It’s not very often that a chef encourages you to start with the dessert. But after dipping into a cooling glass of ‘Jil Jil’ Jigarthanda, it is certain this would be welcome at any course.
The Madurai food festival at The Spice Jar, The Residency’s speciality restaurant, may just plate up more than you can handle with their elaborate buffet spread.
Says executive chef S Shanmugam, “I’ve brought three chefs down from Madurai for this festival.” He adds quickly, “And one specialises in just the Jigarthanda!” He speaks in detail about Madurai’s favourite dessert. The best part? The rich and creamy Jigarthanda, topped with a dollop of ice cream, had just the right degree of slippery goodness.
Moving on to the entrees, three platters were brought out in quick succession - Fried corn, Mutton Kothu Parotta and a special for the day – Egg on mini pieces of toast. Everything was quite lovely, except the Kothu parotta which needed some digging the forks to find pieces of mutton. However, this was well made up for by the variety of non vegetarian dishes in the main course section.
The Mutton Biryani is delicately flavoured and the pieces of meat almost melt in the mouth. Tenderloin beef cooked in a delicious white sauce, although a continental dish, is a must try while making rounds of the buffet. The tamarind fish preparation was all right, but perhaps the biggest let down was the Roast Chicken. Enticing and dark on the plate, the dish’s appeal was shortlived, courtesy a few pieces of tough meat. Save for this last disappointment, all of this went brilliantly along side a tomato-based Mochai sadam (flavoured rice with kidney beans), steamed rice and a tamarind-heavy Vendhaya Kozhumbu (fenugreek curry). Add in a few spoons of Kathrikai Poriyal (brinjal) and the meal was complete.
Also look out for promised delicacies from Madurai such as Nethili Meen Kozhambu (Nethili fish curry), Eeral Roast (liver roast), Naatu Kozhi Varuval (country chicken fry) that hadn’t arrived yet but were set to arrive “soon”, according to the chef.
(The Madurai food festival is priced at `500 for the buffet and is open for dinner up to August 26. For details, contact 044 28253434.)
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