Indian food, like its culture, is varied and surprises you at every turn. There is a dish for every occasion, mood and palate in India. Paet puja, as we call it, is the unhinging belief that food is the solution to everything. And to this end, we concoct new dishes by combining flavours and experimenting with the abundance of readily available spices to bring you delectable dishes that will make your heart leap with joy.
Dosa
Dosa, the crispy crepe synonymous with South India, is the perfect dish for breakfast, midday, or dinner. The sound of the batter sizzling on the iron Tawa, the wonderful swirls that make the dosa, and the delectable aroma of ghee on the dosa will take you down the bustling streets of Madras on a nostalgic journey.
The humble dosa from the Indian kitchen has undergone some major upgrades. With illustrious mothers finding ways to incorporate vegetables into the dosa giving rise to carrot, beetroot and spinach dosa, creative homemakers finding ways to spruce up their dining tables with add-ons such as fried onions, masala, podi, and such like the dosa and its avatars have undergone a major facelift.
At The Madras Diaries, you can choose from a variety of dosas. If you are looking for a no-frills dosa experience, order our plain dosa. This dosa is right out of the pages of an Indian recipe book- the perfect note of sour in a crispy crepe cooked to perfection, accompanied with piping hot sambar and a chutney par excellence. If you are missing home a little extra, or want to know what the hype is all about, try our ghee dosa to experience bliss like never before.
Now, if you are adventurous and don’t like to settle for the quintessential dosa, sambar and chutney, we have a lot more on offer. You can delve into the world of masala dosas-soft, spicy potatoes, contrasting the dosa’s crunchy texture to give you a fulfilling meal. If potatoes are not your thing, then, we have the delicious podi dosa-dosa laced with ground lentils and spices, topped with an extravagant outpouring of ghee to create a burst in every bite. We also have the amazing onion dosa, made with crispy onions mixed in the batter, providing extra crunch and flavour.
We have some interesting choices on our menu if you would like to savour non-vegetarian fare. Our bestselling egg dosa is a favourite among adults and children alike. It is a recipe guaranteed to satisfy your curiosity and your quest for the perfect Indian dish. If you are the kind who likes to combine meat with dosa, we have some tantalising dishes to offer you.
The kozhi milagu dosa combines two favourites- stir-fried chicken spiced with pepper and crispy brown dosa. The chicken stuffing adds a new dimension to the dosa. The kari chukka dosa is another delicacy that connoisseurs love. This crispy dosa comes with a delicious stuffing of dry-roasted spiced meat.
If you want something to entice your kids with, we promise you that the chocolate dosa, cheese cone dosa and wonderfully shaped butter cone dosa will enthral. So, come, indulge your taste buds in our traditional dosas or the ones with a twist.
Lamb curry
Delightfully tender lamb cooked to perfection with a combination of spices from South India.
At The Madras Diaries, we do not believe in doing things in half measures. So, our signature lamb curry is a culinary extravaganza. Spices from the heart of south India are ground to a fine paste with freshly grated coconut to make a delicious gravy. Paired with succulent meat, this dish has a flavour that will linger in your memory long after consuming it.
This dish is a must-try, heavy on nostalgia-inducing taste. Pair this with soft buttery naan, flavourful rotis straight out of the tandoor, some aromatic jeera rice, flaky Malabar parottas, plain dosas or even rice flavoured with spices and ghee.
Biryani
Have you lived if you haven’t gone into a biryani food coma at least once? Biryani-there’s one for every region. If you travel down the expanse of India, legend has it that you will come across a new type of biryani with an ever-changing landscape. While any Indian would easily describe biryani as meat/vegetables cooked with spices and rice, it is comfort food for the nostalgic traveller, the symbol of celebration, and the reason behind a considerable belly expansion during festivities.
Biryani comes in many forms- the simple vegetable biryani loaded with vegetables. This basic chicken/mutton biryani involves a quickly put-together masala, or the more elaborate tandoori chicken biryani. In India, biryani chefs are the highest in the hierarchy of traditional chefs. They prepare the rice to have that perfect bite, marinate the meat to absorb the spice mix, create the spice mix or masala that goes into the rice (a highly guarded secret among them), and then layer the rice and spices with meat to cook until ready.
The Madras Diaries accords the prime position in its menu to biryani, and our chefs are constantly trying out age-old recipes to perfect flavours. Our vegetable biryani contains julienned vegetables and is quite popular among our guests. For the non-vegetarians, we have curated the Pallipalayam chicken biryani, which is prepared with the South Indian style of spicy chicken with rice and garnished with mint, coriander and fried onions.
We also have Gosht Dum Biryani from Hyderabad’s kitchens. There are layers of fragrant rice accentuated with spiced lamb cooked using the dum technique, where the rice and spices are layered and sealed in a container and the biryani cooks in steam. Kerala’s famous chemmeen biryani also finds a place on our menu. The tender, succulent prawns that are slow-cooked with an authentic spice mix from Kerala remain the star attraction at The Madras Diaries.
Gulab Jamun
Gulab Jamun is one of the most tantalising sweets. It is often referred to as the King of sweets. Soft jamuns are made of mawa or milk solids, deep-fried in clarified butter and then soaked in sugar syrup. Gulab means rose, and jamun is the Hindi word for berry. There are many versions of gulab jamun, but the most common one is where the jamuns are made with khoya/mawa or milk powder. These are then fried in oil or ghee and dipped into a thick syrup made of sugar, saffron and rose water.
The gulab jamuns at The Madras Diaries are a must-try. We use the traditional method of making milk solids, making the gulab jamuns soft and delicious. The sugar syrup is a wonderful concoction made with sugar and some secret ingredients that will give you a burst of flavour in every bite.
Chai
A rejuvenating cup of tea brings back memories of home and improves your day. Indian chai is not just a beverage you consume when you wake up; it is a feeling. The Indian obsession with tea is evident in the variety of things we like to stock up on- tea from different plantations, the little potli of spices that we like to add to our tea for the heady mix of enlivening flavours that our chai is famous for.
Tea is a staple of most households in India, and what’s more, a strong cup of tea brewed with some freshly grated ginger, a dash of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and cumin, is an everyday occurrence.
Tea is our answer to everything- if you have a bad stomach, brew yourself a cup of black tea with a dash of spices and lemon; if you have a cold, brew yourself a hot cuppa with some pepper, ginger and tulsi; if it is raining, combine a hot cup of tea with some pakodas, if you are entertaining, treat your guests to an amazing cup to tea while you gossip. And if you have none of the above, but want to enjoy a moment of peace, then a cup of chai is your friend.
Indian cuisine, we believe, is as varied and colourful as the country itself. Head over to The Madras Diaries for some amazing Indian food. We promise you; you will experience a slice of India in every dish we serve you.
