not being very heavy on the palate, the halwa had a nice texture and a very comforting feel. Overall the Arcot cuisine on that evening had a few misses but the plusses made up for more than that. Simply the Arcot Biryani and the Double ka Meetha can keep one going on and on.

The food promotion is part of the regular buffet menu at the Madras Pavilion and is on till the 14^th of September. The buffet is priced at ₹ 1950 plus taxes on all day for dinner.

To be updated on my latest reviews, do subscribe to the feed by leaving your email address in the subscribe section on the top right hand side of this post. If this article interested you, please share it so others may be interested and benefited too!!! For more mouth watering images, follow me on Instagram at @FoodInChennai. Request you to also visit our Facebook page Food In Chennai - Facebook and share the page with a Like amongst your friends and also follow us on our twitter handle at @FoodInChennai. You can also follow us on Google Plus at Food in Chennai-GooglePlus. Please also feel free to g+1 this post so others may be benefited too.

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