Paniyaram~O~Paniyaram !

A few days back while planing for a rather official mid morning snack for a group of special people from my favourite town we chose to order a much popular chettinadu snack- Paniyaram and Kara Chutney! I had my apprehension as to whether everyone would enjoy it, whether it would get leftover and wasted but I m happy to say I was so wrong!

On the menu were ~
Karapaniyaram Spicy Panniyaram
Inipupaniyaram Sweet Panniyaram
 Karachutney Spicy chutney

Sweet Panniyaram is mildly sweet due to the jaggery in it . It does not need a side dish or a chutney can be eaten like a snack or with a hot cup of coffee or tea! It tastes best when it is hot.

Kara panniyaram is usually bland and tastes somewhat like a roasted idly and hence you need a nice spicy chutney as a side dish.

Spicy chutney made by grinding onions, tomatoes, red chilies with tamarind seasoned with mustard and curry leaves.

Kara chutney and Kuzhipaniyaram a match made it heaven!

More pics of Karapaniyaramm

Karapaniyaram

Sweet paniyaram

Here is how the vessels looked once we were done!


Ain't it the most beautiful site? :)

Chetinadu chicken soup for the soul!

Few months back my team and I were on  a work trip down south to Karaikudi (the town not the restaurant) it was a long tiring day and we felt extremely exhausted and drained out, so on our way back we pulled out at a random roadside restaurant and walked in.

To be very honest we had no expectations? No!

Were we disappointed ? Hell NO!

I m not a soup person at all but i enjoyed ever sip of this amazing soup Chetinnadu Chicken soup.


I went back to that tiny place and had a warm cup of soup last week and told the guy serving us how much we loved the food :) and this time we wanted to eat something more than just soup so we asked the waiter what was on the menu. He asked us to wait a minute and came back with a huge platter filled with everything you can ever imagine and asked us to take a pick!

Needless to say we ate till our heart's content and gave a generous tip for the waiter and thanked them for the hospitality!

What I loved most about the tiny hotel was this..

Translation: Share your complains with us , and your compliments with your friends :) 

~Fin~

"Santhai"~ Local farmer's market in Rural India

“Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to it’s liberty and interests by the most lasting bands”

~ Thomas Jefferson

Sunday was one of my favorite cousin's wedding,  it was a traditional Tamil Wedding which was scheduled from 5a.m. to 7a.m. followed by a delightful breakfast !

Breakfast was served on a banana leaf ~ It consisted of appam, chutneys, sambhar, pooris, potato sabzi, upma, vada, a sweet and a fruit.

After which it was 4hr drive back to Chennai, somewhere in between the otherwise dry high way we spotted a collage of bright colors and lots of buzz, it was Sunday so needless to say it was a local Santhai- a weekly market where farmers from nearby hamlets come and sell their produce. With no second thoughts we pulled over in the middle of the highway and I disappeared into the market  with my camera :)

A tomato farmer looking at his produce

A women, a mother, a farmer, and a bread winner

Local nuts and seeds

Women dominated the farmer's market

Brinjals were the local heroes :)

Selling her stuff

Fresh veggies

Waiting for buyers

Terrible midday heat

So after a  welcome break we were back on the road.