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Southern comfort

Genuinely south Chef Rajdeep Kapoor

So, all North Indian food is Mughlai? And all the South Indian food is just sambar-vada? Far from the truth. The ongoing South Indian Food Festival at Singh Sahib restaurant in New Delhi’s InterContinental Eros is doing its bit to rid us of such stereotypes. Not only this, the festival is bringing to light subtle regional and traditional variations in the South Indian cuisine, which many of us mistake for one monolith.

Says the hotel’s Executive Chef Rajdeep Kapoor, “South Indian food has a huge variety and we hardly ever give it the credit it deserves. Though we are offering 20 odd choices during the festival, it is nearly a drop of the oceanThe food of the Iyers is different from that of the Iyengars, the Naidus’ cuisine is also different from the others. The same dish is prepared differently in Karnataka, Andha Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The coastal cuisine of the South is different from that of the hills and the plains.”

Chef Rajdeep points out that at the festival care has been taken to make the food authentic. For instance, black cardamom has not been used in any of the dishes. Similarly, pepper has been liberally used keeping in mind the regional tradition. Likewise, spices like clove, cinnamon stick, etc. have been used abundantly in the preparations. “These ingredients are common in both South Indian and North Indian food. But the difference lies in the treatment. Though a few spices are used more in the South,” adds the chef.

The festival has popular starters like chicken 65, made by mixing crushed curry leaves, corn flour and spices to chicken pieces. Then there is meen porichatu, a roasted fish dish with pepper coating besides the usual suspects like chicken Chettinad, meen moilee, mutton Nilgiri and royal Vepuda. Vegetarian delicacies also get their share of spices like the masala fried idli and vegetable Upperi, a crispy fried seasonal vegetable dish besides kuttu curry, kirai kuttu and lemon rice, etc.

Some of the delicacies on offer at the food festival

Though for a North Indian, the names of some of the dishes might be difficult to pronounce but the food is easy to digest. Neer moor and elaneer are the appetizers on offer. While elaneer, a blended coconut water drink with mint and sugar, gets a 10 on 10, noor neer, a spicy butter milk with curry leaves and ginger, might be a tad strong for you particularly for the ginger content. In dessert, you can go for kesari rava and nai payasam. Also, at Singh Sahib, the guests are welcomed with a ‘chandan ka tika’. To recreate a typical South Indian ambience, the restaurant is decorated with rangoli and brass lamps with whole green coconuts on display. Added to it is mridangam being played at the backdrop.

The festival is on till this Sunday.

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