Other States - Puducherry   

The assorted flavours of corn

PUDUCHERRY: As the lady fans the charcoal, the red fire from within glows like eyes of a cat in the dark. Reaching out to the corn stacked on the pushcart, she asks if she could spice it up with lime juice, chilli powder and salt.

For just Rs.5, the warm charcoal-heated corn available on Goubert Salai is a treat on chilly nights.

Corn comes in all kinds of flavours these days. The fresh corn on Kosakadai Street and M.G. Road, differently flavoured American corn in kiosks in several places and ready-to-cook frozen corn in supermarkets all seem to have a lot of takers. The American corn in butter, pepper and spicy flavours is especially popular.

Corn is said to be rich in phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, zinc and copper. It also has vitamin B and traces of Vitamin A and E. The calorific value of corn is 342 calories per 100 gm. Though there is no particular health benefit from corn, it is said to be good for the skin.

If you are in the mood for pressure cooking corn or toasting it over the gas flame at home, men selling corn on cycles in Kosakadai Street bring it from a place called Cholapuram (corn is ‘cholam’ in Tamil). You can get up to 6 ears for Rs.10.

Chef Kumar of The Promenade suggests two quick recipes that you can try at home. Some whole cherry tomatoes, corn, de-seeded oranges, sweet lime flesh, raw spinach, walnuts and lemon dressing go into making the Corn and Citrus salad. “You can serve it on a bed of lettuce. It can also be served chilled.”

The Aaloo corn Tikki is another option. Mash the cooked corn kernels and the potatoes (a smaller amount because it is just a binding agent), mix tikki masla (onion, chillies, coriander, chat masala), make a round shape and coat with powdered corn flakes.

Pan fry the flat tikkis and serve with sauce or salsa of your choice.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Modern kitchen for India Reserve Battalion opened
Probe sought into distribution of red ration cards in Yanam
“Catch in Puducherry, Tamil Nadu not in proportion to fishing effort”
Pollution control committee’s warning
The assorted flavours of corn

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu