Street food of Chennai
Street food in Chennai is so popular that a game had developed based on the TV show The Amazing Race where contestants have to follow clues to street-food spots in the city.
It is a delicacy made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils (de-husked) and rice.
Sambar is a lentil-based vegetable stew or chowder based on a broth made with tamarind popular in South Indian and Sri Lankan Tamil cuisines adapted in each to its taste and environment.
Uttapam or ooththappam or Uthappa (Tamil: ஊத்தாப்பம் ) is a dosa-like dish made by cooking ingredients in a batter.
Unlike a dosa, which is crisp and crepe-like, uttapam is a thick pancake, with toppings cooked right into the batter.
Kuzhi paniyaram (Tamil:குழி பணியாரம்) or Gunta Ponganalu (Telugu:గుంట పొంగణాలు) or Paddu/Guliappa/Yeriyappa (Kannada:ಪಡ್ಡು/ಗುಳಿಯಪ್ಪ/ಎರಿಯಪ್ಪ) is an Indian dish made by steaming batter using a semi sphere mould.
It is known by various names in South India, including kuzhi paniyaram, paddu, appe, guliappa, gulittu, yeriyappa, gundponglu, gunta ponganalu.
A bhaji, bhajji or bajji, is a spicy Indian snack or entree dish similar to a fritter, with several variants.
Boli is especially famous in the southernmost districts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, India and northern Sri Lanka.
The basic ingredients include milk, almond gum, sarsaparilla root syrup, sugar and ice-cream.
A parotta, porotta or barotta, is a layered flat bread of parts of Southern India, notably in Tamil Nadu and Kerala made from maida flour.
It is prepared by cutting regular poratha into pieces and mixing it with egg, onion, green chillies and garam masala.
Traditionally, roti (and rice) are prepared without salt to provide a bland background for spiced dishes.
Idiyappam, or string hoppers, is a traditional Tamil, Kerala, Kodava, Tulu and Sri Lankan food consisting of rice flour pressed into noodle form and then steamed.
The more traditional ones are cream (malai), rose, mango, cardamom (elaichi), saffron (kesar or zafran), and pistachio.
