Anna Zacharria’s Tomato Onion Lunch Salad
This light salad livens a plate of curry and rice you serve it with. Adding a few other vegetables also creates a versatile dinner side dish.
Anna Zacharria’s Mezhukku Chini Chutti (Wok fried potatoes)
These potatoes are both fried and steamed. The result is complete absorption of the flavours of the shallots and the spice masala. Anna always serves these along side her famous Duck Curry recipe but they are great with any curry.
Anna’s Secret Garam Masala
Anna Zacharria’s Duck Curry
I first tasted this Duck Curry in 2014 and dreamed of learning how to make it. It’s got a depth of flavour that comes from deeply caramelized onions, fresh local duck and the lusciousness of coconut cream pulling all these signature flavours of the region together. We are deeply grateful to Anna for sharing her …
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 …
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.