Sanjeev Satgainya

Kathmandu:

What a piquant zing! Small wonder that the natural spices, which make the ingredients for most of South Indian cuisine, are the speciality of gastronomy in South India. The cultural commonness that Nepal and India share is also reflected in terms of cooking, usage of spices and, of course, the shared love for the food items — the only difference being the style of preparation and the extent of mixing. For those who really love to enjoy something with abundant use of unique seasoning to tickle their tastebuds with the victuals all the way from South India, Yak and Yeti has brought an opportunity to relish a plethora of these at its Sunrise Café. Every Friday, the Sunrise Café brings a buffet lunch of South Indian cuisine and every morsel on each plate takes one to the mysterious South Indian regions, as the food has been prepared keeping the essence of the South Indian art of cookery intact.

The starter itself — you can choose either a veg or a non-veg one — has ample use of spices. Chicken Pepper Rasam, the sharp tastebud tickler that certainly works as appetiser as chef Nilesh promises. “Ample use of black pepper gives a sharp but not-hurting-the-tongue-type of flavour helps that actually clears your throat,” he explains. Up pops Dosa in your mind when you talk of South Indian cuisine and Nilesh has a special one in store made from a varying ingredient. Prepared live, the dosa on the menu is of mung dal (green gram), which is pretty uncommon about town, says Nilesh. And with coconut pickle along with finely ground tomato pickle — a little hot and a tad sweet — the treat is overwhelmingly scrumptious and filling. Vegetable korma can be tried with the dosa along with aloo veruval. Cooked in sufficient coconut oil, tough vegetables like cauliflower, carrot, etc, which don’t get easily mashed, it is a veritable experience.

Chettinad cuisine hails from the deep southern reaches of Tamil Nadu. It is a far cry from the bland cuisine of traditional Tamil Brahmins — it is one of the spiciest, oiliest and most aromatic ones in India. Chicken chettinand, another dish on the menucard, takes you on a trip to dreamland. “Oil and spices are liberally used in cooking and most dishes have generous amounts of peppercorn, cinnamon, bay leaves, cardamom, nutmeg, green, red chillies, etc,” shares Nilesh. As I put a piece of chicken chettinand into my mouth, it gives off a slight sugary taste. The perfect concoction of spices compels me to tuck in. “Excessive use of onion is the reason behind sweet taste,” says Nilesh as he suggests lemon rice as accompaniment. Lemon rice is cooked with the addition of lemon juice and curry leaves and is a perfect main course to try out. “Curry leaves are good for health as well. It helps in digestion,” Nilesh says.

Sampling steamed rice with sambhar is yet another treat and after the combination of merrymaker samplings, there still remains something that simply cannot be missed — dessert. I pick payasam from the stupefying array of sweet nothings. This is a variant of the usual pudding — sago cooked in sweetened milk. Is this what is described as the seventh heavens of delight?