Maplai - Savour South India

MAPLAI  - SAVOUR SOUTH INDIA

Old.2 New No.14. Tank Bund Road, Sterling Avenue, Nungambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Phone: 096000 66649

Though I saw the invite to bloggers to join the food tasting, I was wary to send an email as I hadn't blogged for a while and it didn't seem fair but thanks to the invite from Mohamad Ali ji of CFG.
After a long hiatus, I am back to the blogging scene singing in my mind (Ennoda raasi nalla raasi ...)


Starring: Behind(LtoR) Pradeep, Kiran Kumar Maasi Mohamad Ali ji, Chef Kaushik (Mad chef)
Front(LtoR) Prathap Gandhi,Tasneem Ayub and Amryth Bunty

Script written by: Kiran Kumar Maasi
Cinematography: Amryth bunty and Aliji (I am using their pics as my ipone died in the rain)
Music:  played form the ipod at the resto
Screenplay, direction: The Mad Chef Kaushik
Plot: Simple, follow the menu eat, enjoy and give your feedback
Running time: 3 hours 1:30 - 4:30. It took so long to eat all those items
Release date: Oct 2, 2014
Show timing: Matinee (lunch), First show (dinner)
Rating: 4/5

This is more like a directors cut where you will see a lot of additional information in brackets

First half - veg
Lights, camera and action.... it is a typical opening shot of a drizzly mid afternoon in Chennai.. I was on my bike heading towards loyola college getting all wet and feeling cold completely drenched.. Chef and Tasneem aunty were seated across the tables and were discussing food seriously.
I seated myself like that late coming audience in a theatre and joined them in the discussion. Along came Muruganand, Prathap and Pradeep. We waited for about 15 mins as others were getting delayed due to traffic snarls and rain. And the show started...

 
Veg Thali  @ 149/-and the items on the thaali
Paruppu Vadai - regular masala vadai crisp on the outside and soft inside
Barota - Oru typical flaky chennai parotta/barota served with veg kurma and onion raitha
Vengaya chutney - Tasted good but didn't know what to eat with, just swiped it out and slurp
Gongura Pickle - the andhrite in me woke up, mixed it up in steamed rice with ghee and it was so good
Podi: with ghee/ gingely oil (nallennai) - both the combinations are good with appalam
(Warning: if you start eating with podi, you will never touch sambar or kozhambu, it is so addictive. The ghee and the gingely oil are sourced from nearby areas procured fresh)
Sundakkai vatha kozhambu - was thick and tasty. you should try this with hot steamed rice and appalam. (Add nethili to it and it becomes the non-veg thaali add on, there is also a mutton gravy (red), chicken gravy (yellowish green))
Kovakkai paruppu kootu, avarakkai Poriyal - The usual, nothing much to write about

Brinjal sambar,  Chow Chow More Kozhlumbu,  pumpkin payasam - didn't touch any of these to save space for the other starters and non-veg but good looks wise (may be the next time)









My anxiety for some action/masala was soon answered by: ala carte veg starters like the Chettinad Bashed Potato (veg version of the kola urundai with chat masala spices), Paneer Pepper Fry (veg version of chicken pepper fry), Kalaan 2015 (veg version of chicken 65) and Syrian Cheppankazhlangu Roast (the veg version of the syrian beef fry). All the 4 would do justice if you have spicy pallet or you can mellow it down with the mocktail drinks


Interval - these were served in-between each set of dishes that we tasted
Club cricket (first starter drink), Panagam, neer moru (comes with veg/non-veg thaali), chilly blue sea (how you wish it was chilly vodka), rose milk (everyones fav), Bovonto Ice cream Soda (if you love bovonto, you will love this), and finally jil jil Jigarthanda (this was my personal fav). suit yourself with the choice when you order food.
Panai thayir: mention your preference if you like it fresh (which is sweet) or sour. If you are lucky you will get both

Second half - non-veg
Kozhli ka Thakkali - boneless chicken pieces in a thickened tomato gravy. The pieces were stringy and sligthtly tough and less on spice. If they could improve on spice and tenderness, this dish will be delish
(heard that it was an accidental innovation when a tomato gravy was thickened due to overcooking and he came up with this idea)






Chettinad Scotch Eggs - Boiled eggs rolled up and shaped inside a minced chicken and gram flour base.  Was spicy and yumm but the gram flour tasted slightly raw. Probably roasted gram flour would have made it right
(initially the eggs were of yolk flowing consistency but changed after customer feedback - ask if you want it that way, they also did away the thick bread crumbing)







Kair kati Gola - This was an amazing dish, shredded meat of lamb minced and spices added. The crust is crisp and inside moist and hot, one can smell the cinnamon and clove and taste the garlic while eating. Definitely a recommended dish from us
(There is a lady all the way from madurai (see pics below) who does only this exclusive dish at the resto and she was sought after by our Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan for the Kola urundai. One should appreciate the skill invovled in rolling the loose meat into a ball, tying the vazhai naaru around it and then to fry it - the size, shape and look all consistent)



Mutton Gaadi Chops - Any meat close to the bone is the tastiest and tenderest. If you have learnt this by now, you will definitely enjoy the taste of this starter. Mutton chops fried with slight spicy coating.
(The meat is sourced from erode and I am told that there are expert shepherds who can taste the meat and say where the goat/lamb/sheep has grazed, can you beat that!!!)




  Kerala fried Squid - coconut milk batter coated and fried tossed with curry leaves and sprinkled with some spices - Was bland and salt was inadequate and may be would have helped if we had it with some buttery sauce of a spicy kind)

Maplai Nandu - boneless crab meat cooked with coconut slivers, curry leaves and cashew bits, topped by some grated cheese. Scooped out and finished two of them inspite being stomach full (should i say more)





 

Climax 
Jigarthanda was at its innovative best, so rich and creamy with kulfi like flavor is made by reducing the milk to caramalized consistency and added with nannari sharbet to sweeten it
(the chef loved it so much that he tried the famous madurai JT,12 glasses of them to get a hang of the recipe and to perfect it)
Bovonto ice cream soda - for those who loved their cough syrups would love the flavor of this grape cola drink and vanilla ice cream mixed in it
(his personal tribute to the desi cola of South India)



The Ma(n)d Chef: Chef Kaushik with constant innovations is going to rock Chennai and thrill them with food. He has been part of  over 140 successful ventures starting from Quickys to now happening Peaches, Jonah's, Petawrap, etc...Those 3 hours of the tasting session, he was meticulously orchestrating all the aspects, of  presentation, re-filling, clearing the table at the right time, engaging the clients, answering questions, sharing tips etc. RESPECT 

The End

Mappillai - the film opened to positive response from the public and was a Mega hit Blockbuster movie ran 200 days at the Box-office history of Tamil cinema 890 shows were houseful

Maplai - the resto. A very good start and ofcourse with constant feedback and improvisation I wish it does well with Chennai foodies and becomes a super hit.

 Thankyou for visiting/reading