A Syrian Christian food fete brings to mind plenty of meat dishes, curried, baked, roasted and fried and a variety of appams to go with it. However, a Syrian Christian food festival that begins today at Villa Maya has many surprises in store for jaded palates.
On a balmy afternoon, when the rain clouds are still playing hide-and-seek with a thirsty city, Sashi Jacob, vice-president (food and beverage), Muthoot Sky Chef and Villa Maya, hosts a lunch with a range of delectable eats that has been included in a special menu for the fete.
“I have gone back to the original recipes and included some of the ingredients and dishes that were once common in kitchens around Kottayam. A few of the ingredients require time and skill to prepare and so not all youngsters would be familiar with dishes made of jackfruit seeds, Chinese potatoes, banana flowers, tender jackfruit and so on. Some may have faded out of our collective memory without any of us realising it,” he says.
Kottayam tharavu roast
So, on this menu are a plethora of dishes that highlight the bounty of the region that is rich in fruits, vegetables, spices, meats and seafood. Some have an interesting contemporary twist that adds a zing to the taste. Without much ado, we begin with a salad of beetroot cubes and just-ripe mango garnished with coconut and a dash of shallots. Mildly spiced and not overcooked, the pieces have a bite to it, with the flavours still fresh and juicy. We decide to skip the soups, one vegetarian and non-vegetarian: Malakkari Itta Rasam and Aaattirachi soup. Apparently the chef has decided to retain the robust Malayalam names for the dishes to give it an additional dose of ethnic flavour but each has elaborate explanations in English for those who do not understand Malayalam.
Chef Partha Sarathi assures me that the spice levels can be adjusted. Since I quite enjoy the pungent knocks of chilli and spices, I told him to cook according to his tastes. And he does not disappoint.
The appetiser is Kappa with Idichammanthi and the shallot chutney with the tantalising tang of tamarind has obviously never seen the inside of a mixie. It has been made the old fashioned away on a pounding stone or a grinding stone and so the texture and flavours are just right to go with the cooked and seasoned tapioca. On the list of appetisers are Chakkakuru peralan (stir fried jackfruit seeds), meen (fish) cutlets and konju fry (prawns fry).
We choose the meen cutlets. “Unlike the breaded cutlets that we get now, in the old kitchens, ammachis used to dip the cutlets in egg and fry them. The coating of breadcrumbs came much later. I have gone back to the cutlets of yore,” he says. Each bite of the piping hot cutlets made of sear fish and tuna makes you ask for more. Once the cutlets are polished off, the main dishes arrive with a flourish: appam, Kerala parotta and rice with Kottayam tharavu roast (duck roast), konju curry and chakkakuru manga curry. Idichakka Varatharacha Curry, Ammachies Syrian Roast Beef and Pork Ulathiyathu had to be kept aside for another day of gastronomical indulgence and so too the Mutton Ishtew and chicken dishes.
Pidi payasam
The spicy duck roast goes well with the appam while the konju curry combined well with the rice and the appam. What is nice about Villa Maya is that the curries don’t taste the same and each has its own distinctive flavours. Go for pappadams if you like a bit of crackle to accompany your rice.
And then comes the piece-de-resistance: the desserts. Three of the decadent desserts on offer are on the table: chakka varattiyathu, pidi payasam and caramel custard with jaggery. “All four desserts, including Madaksan, which I left out in today’s meal, were comfort food in homesteads around Kottayam and used commonly found ingredients. There is nothing exotic about any of these but to a city-bred diner, it might come across as new,” explains Sashi.
As jackfruit grew in plenty during the season, it made sense to preserve it with copious amounts of ghee and jaggery. Pidi payasam comprises tiny balls of rice ground with cumin seeds and a pinch of salt that are boiled in coconut milk sweetened with jaggery while caramel custard, popularised by Europeans, was given an ethnic touch with the use of easily available jaggery instead of expensive sugar. “Madaksan may also have been borrowed from the Europeans. It is like a pancake with a coconut and jaggery stuffing,” he explains.
Chakka varatti
The sinfully rich gooey chakka varatti with the fruity flavour of jackfruit is artfully served inside a golden flesh of jackfruit and garnished with nuts. The pidi payasam, bobbing with tiny white pidis is scrumptious and just sweet enough. The caramel custard actually tastes like, well caramel custard. Hard to believe, it was made with jaggery but I believe the chef. A meal for two would be around ₹ 3,000 if you go for a full-course meal. Did I mention that the fete is on only for a week, that is till next Friday?
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