Another day, another tour. Or a trip to Pondicherry was full of new and innovative dishes that were supremely tasty. We went through the streets of Pondicherry and tasted a South Indian style chaat called Verakadala Sundal- made from boiled peanuts mixed with tomatoes, onions, and a few spices. This is a burst of flavors in the mouth and is a perfect snack to be chomping on the beach.
We then went to KBS Coffee Bar, but not for coffee. This shop has been around for the longest time and along with serving coffee they also give Chettinad Kuzhi Paniyaram. The Kuzhi Paniyaram is made using rice batter and urad dal which is steamed in small moulds known as Kuzhi. This is then served with a super hot chutney called kaara chutney. Soft, fluffy and perfectly spice the paniyaram is one delightful snack.
Now for some meaty goodness we landed at a cart serving mutton samosa. Here the samosas are filled with a combination of keema or minced mutton, cabbage, onion and quite a few spices. Even better is that they serve Paaya or Leg soup which goes perfectly well with the samosa. People usually dip the deep fried, crispy samosa into the soup and let the flavours do the work.
Next we ended up at Paati Kadai for some good old fried foods. Paati means Granny in Tamil so it is basically like grandma’s kitchen. Here we tried prawn, fish and chicken bajji. Everything that you get at this little shop is perfectly spiced, fried and served. I mean nothing can go wrong when Grandma is cooking!
Pretty soon we found ourselves in the middle of a war about to breakout or at least that is what it felt like. The huge number of people weighing down this tiny little sop were just there for their chicken macaroni. The macaroni is made with a combination of unique things like noodles, eggs, chicken cooked in south indian spices and curry leaves along with a lot of red chillies and pepper. The flavours of this dish are so distinct that once you've had a taste, you cannot stop. For a traditional home-cooked meal we went to Puducherry Hotel Sri Kamatchi. We tried the chicken Dosa which is heavily spiced with black pepper and is served with different types of chutney and surprisingly some chicken curry.
The next day, we started our journey with a cup of hot and ultra-strong Filter Coffee. The Indian Coffee House is truly about giving you the ultimate coffee experience. Later for a true Franco-Tamil food experience. We visited Maison Perumal to meet Chef Babu who prepared some exquisite dishes just for us. We tried, a simple salad made with chickpeas, some veg and boiled egg whites; prawn cooked in mustard and coconut curry or Kudugu Iral, and finally some Prawn Spinach Soup. Each and every preparation was unique and simply delicious.