Chennai Cuisine

Cuisine is a part of culture, due to rich cultural heritage of Chennai its cuisine is also rich with sophistication. The hospitality of the people is warm and visiting this city one can feel its warm touch.

South India cuisine is an important part of Indian cuisine; Chennai is also home to a plethora of cuisines-both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Foodie can savor various delicious dishes here.

The main diet of the people of Chennai is steamed rice served with a variety of vegetable like sambar, dry curry, rasam and kootu, on a banana leaf. The non-vegetarian dish comprises of rice served with curries prepared with mutton, chicken or fish.

The breakfast and evening snacks of Chennai city are idly (steamed rice cakes), dosai (pancake made from batter of rice) and lentils crisp fried on a pan, pongal (rice and lentils boiled together, seasoned with ghee, cashew nuts, pepper and cumin seed) and uppuma (cooked semolina seasoned in oil with mustard, pepper, cumin seed and dry lentils.). All the dishes are served with coconut chutney, sambar (seasoned lentil broth) and mulaga podi (mix of several dried lentils eaten with oil).

Coffee is the main brewed beverage for the South Indians.

Chennai cuisine is being rooted in traditional style, yet the localities are experimenting new international cuisine. Now pizza centers and food joints are set up in some posh areas of the city by the international food chain companies.

Some of the Tamil style of Mughlai foods such as biryani and paya are popular dishes in the city; the latter is mainly eaten with parathas or appam.