Sodhi, thattu vadai on the menu at Rashtrapati Bhavan banquet for Cyprus President

It is simply a repast helium volition apt ne'er forget. Chef and holistic wellness adept KS Mahesh Ishwar curated a six-course Tamil repast for the authorities banquet for the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan successful New Delhi connected May 22. The banquet, Mahesh, who has his roots successful Gobichettipalayam adjacent Coimbatore, explains, was attended by President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President CP Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, among others. “A batch of them appreciated the meal,” says Mahesh, who is present based successful Goa.

Mahesh, who specialises successful functional nutrition and wellness gastronomy, planned the repast specified that the eating acquisition was not much than 750 calories. The paper is Mahesh’s ode to his South Indian roots, a emotion for the benignant of nutrient helium grew up eating, and flavours from the room of his precocious parent Kunnathur Annapoorni.

“I worked with a squad of 14 cooks, of which 4 were location cooks from places specified arsenic Thanjavur and Coimbatore,” says Mahesh, who was progressive successful mounting up restaurants specialising successful South Indian nutrient successful Europe, the United States, and Singapore.

The repast featured dishes from respective districts of Tamil Nadu. There was brinji pulao from Chennai, sodhi from Tirunelveli, and kadala curry from the Nilgiris. The soup, for instance, was the Kunnathur vellai poosani mor kuzhambu, inspired by flavours of the Kongu colony Mahesh would sojourn with his mother. “We cooked ash gourd successful a mor kuzhambu, pureed it to marque it a chowder,” helium says.

Mahesh recreated the thattu vadai acceptable from Gobichettipalayam arsenic an air-fried mentation that won a batch of hearts. “We made a foodstuff with naatu thakkali, with which we infused h2o from vadu manga,” helium says, adding that the effect was a crisp and pungent portion that had a balanced spice level.

There was panagam on the menu, that the squad reimagined with blue-pea flowers. “We besides made mocktails with vetiver,” explains Mahesh. A starter that was most-loved was the avocado gothsu. “The crockery is usually made with brinjal, but we replaced it with avocado, with tadka connected apical and served it connected adai similar tacos,” helium says. The idea, helium says, was to instrumentality Tamil cuisine to the planetary stage. “We paid attraction to the presentation,” helium adds: “We did not privation to compromise connected anything, beryllium it the method oregon the plating.”

With the repast being nether 750 calories, Mahesh says it broke the conception that South Indian nutrient is dense connected carbs. He says that his acquisition arsenic the marque cook with wellness and fittingness level Fittr, years successful the edifice industry, enactment successful quantified nutrition, and emotion for his mother’s food, came unneurotic successful the meal. A batch of guests appreciated the meal, and for Mahesh, the icing connected the barroom was erstwhile Nikos Christodoulides said that it was 1 of the champion meals helium had ever had.