"A Syrian Christian Fare" by Sara Koshy at Spice Haat - Hyatt Regency Chennai

If you're a Chennaite from Kerala like I am, you will know that many of the dishes found in Keralan eateries in Namma Chennai feature at least some items from the Syrian Christian's kitchen. I remember simple Kalpaka restaurant (this was the go-to place before the currently popular, higher end Kerala restaurants came along) had a dry beef dish called Syrian beef fry which we used to religiously order every time we had their nice lunch meals. In between bites of delicious chunks of beef, you'd get a nice bite of coconut as well. So when I heard that fellow food blogger and home-baker Sara Koshy had got an opportunity to design a food festival around Syrian Christian fare, I was obviously eager to try it. Attended this event after a nod from Sara herself.


Sara has worked with the Chefs at Hyatt over a period of several months, recommending and fine-tuning recipes from renowned cooks (some of whom she personally knows being from the Syrian Christian community) to come up with this spread. Here's a link to her account of how it came about.

Hyatt Regency has an expansive space where you can have a lovely time. I'd been here during their Sunday brunch earlier and loved it. The restaurant Spice Haat aims to recreate the bustle and sights of the numerous bazaars!

There are spices placed in mortars and life-size figurines of grannies along the way to the seating. The ambiance is even better during the day-time when you have the high ceilinged windows that let it all that natural light. Ideal for a brunch spanning many hours.

The menu is a rotational one with some new dishes making an appearance. Dishes are chosen from a list of 60 items that Sara's shortlisted! So you probably won't find the exact same menu every day of this event.

I went for dinner on a Sunday night. The event runs only for dinner while the daytime is devoted for their brunch. 

After settling down comfortably, I took a walk around the big serving area and two cooking stations to get an idea of what to try. There are dishes from the festival and also other items on offer so be sure to choose the items from the displayed menu-for-the-day.







































The cooking station makes you fresh Appams, thick Kerala parottas and even Puttu! You can either wait to be served (recommended) or quote your table number (ask your waiter your table's number) so that your order can be brought to the table.
























I started off with the delightfully light Kozhi malli charu (soup), that soothed with its non-imposing character. "Malli" is coriander and charu means "light" so it was just that; a lightly spiced chicken broth with hints of coriander.












Moving headlong into the maincourse, I loaded up the first plate with one of the most anticipated dishes, Beef Ularthiyathu, Naadan (from Kerala) banana chips, Sharkara Upperi (banana cut into thick pyramids and coated in jaggery - delicious!) and a lamb curry which I later found wasn't part of the Kerala festival.










Next, I waited and got a freshly fried Kerala parotta from the "Parotta Master" as they are called! Kerala parottas are a magnitude thicker n bigger than normal ones and flakier too because of this. This one was expertly made. I could tear off portions with ease to round up chunks of that Beef Ularthiyathu (means dried) with. Beef was perfectly tender, spiced up just right in that hard to find, "homely" blend of masalas.







Slightly moist and wasn't overloaded with coconut. Loved the mutton gravy as well. Kerala chips and Sharkara upperi tasted authentic. Nothing more needs to be said! (Keralites are fanatical about beef, football, communism and nendran pazham chips if you don't know yet! ;-))

Delightful Meen Moilee. - a must try.

On the next plate filling, I visited the Appam station and requested them to send one appam and a bit of Puttu to my table. There was also a chef deep-frying fish (Kerala meen fry.) I requested one portion of it too. Served myself bowl-fulls of Chicken stew (veg stew is also available) which is a classic combo for Appam - this took quite a while to arrive.

The deep Fried fish too arrived in a while coated with a delicate crust of blended spices, however the salt levels weren't perfect. If I was home, I would be pairing this with rice meals which is an ideal combo! Or you could have it all by itself!

While waiting, I served myself another plate with the Chicken biriyani, Fish Moilee and Lamb Chukka which was placed on the Appam station. 

Fish moilee was excellent, medium-thick, very subtly spiced with that lovely amalgam of coconut milk and fish flavors that make this one of the best dishes out of Kerala. Moilee can be eaten with Appam, string hoppers ghee rice or plain soft bread. I would have loved if plain soft bread was available to eat this with since that's how I usually have it.

The Lamb chukka was nicely made too with bite-sized peppery pieces that disappeared quickly. Makes for a nice dry side for the appams or biriyani which was lightly spiced and tasteful too. Unfortunately, the waiter did not bring the Puttu and
I forgot to remind him as well.












Mid-meal, a swig of this lightly salted, tummy pleasing "Sambaram" - Kerala's version of buttermilk helped me ease into the wide Keralan spread.











For the vegetarians there is Nadan Cheera Thoran, bread biriyani, beans mezhukkupuratti and mushroom pepper fry. I had tastes of these with curd rice to end on a light note. Bread biriyani was interesting while the rest would be a great accompaniment alongside traditional Kerala brown rice and sambar. I wish I had the capacity to try this too but I was completely filled up now. A very well represented menu with iconic dishes from Kerala and the Syrian Christian community.

At the dessert counter

Ladling out Elaneer Payasam..






             

For desserts there was Apple fritters which is sliced apples coated in slightly sweet batter and fried up. I loved the light crunchiness of this dessert. Also had the Elaneer payasam which was a perfect example of subtle flavors satisfying the palate. The payasam took advantage of Elaneer natural lightness to great effect. You'll also find plenty of other desserts from the dessert station and I couldn't resist trying them too. Loved the chocolate walnut pudding whose crunchy top made it even more yummy. 

Of course, I couldn't resist sampling all the other desserts on offer too! ;-)

                   

 This food festival is on from 7:30 pm to 11:30 pm till 27nd August! Priced at 1450 ++ 

Call 044-61001234 for more details! 

This artifact imposed at the entrance designed by Rajiv Sethi never fails to catch my eye.
Read more about its significance here.

Beyond Madras Food Festival, The Dining Room, Park Hyatt - Near Raj Bhavan

Beyond Madras; the festival's name makes you wonder. Pondering more deeply about it makes one venture into the philosophical. To go beyond Madras, one needs to know the quintessential Madras. Indeed, the festival seems to want to present the essence of Madras in a more contemporary form that will be appreciated both by those unfamiliar to the tastes and aromas of Madras and those whom the city has nurtured.

Stepping into the understated hotel early on a weeknight gave me some time to explore the interiors. There are lovely artpieces to be found every few steps along the corridors from artists like Seema Kohli. I spent a few minutes trying to discern deeper truths from them in vain before entering the restaurant for more carnal pursuits of the culinary sort. Being early on a weekday, the restaurant wasn't busy.

The deep hued tones throughout and wood trimmings sets a classy feel for having that placid dinner. Beyond the first seating area, there's a wider even more relaxed "dining room" with comfy sofas that could host bigger numbers. Most of the decor in this section has origins in the textile industry because of a link between the owners and that industry apparently. There's a huge "tapestry" made entirely of spools of threads!

For soup there was the inconspicuous Rasam raising its light yet spice-filled head. Nothing too much to handle for a native of Madras but this would pack quite a punch for someone new to South Indian cuisine.
















The starters arrived surprisingly in a bread basket carrying some bread rolls topped with spicy tongue-tingling gun powder! There was a tomato thokku serving as accompaniment but the bread roll was yummy by itself. I could taste powdered cheese amidst bites of the fresh bread as well making it surprise-surprise, a superbly apt, innovative combination.

A cutting chai glass filled with lemon sherbet flavored with Nannari (Sarsaparilla) syrup arrived. A local favorite, this one was refreshing albeit low on sweetness. I'd ask for more added sugar next time as I'm used to.

Other items in the starter menu were panner and fish cubes pan fried and visibly slathered with a brazen Southern masala that I felt could be tempered a bit more.

Then there were addictive potato fritters made homemade style cut length-wise n thicker. Simple but not so easy to get right. Couldn't help but reach for more of them, fork be damned. Would go perfectly with some curd rice!

The main course had favorites seen across Chennai and the veg dishes were more extensive including the popular cabbage kootu (not often seen), spinach laden curry, baby potatoes in light masala and a mild Kadalai Kuzhambu

Among the non-veg curries, there were single curries for fish, chicken and mutton. One could opt for freshly made appams or string hoppers (idiyappam) to mop up this masala fest. Some more non-veg options would have been nice. In the veg section there was Karuvipellai rice. For the non vegetarians there was classic chicken biriyani which was tasty but didn't seem to be made in any Southern style. 

The delicate crunch of the appams were lovely with the tasty mutton curry cooked to much tenderness. Spice levels of all non-veg curries were manageable with the fish curry having a nice local flavor to it, made with locally sourced fish. One can ask for plain rice to eat these curries with. Don't forget to grab some of the crunchy vadams prominently displayed along with rice! 

A surprise addition was the station making fresh Kothu Parottas with the chef going wild with a tumbler mixing up the ripped up Barotta bits with masala, egg n gravy on a huge cast iron tawa.

For desserts there was Wattalapam and Paal Kozhukattai fitting in the festival's theme. Other desserts on offer were Western; the thick yummy Chocolate orange cake which had a layer of custard inbetween. A slice of blueberry pie and a spoonful of walnut filled chocolate cake hit the spot. There were bowls of chocolate kept at melting temperature in a steam bath for us to indulge and indulge I did.