| 6 mins read
By Jennifer Mullen
Chennai is India’s sixth largest city and, as a tourist destination still feels fabulously and refreshingly untapped. A visit to Chennai will challenge your senses, where the tropical warmth of the climate also seems to radiate through the welcoming attitude of the Chennai people. And for the delight of the discerning culinary tourist, the fast food is still piping hot, freshly made and highly authentic.
The Famous Brunch!
So what is it about brunch in Chennai that is so iconic? The answer perhaps lies with the food, for which Chennai is most famous, namely dosas, vadas and idlis among others (like upma, adai, pongal and uttapam to name a few). These are traditionally eaten for breakfast and lunch, making them the perfect daytime snack, although dosas also double up as a dinner food. These tasty South Indian foods are made from ground rice and lentils, with clearly different results. Dosas are golden crepes which are crispy, savoury and a little bit sour tasting, due to the fermentation process. Vadas are deep-fried savory doughnuts, which have the distinct toroid shape and often have an interesting texture due to extra ingredients, such as curry leaves. Finally, idlis are pure-white and fluffy saucer-shaped steamed disks. It is possible to buy heavy duty idli making machines, which can churn out 1000 to 2000 per hour!
A Chennai tour guide could take you to any number of average canteen style eateries in Chennai; for the authentic experience make your way to Mylapore, which is one of Chennai’s oldest neighbourhoods. After visiting the Kapaleeshwara Temple, watch the world go by from one of the hundreds of eateries in this cultural hub. The accompanying soundtrack is a deafening cacophony of motorcycle horns, vendors shouting out their wares, and rickshaws (or “autos” as they are known in Chennai) spluttering, as they dodge meandering cows.
The Art is in the Eating!
Part of the charm is also imitating the locals, as they tear, dab, mop and scoop their food into their mouths one handed, with expert dexterity (in Tamil the word for “knife” exists, but nobody really seems to know how to say “fork” and “spoon”, as they aren’t widely used!). Chennaites will good naturedly nudge each other and have a bit of a giggle at a tourist, who attempts to keep a white T-shirt clean, whilst eating with their hand (note always the right hand, never the left, for obvious cultural hygiene reasons). They will however smile broadly and nod, if you wish them “vanakkam”, or “hello” in Tamil, touched that you have made an effort in this land that takes immense pride in its language and culture.
It's all about the Presentation!
Your Chennai culinary guide will also explain that brunch in Chennai is a colourful experience, due to banana leaves, which are placed either on a plate or used as a substitute for plates. In Tamil Nadu dried banana leaves are called 'Vaazhai-ch- charugu' and one can commonly see them being sold in street markets, making a colourful display alongside local fruit and flowers, for India’s numerous religious festivals. In water scarce India, banana leaves also provide an eco-friendly, disposable food serving systems, as they degrade quickly and it saves on the washing up!
Banana leaves make excellent food packaging material and are even sometimes fashioned into cup shapes to hold liquid food. The waterproof quality of the surface of banana leaves also lends itself beautifully to the different chutneys and sauces that come with these snack foods. If banana leaves are the palette, then the chutneys and sambar are the paints, which make brunching in Chennai such a visual experience. Coconut chutney is white and made from chillies, curd (similar to Greek yogurt), ginger, as well as mustard seeds, which give it the famous black dots. Roasted chana dal, or small chick peas, which have been split and polished, is also a key ingredient to coconut chutney, plus other Indian flavour staples, namely tamarind paste, curry leaves and cumin seed. Sambar is one of the most loved accompaniments to any South Indian meal and a new person to India may initially think it looks like a small pot of golden vegetable stew. The word Sambar comes from an old Tamil word meaning spicy condiments. Recipes will vary, although lentils, vegetables, turmeric, curry leaves and chillies are key ingredients.
Coffee Break!
One cannot get a real taste of brunch in Chennai without visiting an authentic Indian coffee stall for an energising dose of filter coffee. A staple drink, the best coffee stalls are found more often than not much more than holes in the wall, yet the art of concocting the brew is a fascinating process to watch, as the coffee is mixed animatedly by sloshing it from cup to cup separated by a considerable height. The presentation is even more spectacular when the coffee is thrust in front of you in a tumbler inverted in a bowl, sealed in by its steam. Of course you have to flip it over to drink; picking up the inverted tumbler could be quite the scalding disaster! One cannot help but feel there is a great deal of pride associated with this profession.
A Few Pointers
Brunching in traditional eateries in Chennai is not for the faint hearted. You do need to be a bit discerning, as to which restaurants look like they have a healthy turnover of customers to ensure freshness, plus the obvious cleanliness factor. If this scares you, then many of the upmarket hotels and resorts will also serve traditional food, albeit in a slightly more sedate environment. There is now also an increasing move towards fusion cuisine, such as new restaurant chains in malls selling Mexican or chocolate dosas. More novel incarnations of dosas can also be found fashioned into shapes such as cones, or in the case of one restaurant, VGP, on the East Coast Road, can be made to order up to eight feet long!
Of all the novelties there are to see and experience in Chennai, sampling this local cuisine will be one of the most rewarding travelling experiences you will ever have. Try it out…. just don’t forget to wear a dark coloured T-shirt!
(Jen Mullen is a seasoned traveler, having lived and worked in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and most recently Southern India. In her opinion, the best parts about traveling are meeting the locals, sampling as much new food as possible and making an effort to learn new languages)
Image Details and Licenses: https://flic.kr/p/5EmDUf (McKay Savage, CC BY 2.0),https://flic.kr/p/9DbA9f (lulun & kame, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0), https://flic.kr/p/73rYWt (Nagesh Jayaraman, CC BY 2.0), https://flic.kr/p/9fPEmd (Virginie De Bel Air, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0), https://flic.kr/p/4wPXSg (swamysk, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0), https://flic.kr/p/a34kTR (Ramesh NG, CC BY-SA 2.0), https://flic.kr/p/4RDrWS (Kamakshi Sachidanandam, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0), https://flic.kr/p/b69diV (lulun & kame, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0), https://flic.kr/p/dppxXW (Vinoth Chandar, CC BY 2.0)