100 Recipes from CGH Earth’s Chefs
Menus in Western restaurants often focus on dishes from northern India. When these are served restaurant-style and heavy in oil and cream, it’s easy to think that all Indian food is overly rich and oily. But come with me as I take you on a culinary tour across south India and show you over 100 dishes that will change your mind. I will introduce you to the kind and generous chefs and cooks from CGH Earth properties who shared and demonstrated these recipes, patiently waiting for me to take thousands of photos and notes.
100+ Recipes
I have collated all the recipes in meal courses at the end of this article to make it easy for you to find dishes you’d like to try. But to truly share the food joy with you, I’ve also chosen to feature a dish that was particularly special, from many of these gifted people. Each recipe also showcases some of the interesting characteristics of the local cuisine in each district and will give you a snapshot of the diversity and patterns. And I really do think you will quickly understand that it’s not all about the food. It’s about the passionate people behind the food whom I hope you will delight in knowing too.
Do open the Facebook posts fully, in this and the linked articles, to get all the details and photos to help you understand the dishes. Do this by clicking on the time/date at the top of each Facebook post (just under the words Food and Travel Secrets). And if you are interested in having a first hand experience of all this delicious food, why not try my First Timer’s Top South India Itinerary, that makes it all so easy. My article is also perfect for armchair travellers keen to see the rest of the properties behind these culinary teams.
Meet the Chefs and the Dishes
Pondicherry – Palais de Mahe
Chef Kathir’s Parmesan Baked Pomfret
Pondicherry’s French colonial heritage has inspired wonderful dishes that combine both French and Indian ingredients to create lovely fusion dishes.
At Palais de Mahe in Pondicherry’s French Quarter, Chef Kathir’s Parmesan Baked Pomfret was one of the best dishes I’ve ever enjoyed. It was made particularly special as Kathir took me to the local market to select the fish for this dish.
Pondicherry is known for it’s fusion cuisine, but I didn’t really appreciate what this meant until I tasted Chef Kathir’s Rawa Fried Ladyfish and Parmesan Baked Pomfret.
Chettinadu – Visalam
Chef Latha’s Recipe for the Famous Chettinad Chicken
The Chettinadu region of Tamil Nadu is famous for a different kind of fusion of cuisines. It was the wealthy, trading families from this area who ventured far from India to bring back new spices, ingredients and techniques from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Vietnam and Burma. Chettiar dishes have a reputation for being spicier, though not necessarily hotter and using more of the south east asian spices like star anise.
Kerala
Thekkady – Spice Village
Spice Village, in the centre of the pepper and cardamom growing area, not only highlights how spices are grown and used in dishes, but they are also committed to an local, sustainable focus throughout their menu and property. In fact, Spice Village has created a range of delicious recipes for their 50 Mile Diet Restaurant where all ingredients are sourced within a 50-mile radius. With this genuine earth to plate philosophy, they also make innovative use of the many jackfruit growing on the property in jackfruit season. Eating here is a real treat.
Varikka Chakka Pradaman (Jackfruit dessert)
Fort Kochi – Brunton Boatyard
Brunton Boatyard has taken the challenge of collating Fort Kochi’s melting pot of cuisines for the History Restaurant menu. From Portuguese seafood stew to a whole marinated fish from a local Jewish family. A stuffed chicken dish in cashew sauce from skilled Afghani riders features alongside the subtly spiced roast chicken created for the British officials they served. The menu reads as a historical culinary record and is delight in itself.
Pondicherry – Maison Perumal
Over in Pondicherry’s Tamil Quarter, kitchens are cooking another whole different cuisine. At CGH Earth’s Maison Perumal Chef Couga Baba showed me a very traditional Tamil recipe that is made with 12 whole garlics and a thick tomato and onion gravy. It tasted wonderful! The other very special thing about this recipe is that Couga Baba also gave me the recipe to make the garam marsala (in grams)!
Fort Kochi – Eighth Bastion
Like Pondicherry on the far eastern coast of South India, Fort Kochi on the far western coast has a rich colonial heritage. Traders and rulers from Europe came to build wealth and this attracted workers and business families from around the globe, creating a melting pot of cultures and cuisines. And like Pondicherry, Fort Kochi does fusion cuisine beautifully too.
The East Indies Restaurant at Eighth Bastion has taken a Dutch colonial themed approach to their dishes. The menu has been thoughtfully constructed with dishes sourced from countries where the Dutch travelled and traded. Here you find a delicious use of peanut and sambal or cognac and cream to create innovative dishes with the local seafood and old Dutch favourites.
Chef Shinto’s Prawn and Mango in Banana Leaf
Wayanad – Wayanad Wild
Wayanad Wild in the rainforest of the Western Ghats uses local foods and produce, like Bamboo Rice, to create traditional regional dishes. But the menu is also a testimony to the South Indian love of fish and seafood no matter where you are in southern India.
Chef Vishnu’s Malabar Fish Curry
Kumbakonam – Mantra Koodam
Deep in the spiritual pilgrimage temple region of rural Tamil Nadu I was expecting to find mostly vegetarian dishes but in fact discovered many Tamil dishes including chicken or fish. Here I was introduced to Kalpasi, a species of lichen used as spice, curry leaves used as a paste and an amazing hibiscus raita using urad dal, a common Tamil spice. This is the place to try the famous ‘degree coffee’ a very special south indian filter coffee where the quality of the milk is measured with a lactometer.
Chef Murutharanan’s Tamil Nadu Curry Leaves Pepper Chicken
