January 13th, 2024

January 13th, 2024. This is when I embarked on a month and half trip along the state of Tamil Nadu. I left my stable job in San Francisco and decided that I really needed to know more about Tamil cuisine and where I was from. It had been a goal of mine since college to do this, so what better way to do that than to do it through food? My goal was not only to learn more about this regional cuisine but ascertain what makes food in one state so diverse in a country like India. How do factors such as historic rule, weather, religion, caste, immigrants and way of life affects how food is cooked in the different districts. I think it's all so interesting!

So I hopped in a car with my brother (S/O Nikhil Venkatesa) and a junior of mine from college (S/O Anuraag Shrikanth) and we were away!

1. Tiruchirapalli aka "Trichy"

The first stop on this journey was Trichy. As the first stop of "Chola Nadu", it sits at the geographic centre of Tamil Nadu and has a culmination of all of TN's cuisine. Trichy is also known to house some of South India's most historic temples like the Ucchi Pillaiyar Kovil and Sri Rangam's Ranganathaswami Kovil that is supposed to me known for it's kovil prasadham (this is a whole can of worms that I will open later) but in short prasadham is the religious food offerings made in temples that is blessed by the Almighty and then served to devotees. I don't know, kovil prasadham definitely has a specific taste to it!

3 days in Trichy were quite amazing. We got to hit some popular local food joints in and around the city that really translates how diverse Trichy is in incorporating many different districts of Tamil Nadu and doesn't just stick to one. From eating at one of Trichy's most iconic Biriyani spots (Raoji Biriyanbi Kadai) to the late night Badam Milk shop at Cantonement and MS Burmese in Teppukulam, Trichy had SO much to offer food wise and I can't wait to go out to taste more! We also got the opportunity to check out the Ponmalai (Golden Rock) Shandy (Trichy's biggest farmers market) and have a home cooking session with a contact who was willing to show us some traditional recipes!

Let's also not forget how we tried so hard to find Ranganathaswamy Kovil's infamous Akkaravadisal only to get snubbed by the temple even after waiting till 10 pm (closing time) only because we were told by one of the Prasadham people that they were going to be making it that night. Turned out it was Chakkara Pongal guys.. the wave of disappointment I felt was like nothing I've ever felt in my life. #thesearchcontinues