The stone ural and why we still pound our masala
Every morning at 6, before the stoves are lit.
What makes food Chettinad
Not just chilli: pepper, fennel, kalpasi and the art of the dry roast.
Many restaurants call any spicy dish Chettinad. In Chettiar homes around Karaikudi, the food is known less for heat than for depth.
The base is black pepper, fennel, cumin and dried red chilli, roasted one at a time. Then come two spices you rarely find elsewhere: kalpasi, a dried lichen that smells of earth and smoke, and marathi mokku, the dried flower bud of the kapok tree, which tastes a little like mustard. Star anise, cinnamon and cloves are used carefully, never all at once.
Technique matters as much as spice. Chettinad cooks love the dry roast, or chukka and varuval, where meat is cooked down until the masala clings to every piece. Gravies are thickened with roasted coconut and poppy seed rather than cream.
The Chettiars were traders who travelled to Burma and Ceylon, so their pantry also includes sun-dried meats and vegetables, salted fish and a love of rice. All of this shows on a banana leaf at a Chettinad wedding.
