Thursday 25 February 2016

'The Spice Island Flavours’ by Priya Bala at ITC Gardenia

ITC  Hotels under the aegis of ‘The Kitchens of India’ has been showcasing unique & undiscovered cuisines and cooking styles from across India. This time they present the food of Southern Tamil Nadu that has absorbed the influences of Sri Lankan culinary repertoires.

The award winning restaurant in ITC Gardenia’s culinary crown Cubbon Pavilion presents and brings to you “The Spice Island Flavours” under the aegis of Kitchens of India. You can discover a heritage which is divided by an ocean, but united by history. The cuisine is an irresistible blend of traditional recipe of Tamil Nadu melded with the spices of the emerald isle of Sri Lanka. It showcases Southern Tamil Nadu cuisine with Sinhalese influences.

Priya Bala is a Celebrated food writer, she specialises in food and travel, and is a passionate home cook. Her cooking skills have been inspired by her childhood in Sri Lanka, the cuisine of Madurai and the deep South of Tamil Nadu, plus her exposure to an array of international cuisines.

I savoured the fullest expression of their myriad spices and authentic ingredients over the preview of this festival. I had a special menu crafted for my dinner but during the festival you will taste more of sea food.


For starters, we had Ladies finger sambol which had crispy slivers of ladies finger, tossed with tomatoes and onion. Simple yet flavorful.


Next was Fish cutlets, fresh fish seasoned with ginger, green chillies and pepper, formed into croquettes and crumb-fried. The other ingredients over powered the taste of fish.


Devilled chicken was spicy and tasty which had cubes of chicken, chillies and onions tossed in piquant sauce. It was a hit on the table with people having this alongside their drinks.




Idiappam Kothu was next which had stringhopper shreds, tossed with masala, vegetables and chicken. This was my favorite from the menu, slightly spicy and burst of masala.


Chicken curry, Pineapple curry and Cashew curry was served along with Yellow rice.
Pineaplle curry was everyone's favorite as it had sweet-sour taste along with being spicy. Cashew curry wasn't gravy, it had tender cashew cooked with peace. Chicken curry was good and was semi-gravy.







For desserts, Curd & Treacle which is soothing to end a spicy meal. The entire meal wasn't really spicy but this dessert got back memories of having curd at home.


They have a lot more on offer apart from this sneak peak of the menu. This unique food promotion is on only at Cubbon Pavilion from 26th February to 6th March 2016. Relish it before it ends.

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