Chennai being a city encompassing
people from all across India, there is no void of any particular cuisine in the
city. This provides visitors and Chennaities with a vast array of restaurants
to choose from when it comes to dining. Although Chennai is home to numerous
Kerala cuisine restaurants, it’s a rarity that I visit them as most of the
Kerala delicacies are readily available at home for me, thanks to the influence
of my extended family members.
One prominent restaurant that has
established itself a name for the Kerala cuisine in Chennai has to be ‘Ente
Keralam’, which is part of the Oriental Cuisines chain of restaurants. Oriental
Cuisines has played an integral part in shaping up the restaurant scene in
Chennai by bringing a host of varying cuisines and being consistent in their
offerings. So when a fellow foodie asked me if I would be willing to try out
the “Kuttanadan Food Festival”, I jumped in as I knew it would definitely be
different to the regular fare.
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| (Tender Coconut Water) |
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| (Kappa Cutlet) |
Upon being seated, the very
enthusiastic Chef Jayaprakash gave us a brief overview of the Kuttanadan
specialities. He revealed that Tharavu aka Duck is the main protein next to fish
in this region as it is surrounded on three sides by water bodies. With the
pleasantries exchanged, we were served with the signature ‘Tender Coconut’
drink. This was followed by the ‘Kappa Cutlet’, which was the regular cutlet
made entirely using Kappa aka Tapioca. I’ve had kappa in many forms including
the famous ‘Kappa and Fish curry’ but this was completely different. I liked
the way the cutlet had a very crispy coating while the tapioca inside retained
its flavour.
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| (Karimeen Polichathu) |
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| (Konju Ularthiyathu) |
The next up was the ‘Karimeen
Polichathu’ which is a signature Kerala dish. The dish being cooked in a clay
pot had all its flavour incorporated into the fish and the masala that
accompanied it made it a stand out. The last of the starters was the ‘Konju
Ularthiyathu’ which was basically jumbo prawns grilled in a stone pot that
provides it with earthen flavours. Although mine was a little dry the flavours
sure made up for it.
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| (Kuttanadan Tharavu Mappas) |
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| (Kozhi Curry Kuttanandan Style) |
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| (Pineapple Puttu & Parotta) |
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| (Payasam) |
With the starters all done, we
ordered for two curries, the ‘Kozhi Curry Kuttanandan Style’ and ‘Kuttanadan
Tharavu Mappas’. To go with the curries, the accompaniments were a ‘Pineapple
Puttu’, ‘Malabar Parotta’ and ‘Appam’. The chicken curry was rightly spiced and
also had the essence of the clay pot incorporated into the gravy and proved the
perfect accompaniment for the Parotta while the Duck gravy was perfect for the
Pineapple puttu. Puttu being a regular fare at home, the pineapple puttu was
different in a way that the flavour of pineapple was completely infused into
the puttu. The chef did reveal the secret but unfortunately it shall remain a
secret as a mark of recognition to the hard work put in by the Chef and his
team. The evening was brought to an end with two type of Payasam. These were
from their regular menu as the Kuttanad cuisine provides more importance to the
mains rather than desserts.
The Kuttanadan Food Festival is on at all Ente Keralam outlets across Chennai until the 15th of Feb. A meal for two should set you by ₹ 1200.
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