Friday, September 23, 2011

taste of madurai...

Madurai, entices your senses with it's multi-hued palette of colours, smells and taste....

Food is God, Madurai is heaven. A medley of cuisines are served up in this city starting from the wee hours of the morning to late into the night.
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At dusk the street food eateries come alive...

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Heavy duty 'Parotta'

Inquisitive foodies like me and my husband read up on the various restaurants and eateries, made lists, compared notes, struck some off and pursued some like our life depended on it:-)

Here are some places we ate, drank, saw and clicked...
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Anna Meenakshi Hotel comes highly recommended for evening snacks...

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...and Filter kaapi.

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meals
Simple vegetarian meals are served on banana leaves at The Modern Restaurant. Very delicious I must add:-)

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Our morning breakfast at Heritage Madurai had to be idlis with chutnies and sambar...

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...and paper thin masala dosas!

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We came across an interesting drink called Bovonto by Kalimark that is very popular in Madurai.

Filter Coffee is very popular in Madurai and as we walked past the various streets leading to the Meenakshi Temple, we got a whiff of roasting coffee beans and sure there was this coffee store with a delightful mascot:-)

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Mr Narayana?

The one drink that really caught our attention was a sweet concoction called 'Jil Jil Jigarthada' which means 'cool cool heart cooler';-)

The drink is made using Milk, China grass, Nannari Syrup (Sarsaparila) and Vanilla Ice Cream.

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Nannari Syrup sold in glass bottles near the Meenakshi Temple.

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The Nannari Syrup is mixed with water too and served as a refreshing drink. Do give it a shot if you are in Madurai...

(Images by Arch)

22 comments:

~ ॐ ~ said...

I like :)

GB said...

Arch, now you've got my mouth watering. I think I'll make some idlis this weekend (sadly we don't have any South Indian restaurants in say a 250 mile radius!) So home-made it is. :)

Aarthi said...

Archana, you have really showcased Madurai very well.
How I miss the parotha and Jigardanda.
Whenever my cousin visited Madurai she made a point of carry two big bottles of bovonto back with her.

The only thing which people do not know about is perhaps "butter bun"
(bun cooked with lots of butter and sugar and served on banana leaf) yum!

pRiyA said...

I love this post Arch. The sign boards are fantastic as is the coffee mascot. But naturally it was the bright red stuff in bottles that caught my eye. Now if you ever EVER find out where they sell Jil Jil Jigarthada in Benglur, promise me you'll tell me at once!
;-)

Anonymous said...

please tell us the places you recommend eating at while you are on your journeys. i use to read online sites and tour guide books, but found when i ate at places recommended they weren't good. locals seems to know best.

Archana Srinivas Pottery said...

Anon~ That is exactly what I have done in this post:-)

Richmond said...

Hi Archana,

I think after eating that kind of stuff you definitely got some problem in your stomach, why dont you try some home remedies from following blog:
http://richmond-moneymoney.blogspot.com/

maribhar said...

madurai well documented.. as a maduraiite i like this post

A said...

wow...beautiful pictures. I must say that some of the foods are my favorite. They could be easily found in Malaysia :)

Madurai Signs said...

Great article about Madurai taste :)

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