Tamil cuisine - RCI - April 2007

As one of the oldest vegetarian culinary heritages of the world, Tamil cuisine is characterized by its aroma and flavor. Achieved mainly by a combination of spices, recipes from the Tamil cuisine use a variety of ingredients like coconut, ginger, coriander, tamarind, curry leaves, etc. As rice is the staple food for most Tamilians, there are a variety of rice preparations that you will come across like lime rice, coconut rice, vegetable rice, tomato rice, etc. And of course there are the side dishes that accompany rice like kootu, sambar, rasam, mor kozhambu, puli kozhambu, vatral kozhambu, etc. A bowl of steaming hot rice with a dash of ghee, a piece of papad and a side dish served on a banana leaf is all but a simple Tamil meal.

Not to forget the sweets, tiffins and the savories that are so much a part of the Tamil cuisine. Some examples of tiffin include sevai, idli, dosa, adai, upma, vada, pongal, etc. served with coconut chutney and sambar on the side.

Snacks are murukkus in all shapes and forms - where there is a delicate balance of flour and spices rolled into a dough, made into different shapes and fried in oil for a longer shelf life. Some sweets include rava laddoos, coconut burfi, mysore pak, etc.

Some parts of Tamil Nadu like Madurai are famous for non-vegetarian foods that include goat meat, chicken and fish. A popular bread called Parota (a blend of flour and ghee) is consumed with a non-vegetarian side dish or vegetable kurma. You will also find similarities between Indian Tamil cuisine and Ceylon Tamil cuisine. Click here and here to learn more about Tamil Cuisine.

So, start your hunt for recipes from the Tamil cuisine and get cooking. Send in your entries by April 25th and I will do a roundup on May 1st. Please feel free to insert the logo in your post. Here is line up of the RCI event.

May - Andhra Cuisine - Latha from Masala Magic
June - Maharashtrian Cuisine - Nupur from One Hot Stove
July - Punjabi Cuisine - Richa from As Dear As Salt
August - Cuisine not finalized - Swapna from Swad
September - Karnataka Cuisine - Asha from Foodie's Hope and Aroma Hope
October - Bihar/Orissa Cuisine - Sangeeta from Ghar ka Khana
November - Still open
December - Yet to decide cuisine - Trupti from The Spice who Loved me

Thanks for the overwhelming response to the event! Looking forward to all the great recipes from the different cuisines of India. Hope all of you have a lot of fun hosting and participating in this event.