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Rural flavours

Photo: R Ravindran

Taste the Best At the Rustic Food Fest

Being a thorough city bred, the idea of sampling rustic South Indian food is always appealing. So I willingly agree to join my friends for dinner at the Rustic Food Fest on at Malgudi in Savera.

Lungi-clad waiters hand us elaborate menus much to the amusement of my friends. What amuses me is the name of the dishes which are more like tongue twisters. There is Nandu Kuzhambu, Rayal Seema Vetamamsam Biriyani, Cheru Chapa Pulusu… For a person who can barely pronounce urlakizhangu, this is quite a challenge.

We randomly order a list of complicating-sounding stuff, and while awaiting the food, check out the décor. A lot of detailing has gone into the ambience that is replete with thatched roofs and walls, pots piled in rows, decorative leaves (thoranam), pounding stone and a fortune teller with a parrot. (What’s that fancy Tamil word they used to describe it? Yeah, kili josiyam!) There are also coyly smiling maamis in traditional attire frying some great-smelling stuff. Even before the food arrives, Chandri Bhatt and Chefs Giri and Mohana Krishnan, who have designed the menu for the festival, give us an insight into the food. “The menu comprises some almost-forgotten recipes from Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Karnataka and Kerala,” says Bhatt.

We gluttonously delve into the starters, Kappa Vada, Khara Avalakkai, Kane Bezule, Varuval Kola. Kappa Vada, cutlets made of tapioca is irresistible, albeit a little oily. I devour three of them telling myself I’ll spend an extra hour at the gym. Khara Avalakkai, is bhel puri made village-style but rather healthy with flat rice, onion, jaggery and spices. Never has flat rice tasted this yum!

Though the non-veg starters fail to impress, they make up for it in the main course. Mamsa Saaru and Naatu Kodi Pulusu are delicious. What we loved about Mamsa Saru is the rich coconut milkish aftertaste. It goes great with the accompaniments we ordered — Sangati, balls made of ragi flour with broken rice; Moode Kadubu, which with its slim and long shape is like a figure-conscious idli and poshly comes wrapped in coconut leaves (idlis with attitude!); Kootan Choru, poor man’s biriyani, and of course the ‘rockstar’ appam.

The vegetarian items don’t lag far behind. Menasakai, a tangy gravy made of mango and pineapple had us flipped over. It tasted like a cross between pinacolada and aam ras, and went well with the bland Sangati. But that is how the Sangati is supposed to taste, I am told. It is a farmer’s staple diet in villages, and they usually make a hole in the middle of it and savour it with some spicy gravy. Kaikari Sodhu is mixed vegetable gravy minus carrots and other ‘English vegetables’, and tastes quite vegetable-ish in a good way. Chinta Chiguru Pappu made of tamarind leaves with dhal needs getting used to. My taste buds kind of adapt to its raw flavour after a few spoonfuls. But it could well be given a miss. Around 19 varieties of spices such as perunjeeragam, parangichakkai, kandanthippili, sirunagappoo, jaadhikkai are part of the ingredients.

And now for desserts. “I want gooey choco fudge,” says a friend. Ignoring her we order Sajjappalu and Avalakkai Rasayana. The latter tastes like milk with banana and flat rice. However, the simple Sajjappalu, which is like crisp puri stuffed with kesari, is a clear hit as we greedily polish off ours, and reach across to a fussy size-zero friend’s plate to finish off her share. The food festival is on till November 23. A meal for two is Rs. 700.

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