Pumpkin Tales’ Warm Morning Glory Bowl
This hearty bowl is grainfree and served warm for breakfast. It’s a completely nourishing way to start the day and each time we visited the cheery Pumpkin Tales cafe, Karen had to have it.
Pumpkin Tales’ Pumpkin Soup
This light and lively soup is a reflection of Chennai as a cosmopolitan city with culinary influences as varied as the cultures that make up it’s bulging populace. With its finish of coconut milk, and the Indian people’s love of pumpkins, it fits in perfectly as South Indian cuisine. Use cream instead of the coconut …
Chennai
Chennai had always served as a jumping off point for us. We’d usually land in the wee hours of the morning from an overseas flight and bolt straight south to Mamallapuram like a child to the loving comfort of it’s mother’s arms. We never spent anytime in Chennai because, like children perhaps, we found it …
Chennai’s Charmer – chef Chindi Varadarajulu
Charm It is defined as the power to give delight or, to control or achieve as if by magic. Our friend Chindi Varadarajulu, executive chef and co-owner of Pumpkin Tales in Chennai, is full of charm. Perpetually smiling and caring for others, she’s a bubbling fountain of energy who gives delight to all who know …
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Utappam – thick pancakes topped with vegetables
After our dosa-making lesson with chef Dhiraj at Grande Bay Resort in Mamallapuram, he looked at all the batter his talented team had produced and with a sparkle in his eye, started to flex his creative chef brain. Pretty soon we were flipping these Utappams and fortunately for Pauli-Ann and I, this thicker version of …
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Vazhapoo* Vadai – banana flower fritters
The banana flower is a long burgundy bell or bulb-like protrusion found at the base of a bunch of bananas. Peel back a layer of leaves and you’ll find delicate florets that can be plucked and chopped for these crispy fritter delicacies. They make a delicious snack or starter. Before you make this recipe, we …
Kuzhi Paniyaram – Sweet Tamil banana bits
Paniyaram can be sweet or savoury but the main feature is that they are made in a special vessel with hemispherical indentations like a Danish Æbleskiver pan. This recipe, with a healthy dose of jaggery and banana is definitely in the sweet category. We call the delightful little popovers that result from cooking the dough …
Raw Banana Stem Kootu
Kootus are a mix of vegetables and pulses cooked together and accented with coconut and other spices.
Raw Banana Chops
This recipe calls for raw green bananas which are abundant in South India. These are not the unripe version of North America’s “Chiquita” yellow banana. They are similar to what we can buy as unripe plantains. They are starchy and used as a vegetable instead of a fruit.
Going Bananas
Bananas are one of the most beloved foods in South India and South Indians take them very seriously. One friend in Kerala, Mr. Abraham, who you’ll meet a little further along in our storytelling, has six kinds of bananas growing in his backyard. Tamil Nadu is India’s largest banana growing state weighing in with a …