(Tamil Nadu Recipes, சுவையான தமிழ்நாடு சமையல், Tamil Nadu Samiyal)
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Food is an important part of tamil culture. Tamilians are known for their hospitality and are very particular about feeding everyone that comes home with a smile. Even a stranger who comes home is offered at least a cup of water. For occasions, people make sure that their guest go home with a stuffed stomach. It is very common to lovingly force the guests to have some extra servings of each course. Traditionally, food used to be served on the floor on a banana leaf. Even now, during special occasions people prefer eating their food in the traditional style. It often starts with a sweet, followed by rice served with curries like sambhar, rasam, kaara kuzhambu, etc and finishing with curd. It is accompanied by varieties of side dishes and fried snacks like appalam, vadagam, vadai etc. Finally it is common to serve a dessert which is mostly payasam. Tiffin menu includes many dishes made with rice and lentils. Apart from this, there are many specific snacks and sweets made during festivals.
Tamil cuisine is dominated by rice, lentils, tamarind, coconut and curry leaves. There are many dishes that are native to the state like the idli, dosa, sambhar, upma, filter coffee and many more dishes. Along with these common dishes, there are many region specific dishes. The Karaikudi Chettinad cuisine is known for its use of fresh spices in both veg and non veg dishes. The Nanjilnadu (Kanyakumari and surrounding areas) dishes have an interesting blend of tamil dishes with kerala style since nanjilnadu was part of kerala few decades ago. Madurai people are known for their mutton preparations. They have very unique ways of preparing each part of the mutton including the brain, blood, meat, leg, liver and intestine. The Kongunadu cuisine (Coimbatore and surroundings) are famous for their preparation using many millets. They have some age old recipes which are gaining popularity these days sue to its health benefits.
Here is a huge list of 325+ classic tamilian recipes that have been passed on from our ancestors. Try them and enjoy!!
The recipes from Tamilnadu are classified into 7 major categories. Press the links below to go directly to the specific category or scroll down to see the recipes.
- Breakfast & Tiffin Recipes
- Rice Varieties
- Curries and Side-Dishes
- Condiments (Pickles, Chutneys, Podis)
- Snack Recipes
- Desserts and Sweets
- Beverages
Tamil Nadu Breakfast & Tiffin Recipes