Hi folks... everyone of us know that food is a prominent feature in all cultures. Of course , Indian culture also gives alot of importance to food. For our Non- indian friends,i just briefly tell about our authentic Southern cuisine! Firstly India has two divides namely South India and North India. Our folks has just visited a few prominent and well known places in South India( TAMILNADU).
ok... mainly the southern cuisine has its staples in the dosai, vadai, idli, saambhaar and uttapam and etc for the breakfast. The great difference between North Indian and South Indian food springs from the use of certain basic ingredients that are particular to each of them. The Northern part od India relies heavily on the use of the wheat grain and milk (these have always been found in abundance in the great Northern plains of the Yamuna and Ganga, fertile enough to support double crops of both wheat, rice and even maize and millet).
On the other hand, Southern cuisine shows a marked preference for rice, which has always been abundant in the Southern belt. Coconut and tamarind are the other important ingredients and form the backbone of the Southern culinary tradition. Most of the dishes are prepared in coconut oil and grated coconut finds its way into most dishes, be they salty or sweet.
Most South Indians relish clarified butter (especially with rice), butter milk and curd too. In fact, no meal is considered complete without a course of rice with butter milk, pappadam (called papad in the north) and rasam. This is usually known as '' full meals'' in layman's term. South Indian food is relatively spicier than North Indian food though Rajasthani cuisine seconds none when it comes to a fondness for red chillies.
Spices that add to the uniqueness of South Indian cuisine and that are used ritually are asafoetida, tamarind, mustard seeds, and red chillies.
Coming to the breakfast items, our king is dosai and our kids and teachers had good restaurants that serves the right stuff . Here is what the dosai is all about:The regular dosai is made from a heady mixture of parboiled rice flour and ground urad dal that has been fermented overnight. . Across Tamil Nadu and other states like Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the dosai comes in different styles, but is most often served with sambhaar and chutney ( liquid form):
Plain dosai: This is the regular one without any fillings, served with sambhaar and chutneys (coconut, tomato-garlic, and coconut-mint) of various kinds. If you go to Little India, you can feast on it!
Masaala dosai: This one is the healthier and lighter counterpart of the North Indian aaloo ka paraantha and is stuffed with a lightly spiced, mashed potato mixture. ( my personal fav).. hhah anyone can give me a treat too!
Rawa and Rawa-masaala dosai: These two are very similar to the two mentioned already, excepting the fact that they use rawa (semolina) instead of rice flour, making them even easier to digest, besides giving them a delectable crispness.
Mysore Butter Rawa-masaala dosai: This is an absolute treat and just right for the gourmet. Very rich and buttery, this dosai is a must have for every foodie worth his salt.
The list above is obviously not exhaustive and there are other variants of this grand Southern roll, depending on the kind of filling and proportions of the batter used. Alternative fillings (gunpowder chutney, cottage cheese, mushrooms, even keema or mince-meat for instance) can increase the range considerably and target foodies from across the spectrum.
Vadai (plain, masaala and medu) is a healthier alternative to the deep fried pakodas ( type of snack) and are served with steaming hot sambhaar and/or chutney.
Idlis are a big hit with people in the India just as the dosai and the vadai are. These fermented rice cakes are steamed rather than baked or fried and make a very healthy breakfast. Idli-sambhaar is definitely a tasty and healthier breakfast . Kids.. i heard that most of the guys enjoyed a heavy meal at MURAGAN IDLY SHOP which has a branch in Singapore too.
Likewise, Utappam (pancake) comes in three wholesome variants – onion, tomato and vegetable. .
Tomato rice and lemon rice are finger licking Southern rice dishes packed with nutrition and taste.
Sambhaar is a pulse-based, spicy vegetable curry with a dash of tamarind. Other variants include the simple but yummy onion sambhaar.
Avial is a semi-dry, mixed vegetable dish served with rice, sambhaar and papaddams, making an ideal combination that will never be too filling, even though one is bound to indulge oneself on it. .
Rasam and butter milk serve as wonderful appetizers. The former is a very spicy and tempting pulse and tomato based soup that I prefer to regular tomato soup for its taste and punch. Buttermilk is really soothing in hot summers ( April to July)
South India's non-vegetarian cuisine – though it does not meet the challenge offered by the grandiose mughlai tradition - impresses with its wide ranging array of sea-food.
ok... folks..I. hope that our Non-indian friends now know more about South Indian food and taste.. Anyone who is hungry for hot, spicy food. do join me in Little india restaurant!!
take care
kalai
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Film shoot!!!this is how the movies are filmed!!!it felt amazing to witness movie filming live...
Could not take a longer video...but still it was an experience...
Rabitha
Rabitha
Our Journey to Madurai through domestic flight
Our boys helping to carry all the luggage.
waiting to check in...
On Day 4 we took jet airways (domestic flight) to reach Madurai in 45 minutes which would otherwise had been a 14 hour ride by coach...hehe...so it was fun taking the flight again...
Rabitha
Kanjipuram (Day 4)
Day 4, we went to Kanchipuram to have a look at their well known occupation, saree making. We learned several interesting facts about the occupation and we were amazed too. It takes a person 15 days to make a saree! They will only make 3 sarees in the same design, 2 sarees for other countries and 1 for their own shop. More than half of the total population of Kanchipuram is involved in doing this occupation. Even though the world is technologically advanced these days, they still do not use machines because they want to uphold the tradition. Children’s above 12 years old work in the morning and go for extra lessons in the night. We also went to a shop to buy saree’s and we noticed that the shopkeepers do not get frustrated; compared to Singapore!
- Karthik
- Vishnu
- Priya
- Kalaivanni
- Sharmilla
Kollywood Film Studio
The film studio was very creatively designed. It has several components , such as the fake central jail, temple. It also had several special lightings and musics to make the act or the drama look real. When we watch television the movie’s duration is about two to three hours, however it takes a lot of effort and time. The movie is taken shot by shot and so it takes very long…the crew members are very hardworking and focused on the shots even though we were there looking at them at work. I found the experience at the kollywood studio fun and exciting as we got to look at them making the movie, I wish to go there again!
Poorathy, Kassandra, Nisha, Yoges and Saha
Science Observatory (Birla Planetarium)
Hi everyone, we are from Grp5 .
It’s was like our Singapore science centre. the place was quite serene place. We went inside an omnimax theatre.it was very different compared to singapore’s omnimax. We also watch a 3D movie.for that movie we had to wear a 3D glass. It was quite fragile and we had to return the glasses back to them. The 3D effect was stunning. the graphics made the 3D realistic. some of the girls shouted at one part of the movie. Overall, the place was quite nice.
Signing off,
Revinesh, Rohinesh,Daruni,Eshwary,Anand,PraveenJ
Friday, November 6, 2009
Kollywood Film Studio
The film studio was very creatively designed. It has several components , such as the fake central jail, temple. It also had several special lightings and musics to make the act or the drama look real. When we watch television the movie’s duration is about two to three hours, however it takes a lot of effort and time. The movie is taken shot by shot and so it takes very long…the crew members are very hardworking and focused on the shots even though we were there looking at them at work. I found the experience at the kollywood studio fun and exciting as we got to look at them making the movie, I wish to go there again!
Hotel comparison
The first hotel we resided in was ambica empire hotel. It had the grandest greeting, they honored us with jasmine garlands served us drinks. We then proceeded to our hotel rooms. I was sharing my room with Nisha and kassandra. The hotel room was very nice and the toiletries we refilled everyday. As it only had two beds they even brought in another bed. We however refused the bed. Their service in taking the bed away was unsatisfactory. That however did not spoil our excitement as we had fun visiting our friends the in the other rooms and comparing. The hotel we stayed in, in kodaikanal was J.C Residency. Kodaikanal was a very,very,very cold place. We huddled up while sleeping. This hotel had a cottage system. As we did not want to walk in the cold we did not visit our friends rooms. But we did visit those who were in the same cottage. The cottages had nice names we stayed in fern cottage. Moreover the restaurant was called pine & petals. The last hotel we stayed in, in madurai was pandian hotel. As its our first day we have not had time to ourselves and thus no time to enjoy the fantastic rooms. As finally it seems to us we have the better room. I really believe that this night will be restful as we had trouble sleeping in the cold. We feel it’s a good way for a last night to be spent.In pandian hotel we also had an extra bed. Their service in removing the bed however was fast and satisfactory. We had a truly restful sleep and the fun was soon over when we had to check out and leave
Panchayat union middle school
Altogether, we’ve went to three schools. The last and most inspiring school yet was west union panchayat school. Mr anbu had already briefed us on the condition of the school and the general family background of most children there. They are extremely friendly and naturally cheerful. They took a lot of effort to make us feel at home. They had performances and we also sat in their classes. The most impactful time there was when the students were served food. As the food was being put on the plate, you could actually see the happiness and the actual glow on the face. After seeing this, I felt satisfied and contented. A certain sense of warmth had calmed my very sad heart. They also sang during the class and performance. While at SBOA, the students there were forced to sing but here, at this school, students are passionate about singing and actually have the talent too. When asked questions about the subject they are studying by the teacher, they are confident speakers and most of the time they get the ans right too. This shows that they have a large amount of potential in public speaking. Another touching scene there was after they got their food. they had gotten a meal which consisted of biryani rice, curd rice, vegetable and curry and this was a meal that was a once in a lifetime chance. Although they had the choice of just sitting there and enjoying the food, they got up, came over to us and said “talk to us please”. And this showed that even though they had really good food, they wanted to spend time with us, and we’re not even related to them. It was truly out of affection, and it was obvious. Even our own siblings don’t call us big sis\ bro, they call us by name. but these children, they are seeing us for the first time yet they are so affectionate. Its hard not to fall in love with them. If possible, not only me, but all of us would want to go back there to help. It was truly inspirational. Its really hard to put this touching experience in words because you have to be there to experience the impact.
Done by:Poorathy, Kassandra, Nisha, Yoges and Saha
The film studio was very creatively designed. It has several components , such as the fake central jail, temple. It also had several special lightings and musics to make the act or the drama look real. When we watch television the movie’s duration is about two to three hours, however it takes a lot of effort and time. The movie is taken shot by shot and so it takes very long…the crew members are very hardworking and focused on the shots even though we were there looking at them at work. I found the experience at the kollywood studio fun and exciting as we got to look at them making the movie, I wish to go there again!
Hotel comparison
The first hotel we resided in was ambica empire hotel. It had the grandest greeting, they honored us with jasmine garlands served us drinks. We then proceeded to our hotel rooms. I was sharing my room with Nisha and kassandra. The hotel room was very nice and the toiletries we refilled everyday. As it only had two beds they even brought in another bed. We however refused the bed. Their service in taking the bed away was unsatisfactory. That however did not spoil our excitement as we had fun visiting our friends the in the other rooms and comparing. The hotel we stayed in, in kodaikanal was J.C Residency. Kodaikanal was a very,very,very cold place. We huddled up while sleeping. This hotel had a cottage system. As we did not want to walk in the cold we did not visit our friends rooms. But we did visit those who were in the same cottage. The cottages had nice names we stayed in fern cottage. Moreover the restaurant was called pine & petals. The last hotel we stayed in, in madurai was pandian hotel. As its our first day we have not had time to ourselves and thus no time to enjoy the fantastic rooms. As finally it seems to us we have the better room. I really believe that this night will be restful as we had trouble sleeping in the cold. We feel it’s a good way for a last night to be spent.In pandian hotel we also had an extra bed. Their service in removing the bed however was fast and satisfactory. We had a truly restful sleep and the fun was soon over when we had to check out and leave
Panchayat union middle school
Altogether, we’ve went to three schools. The last and most inspiring school yet was west union panchayat school. Mr anbu had already briefed us on the condition of the school and the general family background of most children there. They are extremely friendly and naturally cheerful. They took a lot of effort to make us feel at home. They had performances and we also sat in their classes. The most impactful time there was when the students were served food. As the food was being put on the plate, you could actually see the happiness and the actual glow on the face. After seeing this, I felt satisfied and contented. A certain sense of warmth had calmed my very sad heart. They also sang during the class and performance. While at SBOA, the students there were forced to sing but here, at this school, students are passionate about singing and actually have the talent too. When asked questions about the subject they are studying by the teacher, they are confident speakers and most of the time they get the ans right too. This shows that they have a large amount of potential in public speaking. Another touching scene there was after they got their food. they had gotten a meal which consisted of biryani rice, curd rice, vegetable and curry and this was a meal that was a once in a lifetime chance. Although they had the choice of just sitting there and enjoying the food, they got up, came over to us and said “talk to us please”. And this showed that even though they had really good food, they wanted to spend time with us, and we’re not even related to them. It was truly out of affection, and it was obvious. Even our own siblings don’t call us big sis\ bro, they call us by name. but these children, they are seeing us for the first time yet they are so affectionate. Its hard not to fall in love with them. If possible, not only me, but all of us would want to go back there to help. It was truly inspirational. Its really hard to put this touching experience in words because you have to be there to experience the impact.
Done by:Poorathy, Kassandra, Nisha, Yoges and Saha
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