Soft Parottas With Non-Veg Items - Thick Gravies At Namakkal M.K. BALU H...

#itaste #mkbaluhotel #namakkal Soft Parottas With Non-Veg Items - Thick Gravies At Namakkal M.K.Balu Hotel
Mk Balu hotel is situated in Namakal on the Namakkal to mohanur road. Opposite of south school 2 Nd gate & just before Iyyappan swami temple. Google maps location link; https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hotel+MK+Balu/@11.21305,78.1677833,17z/data=!4m14!1m8!3m7!1s0x3babcf74a037a069:0x3825dfe2534597db!2sHotel+MK+Balu!8m2!3d11.21305!4d78.1677833!14m1!1BCgIgAQ!3m4!1s0x3babcf74a037a069:0x3825dfe2534597db!8m2!3d11.21305!4d78.1677833 Mk Balu contact number- 96888 55566 This small eatery famous for its parotta is always crowded either for dine-in or for takeaway. The evenings are always busy with three to four parotta masters making parottas Mk Balu hotel too like the other eateries of Namakkal has the thick gravy that goes so well with the parottas. Be it the chicken gravy or leg piece gravy or the pigeon gravy all are thick and just wow. They just don’t go with parottas but with dosas and chapattis too...

                              

Non-veg items that are available here are chicken fry, chicken leg piece, pigeon, rabbit, duck, mutton intestine, quail. Usually, all these items are kept in those thick gravies. When there is an order , according to the customers liking it’s either served like that or fried with onions and curry leaves and served. Customers usually prefer the fried version because they are tastier as well as served hot. Breakfast starts at 8 am and they have all the non-veg items up & ready by then. For breakfast, there are most of the non-veg items mentioned above available. For lunch, there is parotta along with biryani And for dinner all tiffin varieties.

                               

Though I did not get to taste other non-veg items, my favorite always being the pigeon curry. I was left with no option but to eat chicken fry and leg piece fry. So I had them along with nice soft parottas and the thick gravies. They were so delicious and I understood the reason behind the crowd of customers waiting to dine in or for takeaways......

              

Chettinad Lunch With 25 Veg & Non-Veg Items At Chidambara Vilas - Heritage Resort - Karaikudi

#itaste #chidambaravilas #chettinadfood Chettinad Lunch With 25 Veg & Non-Veg Items At Chidambara Vilas - Heritage Resort - Karaikudi Google Maps Location; https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chidambara+Vilas+-+A+Luxury+Heritage+Resort/@10.2369742,78.7818179,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!3m7!1s0x3b0064d70000001f:0x46d9c48d0337b5c1!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d10.2369551!4d78.784006

An authentic Chettinad Lunch with 25 veg and non-veg items, that’s the lunch that’s being served in Chidambara Vila’s - Heritage Resort in Karaikudi. Lunch is served to people staying in the resort and also there are people coming specifically for the lunch here. The cost of per lunch is 700 to 800 rs INR. Breakfast and dinner are served in a separate hall as a buffet. You can watch the breakfast and dinner videos with the link below -: Breakfast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYqsbYhaTIk

Blog'

http://i--taste.blogspot.com/2021/08/complimentary-buffet-breakfast-at.html Dinner; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGldU1CUsrQ

Blog;

http://i--taste.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-chettinad-buffet-dinner-at-chidambara.html Also the resort room tour video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBzh3Pha-ZM

Blog;

http://i--taste.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-stay-at-chidambara-vilas-luxury.html

It was lunchtime and lunch was served in a banana leaf. The seating was in a different hall, not like the dining area which they use for breakfast and dinner. The first item to be served was the chicken soup. A spicy and excellent chicken rasam loaded with pepper that clears your throat when sipped. A lovely soup to begin a meal.

                                    

As the chef said, the lunch in Chidambara Vilas begins with a sweet and ends with a sweet, the reason he said was that the customer should begin the meal happily and end it happily so today the sweet was kowni rice halwa. Kowni rice is traditional rice. The halwa tasted like sweet Pongal and was excellent.

                                  

Then few vegetable items like the Keerti kootu, banana stem kootu. Beetroot poriyal, pappad, dal vada, yam fry were served which tasted as usual. The okra Mandi was excellent which should be mentioned specifically. The chef in the video has explained how they make the okra Mandi. He said Mandi can be made with any kind of vegetable and today it was okra and channa. The base is the tamarind water and for thinking they have used the water with which rice was soaked. The taste of the okra Mandi was excellent. I could taste the tamarind and I can say the okra Mandi was the best in the vegetable subji’s . The fish fry was kattla fish and they served it with onion and a piece of lemon. The masala was so rich and flavourful. The fish itself was soft and fresh. The combination of these qualities was just wow. Lovely fish fry.

                                 

The chicken chukka was excellent too. A different taste than the chukka that I usually have. The masala was excellent and it was so delicious to mix it with rice and eat.

                                 

The mutton kulambu, with mutton pieces in them, tasted homemade. My mom used to cook the same mutton kulambu. A good one. Then there was dhal with ghee which I like and it tasted the same way I eat at home. The kaara kulambu is one of the best I could say. Usually, the Kara kulambu would be loaded with tamarind. But here they have used small onions and the taste of tamarind was perfectly balanced, giving a rich taste when mixed with rice. The best I could say. Finally ending the meal with a sweet which was milk payasam. They have used flattened rice in the payasam. The taste was excellent. Altogether a lovely meal that gave an immense satisfaction!!

                      

Complimentary Buffet Breakfast At Chidambara Vilas Heritage Resort - Kar...

#itaste #chidambaravilasresort #chettinadfood A Luxury complimentary breakfast that you wouldn’t want to miss starting with some fresh juices, cold coffee we have items on the buffet table like fruits, bread with butter and jam, cereals, idli, vada, green gram paniyaaram, kuli paniyaaram sweet, semiya, ven Pongal, sambar, pancakes, quail curry, tomato chutney, brinjal chutney, coconut chutney, curd, tea, coffee, orid dhal porridge...

So to begin my breakfast, I started off with watermelon juice, Pongal, idly & vada.

                                   

                                   

                                    

The idly and the vada were normal that you eat everywhere but the Pongal is the dish that is to be mentioned. The ven Pongal according to me was the best dish in the buffet lineup and also one of the best Pongal that I’ve had. Nevertheless, it is only secondary to the Pongal my wife makes. She does Pongal, vada, moong dhal sambar & chutney that is heaven. So after the Pongal, I went on to appam and sweet coconut milk. The appam is served hot to your table. The coconut milk had a lovely cardamom flavor and mixed with appam, a good taste. The Chettinad veg semiya had a lot of veggies to it and its taste was good too...

                                   

                                   

                                   

                                   

The bread can be made to our choice, so we had bread omelet.., and finally to finish off the meal orid dhal porridge.

Yet again a lovely food from Chidambara Vila’s Heritage Resort.

                      

A Chettinad Buffet Dinner At Chidambara Vilas - Heritage Resort

#itaste #chettinadfood #chidambaravilaheritageresort A Chettinad Buffet Dinner At Chidambara Vilas - Heritage Resort Resorts Google Maps Location; google.com/maps/place/Chidambara+Vilas+-+A+Luxury+Heritage+Resort/@10.2369742,78.7818179,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!3m7!1s0x3b0064d70000001f:0x46d9c48d0337b5c1!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d10.2369551!4d78.784006 Keep your dinner light, is what they say... but with a buffet dinner like this at Chidambara Vila’s heritage resort near Karaikudi, who could resist the temptation.

                                   

The room tour of this resort is in another video which you can check out on the channel. The breakfast and lunch videos will also be separately uploaded soon, so don’t miss out on them.

                                   

The buffet dinner at Chidambara villas heritage resort is included in the package which cost me 8000 INR for a couple and a kid below 12 years of age. You could also go for the half board with bed & breakfast and choose extra dinner, then the dinner alone will cost you around 600 to 700 per head.

                                  The buffet dinner had numerous items lined up, starting with Sundakka ( Turkey berry) soup, some salads, potato with Mayonnaise, beetroot salad, Gobi 65, Kulli paniyaaram, fulka, idiyappam mixed with coconut and sugar, coriander rice, white rice, dhal, veg noodles, veg kurma, rasam, sambar, coconut chutney, tomato chutney, curd, fried chilies, pappad, mutton curry, chicken chukka, crab masala, and for desserts cut papaya & musk melon, vanilla ice cream, Gulab jamun, and sweet cuvium. That’s exactly how the buffet lineup was...

                               

So I started dinner with the Chettinad sundaka soup.., this is the first time I am having this sundaka soup, which I felt was like rasam. Maybe I am more of a nonveg soup fan. Next, I tried the salads, the potato with Mayonnaise was good, but need a little more salt which would have given it a lovely taste, yes they were served as salads and no salt in them justifies.... the kuli paniyaram with chutneys were ok, no complaints to them.

                               

I then tried the veg noodles with veg kurma and mutton curry.., the mutton curry tasted fantastic The fulka was hot and so soft and it went along so good with the mutton curry. Though the chicken chukka was just ok, nothing special to tell about it the mutton curry was the star, it also went along so good with white rice. For desserts, I had the gulab jamun with vanilla ice cream. Would the gulab jamun had been served hot with the ice cream it would have been a perfect dessert but they weren’t. All the items were hot and my vote for the best dish would definitely be the mutton curry. A lovely dining experience that you wouldn’t miss. Resort Room Tour; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBzh3Pha-ZM

                           

A Stay At Chidambara Vilas - A Luxury Chettinad Heritage Resort Near Kar...

#iTaste #ChidambaraVilas #chettinadresorts A Stay At Chidambara Vilas - A Luxury Chettinad Heritage Resort Near Karaikudi - Part 1 Built-in the early 1900s this TSK villa now stands as Chidambara heritage resort run by the Trichy Sangam hotels. Chidambaram Villas Resort is situated in a village called kadayapatti that’s 25 km between Pudukotai and Karaikudi town. Google maps location; Chidambara Vlas Heritage Resort

We booked a full board package for a couple, that costs 8000/- INR including a kid below 12 years old. The Bed & Breakfast package will cost around 6000/- INR

The usual check-in is at 12 pm but since the rooms were occupied we were told to come a little later, so we drove past kadayapatti to Karaikudi to have our lunch at Sri Priya mess, an excellent Chettinad cuisine. Check out my YouTube & Blog link for Sri Priya mess below ; Youtube; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JjuObXfOV8 Blog; http://i--taste.blogspot.com/2021/08/authentic-chettinadu-cusine-at.html After lunch, we traveled to Chidambara villas at kadayapatti 25 km from Karaikudi town. We arrived around 2 and were welcomed by resort staff. The welcome was kind of traditional by putting an angavastram (a shoulder cloth worn with veshti around our necks) and with a ginger health drink.

We were then taken to our rooms.

The first thing that caught my eyes as I entered the room was the large manual fan hanging above the bed. Attached to a string that runs above our heads when we sleep, the fan operates when we pull the string. These types of fans were available in those days when there was no power nor a mechanical working fan. The hotel has maintained the same style so that the customers can feel how it was during those days.

The air condition is available but stays hidden behind the TV cupboards, this is mainly to avoid the AC in plain sight. The study table and dressing table all in the wood had excellent craftsmanship to them. Small draws in the study table to keep jewels and a lid that draws from inside to close these small drawers... they were amazing.

The curtain that they had used in the room was an old Chettinad pattu saree which was stitched to a curtain that can be rolled up or down.

The room also had a kettle, tea, coffee & milk powder packets. The wardrobe had a safe, two bathrobes which in no way could have fitted for me, and two pairs of use & throw slippers. I haven’t seen slippers like that before which was kind of different. The washroom also had a lot of woodwork. Clean towels, toiletries, bathtub, shower cabin... At 4 in the evening, we got our coffee in a flask along with a brass Dabara set. The brass dabara is a cup and saucer made of brass metal and is the right way of drinking authentic filter coffee... you can see this in a lot of places in Kumbakonam. They also gave some complimentary snacks like murukku and adhirasam sweet.

There was a small cookery class conducted in the evening where they showed us how to cook Chettinad chicken gravy and a sweet with kowni rice which had a sweet Pongal taste. The cookery video will be posted on my itaste- food talks youtube channel. We also had a house tour where the manager talks about the history of Chettiars and how they built this villa and also about the details of the mansion which will be in another video and blog A good resort stay with excellent food, which I will post in detail soon.

                          

Authentic Chettinadu Cusine At KARAIKUDI SRI PRIYA MESS - Best Savuroti Fry & Mutton Brain Fry

               #itaste #sripriyamess #karaikudi

Karaikudi is the Chettinad land famous for its Chettinad cuisine. So when I planned a trip to Chettinad, I enquired where I could have my authentic Chettinad lunch and many suggested Sri Priya mess in Karaikudi. Google maps location link; Sri Priya Mess - Karaikudi Started in the year 1968, Sri Priya mess was started by Shivakumars parents and now is taken care of by him and his wife. To my surprise, there was no biryani and they cater to only lunch. There is no lunch that can be fulfilled without a Biryani.., that’s what I thought till I had lunch at Priya mess.

Their meal plan is a little different... in other hotels and Eateries you can either Order for a veg lunch or a non-veg lunch... with non-veg lunch you get few non-veg gravies but here at Sri Priya mess, there is no veg lunch. The customer has to order a non-veg dish be it chicken, mutton, fish ( either curry fish or deep-fried fish) mutton liver, mutton head curry, mutton brain fry, mutton spleen fry, fish head curry, prawn, crab .. there are about 14 to 15 non-veg dishes to choose from.

So after the customer orders, he gets the non-veg dish with rice served on a banana leaf with two veg dishes. The gravies that come with this rice are a specialty here.., all the gravies are thick and went so well along with rice ... you get all the gravies like the country chicken gravy, Chettinad chicken gravy, mutton gravy, fish gravy, crab gravy, prawn gravy, mutton bone kulambu which was like rasam... My preference was the country chicken gravy and the Chettinad chicken gravy. It was thick, loaded with flavors, and tasted extremely good...

In the non-veg dishes, I tasted mutton, fish, mutton brain fry, mutton spleen fry. Mutton spleen or suvaroti was the best. The suvaroti was so soft, and the masala was extremely good. I could definitely say that this is the best suvaroti that I have tasted. The best and I truly mean it. The mutton brain fry was also good, the brain melted in my mouth and it’s masalas tingling my tastebuds... Wow-what a meal is all that I could say...

A true Chettinad food in Karaikudi that I have craved for a very long time was fulfilled with this lunch at Sri Priya mess. Yes, Sri Priya mess not only successfully filled my stomach but my heart too !!!!

Watch Full Video here..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JjuObXfOV8

PRAWN MASALA - ERAL THOKKU With PRAWN TAWA RICE

PRAWN MASALA - ERAL THOKKU With PRAWN TAWA RICE This prawn masala or eral thokku is a simple dish that can be cooked in minutes. The cleaning of the prawn might be a tedious job that needs to be done carefully.

A lot of small onions and big onions are used which are sauteed till golden brown. Then two tomatoes are used. They are cooked well till the oil separates from them.

                                   

The prawn is drained of water and added and cooked for 5 minutes. The prawn masala is ready after adding a hand of coriander and curry leaf.

                                  

The prawn from the Tawa is transferred to a bowl. Hot white rice is put on the Tawa and mixed, mixing the rice with the remaining masala in the Tawa.

                                  

This Tawa rice is very tasty and has an excellent flavor to it. Do try this and home. Don't forget the prawn Tawa rice

                                  

                   

Biryani Masala Chicken Fry - A New Kind Of Chicken Fry With Home Made Bi...

Biryani Masala Chicken Fry - A New Kind Of Chicken Fry Marinated With Home Made Biryani Masala This is a chicken recipe where the masala for the chicken is that of biryani masala. All the masala used in this recipe is homemade.

For the masala, the following ingredients are first dry roasted.. Bay Leaf -1 Star Anise - 2 no Cardamom - 3 no Clove - 4 no Cumin seeds - 1 Tablespoon Corriander seeds - 2 Tsp Fennel seeds -2 Tsp Peppercorns - 2 Tsp After dry roasting the ingredients, they are then finely ground to powder.

For the Green masala paste 2 green chili 1 inch Ginger 4 Garlic cloves some coriander leaf are ground to a fine paste. The chicken is then marinated with the dry roast biryani masala powder, green paste, chili powder, turmeric powder, salt, curd, 2 Tsp oil, lemon juice. The marinated chicken should be kept in the fridge for 2 to 8 hours. minimum of 2 hours. It is highly recommended if kept marinated overnight. After 2 to 8 hours of marination, the chicken is cooked in a pan with little oil. Cooked dry for 20 min, your Biryani Masala Chicken Fry is ready.                

Village Style Pigeon Roast - Roasting Pigeon in Fire At A Farm

You may wonder how can someone eat a pigeon? but let me remind you that pigeon too is bred for its meat just like chicken, mutton, beef, or pork. So no hard feelings.

We did catch these pigeons though,they were nesting inside our factory making the place dirty and feeding on our raw materials (long story) anyway I had to eat those pigeons in order to prevent them from eating the raw materials that I have stocked in my factory . Hope you got the point.

At first, the feathers are cleaned and the remaining feathers are burnt in a flame. Washed with turmeric later , it is then cut and the interiors cleaned. Washing in turmeric is essential , because they kill germs.

The masala is applied , for the masala its just chili powder, salt, ginger garic paste. 

Iron rods as shown in the video is inserted into the pigeon. I have used two rods as such because it would be easy to turn the pigeon while roasting. Fire is made and the pigeon is roasted slowly in the flames. This is not the barbeque because barbeque is cooked in the heat of the charcoal, instead i have used fire so i guess we could call it roasting ...