Nine courses might sound like a lot of lunch on paper. But Chettinad Canteen’s Aippasi menu manages it by making the early dishes light and the later ones richer. We opted for the non vegetarian lunch, although there is a full vegetarian route for anyone who prefers it.
We kicked off with tomato rasam, which became our palate cleanser for the afternoon. The familiar peppery rasam paved the way for the journey ahead. The first dish of the nine-course menu was Adai with aviyal. We have never had this combination before, which could be why it surprised us more than ever. The aviyal here was light, which is not what we expected, and it went seamlessly with the adai.
The Chicken kola cigars, which followed with some carrot on the side, gave us something earthy to bite into.
The Tamarind coast fish fry was the next on the menu, and it had our full attention. The tawa-fried pieces were tender, and the marination was awesome. Much of the credit goes to the quality of the fish, which was fresh enough to carry the dish. The coconut turmeric sauce did not mask anything, it just complemented.
Three cute and tiny appams followed, floating on the coconut milk. The milk was cool and light, and the whole bowl slid down smoothly. It is one of those dishes that leaves you with a good feeling and not much else to say.
The Saffron parotta and slow-cooked mutton kuzhambu were the best things on the table. The kuzhambu was amazing, spiced just right, and worth slurping straight from the bowl. We tore the parotta into it until there was nothing left.
The Nei choru with kaanadukathan chicken thokku had a ghee fragrance and a dry, peppery chicken chukka beside it. Then came the Chettinad mandi’n curd rice, with a white chana mandi on the side that acted like a pickle. It tasted homely, like a warm hug.
Dessert had two acts. The Kothumai payasam with caramelised banana was subtly sweet, with a grainy texture that reminded us of jowar. The Adi kumayam sundae was the playful one, vanilla ice cream with urad dal halva, biscoff sauce and crumble.
9 course menu at INR 1,290 ++ per person. 7 course menu at `1,090++ per person. 12.30 pm to 3 pm (lunch); 7.30 pm to10 pm (dinner). At Chettinad Canteen, Teynampet.
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