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Lip Smacking Delicacies of Cuddalore

Cuddalore is a coastal town located on the east coast of the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The Tamil name Cuddalore can literally be translated as 'sea town' in English, and the region is notable for its sandy beaches. Being a coastal town and with numerous fishing villages around, Cuddalore's economic system is reasonably dependant on the thriving fishing industry.

Owing to its geographical background, Cuddalore is famous for a lot of regional vegetarian and non vegetarian specialty dishes that are served and relished in and around the territorial dominion. Several scrumptious non vegetarian dishes that are prepared in the region with seafood as primary ingredients are illustrious all over the state. Let's find out some of the most pleasant-tasting delicacies (recipes) of Cuddalore along with their ingredients, method of preparation and more.

Also Read:
Food in Cuddalore
Restaurants in Cuddalore

Cuddalore Kadala Kozhambu (Peanut Curry) 

Cuddalore Kadala Kozhambu

The scrumptious Cuddalore Kadala Kozhambu is a vegetarian dish that uses peanut as the primary ingredient and eggplant/brinjal as the secondary ingredient. The luscious combination of sigappu milagai (kaaindha milagai/red chilli/dry chilli), vendhayam (methi/ fenugreek seeds), thuvaram paruppu (toor dhal), kadalai paruppu (channa dal), perungayam (asafetida), kadugu (mustard seeds), well cooked in (puli karaisal) tamarind water does the trick! Adding a pinch of brown sugar and a few curry leaves at the end, takes this aromatic dish to a whole new level in the world of regional cuisine. Find below the authentic method of preparation of Cuddalore Kadala Kozhambu.

Ingredients:

Ingredients of Kadala Kozhambu Cuddalore Style
  • Peanuts (ver kadalai)- 1 cupful
  • Egg plant/brinjal (kathirikaai) - 1 cupful
  • Tamarind (puli) - Size of a new one rupee coin
  • Methi seeds (vendahayam) - 1/2 teaspoon
  • Channa dal (kadalai paruppu) - 1 teaspoonful
  • Mustard seeds (kadugu) - 1 teaspoonful
  • Red chilli (vara milagai) - 1
  • Refined oil - As required
  • Sambar powder - 3  teaspoonful (you can add more if you are a spicy food lover)
  • Toor dal (thuvaram paruppu) - 1 teaspoonful
  • Asafoetida (perungaayam) - 1/2 teaspoon
  • Brown sugar - 1/4 teaspoon
  • Curry leaves (karuvapillai) - a handful
  • Water - 4 cupfuls
  • Salt to taste
Preparation:

Soaked Peanuts
  1. Soak peanuts over night in water and pressure cook them with some salt (preferably, do up to 3 cooker whistles and keep them aside)
  2. Heat up a kadai and add oil, mustard seeds and wait for them to pop, add the asafetida as well
  3. Add dry chilli, methi seeds, channa dal, toor dal one by one and fry until both the dals turn golden brown
  4. Add sambar powder and chopped brinjal and stir well, cook them for a good 2 minutes
  5. Add the puli karaisal (tamarind water) and salt (to taste) and cook until the brinjal is half cooked
  6. Add the pressure cooked peanuts, stir well, and keep cooking the whole stuff until the brinjal cooks, to the full
  7. Add brown sugar and sprinkle the minced curry leaves on top and serve hot

Note: With no turmeric powder added in the dish, the peanut curry comes out with a divine aroma and unique flavor and that increases your appetite in no time! The dusky gravy go well with rice, chapathi, poori, dosa idly and so on

Cuddalore Meen Kuzhambu (Fish Curry - Cuddalore Style)

Cuddalore Meen Kuzhambu

An aromatic fish curry that is famous all over the district of Cuddalore and often prepared by using a wide range of fish varieties (preferably Pomfret/vavaal meen) and seasoned with a most coveted 'Thalippu Vengaya Vadagam', which takes the dish to a new level!

Ingredients:
  • Fish - 6 pieces (cleaned and marinated for quarter-hour with turmeric powder, garlic, salt and 1 tablespoonful of oil)
  • Turmeric powder (manjal thool) - 1/4 teaspoon
  • Sambar powder - 2 tablespoonfuls
  • Tamarind (puli) - 1 big lemon size
  • Nicely chopped tomatoes (podi podiyaga narukiya thakkali) - 2
  • Nicely chopped onion (podi podiyaga narukiya periya vengayam) - 1
  • Vadagam (ready to use seasoner) - 1 tablespoonful
  • Garlic (poondu pal) - 14 to 16 pods
  • Coconut (thuruviya thengai) - 1 cupful of freshly grated coconut
  • Refined oil - As required
  • Salt to taste
To be made into a paste:
  • Grind the freshly grated coconut and onion into a fine paste
Preparation:

  1. Prepare the tamarind juice (puli karaisal) by soaking the 1 big lemon sized tamarind ball in eight cups of water. Make it as a thick extract as the consistency of the tamarind juice is directly proportional to the taste of the fish curry
  2. Take a kadai and heat up, add oil followed by the marinated fish pieces and give them a sitr fry for a few seconds and keep them aside
  3. Here comes the real twist! Heat up a kadai, add oil and add thalippu vadagam. Once it is deep-fried, add the garlic pods, fry them till they turn golden brown, add the chopped tomatoes and saute till they turn soupy
  4. Add the tamarind juice followed by turmeric powder, sambar powder and boil (till the raw smell of sambar powder vanishes)
  5. Add the fish pieces and let it cook well
  6. Finally, add the coconut - onion ground paste and boil it till the oil separates

By the time, you finish all the above steps; the delicate aroma of the fish curry would have filled your whole house

Note: Being a spicy non vegetarian dish, the use of sambar powder, instead of garam masala makes this different from the ones prepared across the other parts of the state

Cuddalore Fish Cutlet

Fish Cutlet - Cuddalore Style

A popular fish based evening snack served across the territorial dominion of Cuddalore, fish cutlet is served across most of the restaurants as starters in the region.

Ingredients:
  • Shark fish/sura meen (preferably) - 1/2 kg
  • Turmeric powder (manjal thool) - 1/2 teaspoon
  • Mustard seeds (kadugu) - 1/2 teaspoon
  • Fennel seeds (perunjeeragam/sombu) - 1 teaspoonful
  • Mashed potatoes (vegavaithu masittha urulai kilangu) - 200 grams
  • Nicely chopped onion (podi podiyaga narukiya periya vengayam) - 1
  • Nicely chopped green chilli (podi podiyaga narukiya patchai milagai) - 4
  • Nicely chopped coriander leaves (kothamalli thazhai) - 1 tablespoonful
  • Nicely chopped mint leaves (pudhuina) - 1 tablespoonful
  • Bread crumbs - 1 cupful
  • Beaten eggs - 2
  • Oil - As required
  • Salt - To taste
Preparation:

  1. Heat up a pan with required water to immerse the 1/2 kg of fish pieces
  2. Add turmeric powder and salt and bring to a boil
  3. Once done, drain the resting water and take the boiled fish out
  4. Mash the fish pieces (of course, not gluey)
  5. Heat up a kadai, cook the following ingredients in order, oil as required, mustard seeds (kadugu), fennel seeds (sombu), chopped onion, chilli, coriander leaves, mint leaves and add salt to taste
  6. Keep the saute mixture aside
  7. Take a wide bottom bowl, add the mashed potatoes, mashed fish and saute mixture and mix them together (use hands to mix for best results)
  8. After making the shapes, coat or dip it in beaten eggs followed by bread crumbs
  9. Shallow fry the fish cutlets in oil till crispy and golden brown color appears on both sides

Serve hot with mint chutney/coriander chutney or with handy ketchup!

Visit the coastal town and treat your taste buds with some of the most popular regional delicacies of Cuddalore and make your trip a memorable affair!

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