Dindigul after dark

For 27-year-old Mani Ram, a fourth-generation entrepreneur who runs Ponram — a edifice that was founded by his great-grandfather Ponram Yadav successful Dindigul successful 1973 — curating the recently launched meal menu, has felt similar flipping done a household album. Each of the 10 dishes connected the paper takes him backmost to his puerility — to memories of grandparents, aunts, and uncles, relishing cautiously prepared meals and outings with his gramps to neighbouring villages successful hunt of circumstantial section flavours.

“I vividly retrieve accompanying my thatha to Natham, astir 20 kilometres from Dindigul,” says Mani Ram. “The portion had respective chromatic quarries and a ample colonisation of labourers. From arsenic aboriginal arsenic 6am, tiny eateries would unfastened to cater to them serving poricha parotta, a staple for quarry workers. It was affordable, filling, and kept them satiated done agelong shifts.” These memories led to the inclusion of this determination speciality successful Dindigul Nights, Ponram’s caller evening-only menu.

The larger thought down the paper is to present Dindigul’s section night-time cuisine to a wider audience. “That tendency to sphere and popularise mundane traditions resulted successful this menu, which is served exclusively successful the evenings.”

Across the region, acquainted dishes person evolved done subtle tweaks and additions. Take kothu parotta, for instance. In Madurai, it is typically prepared by adding eggs and salna — a flavourful, spicy gravy often served with parotta, idli, oregon dosa — earlier mincing the substance connected a blistery tawa and serving it piping hot. In Dindigul, however, the crockery takes connected a antithetic individuality and is known arsenic acceptable parotta. Here, the parotta is torn by manus into a fewer ample pieces, combined with chunks of meat, and finished with a ladle of thin, steaming salna poured implicit the top. “Even poricha parotta is prepared otherwise here,” says Mani. “In Dindigul, it is shallow-fried, dissimilar successful Virudhunagar, wherever it is deep-fried.”

Seafood finds pridefulness of spot connected the menu, with dishes specified arsenic idiyappam served with prawn sodhi, ilandosa paired with nethili karuvadu thokku, and mini idli accompanied by meen kuzhambu. Meat lovers tin opt for kothu kari — made with mutton oregon chickenhearted — served alongside mini poori, idli, dosa, oregon idiyappam.

Mani Ram recalls however his grandmother, Jaya Ramachandran, present 63, prepared her ain versions of karuvadu thokku and meen kuzhambu astatine home, serving children mini-sized poori and idli. “We wanted to walk connected that experience, truthful we retained the size,” helium adds.

Karipaniyaaram present deserves a peculiar mention. Painstakingly crafted successful ample paniyaarakkal, the crockery requires a batter that retains its softness for a agelong time. Black gram is used, with the proportionality of fenugreek cautiously adjusted to execute the close texture. The stuffing is made with either minced mutton oregon chicken, portion the accompanying chutney steals the spotlight. “It’s a elemental chutney made with dried reddish chillies, coconut, roasted channa dal, and garlic,” says Mani. “Traditionally, it is smeared implicit the paniyaarams earlier serving, and we travel the aforesaid method astatine the restaurant.”

With Dindigul Nights, Mani Ram says helium hopes to observe the tone of his hometown by offering a meal paper that goes beyond biryani. The showcase brings backmost into absorption dishes rooted successful Dindigul’s respective location kitchens and night-time stalls serving up lip-smacking meals.

Ponram is located astatine Ashok Nagar. Phone: 7824008301.