Inside the technicoloured capital shaping India's melting-pot cuisine

"Walking through the narrow bylanes of Mylapore neighbourhood at dusk is like watching a sepia-tinted postcard of Madras coming to life and gently reasserting itself over the Chennai of today. The 7th-century Kapaleeshwarar Temple, the fulcrum of commerce and culture, draws the devout into its timeless force field, and on nearby Pitchu Pillai Lane, a small crowd gathers around the Raghul Kuzhi Paniyaram street stall to buy kuzhi paniyarams: spongy orbs of pan-fried batter speckled with mustard seeds."

"The city's latter-day character dates back to the 1640s, when merchants from the East India Company, lured by its port and textile production, established Fort St George, the first merger of an English fort and trading post in India. Chennai's importance as a commercial centre also drew traders from Rajasthan and Saurashtra. The merchants settled in George Town in northern Madras, lending their name to Sowcarpet, a wholesale market and historical enclave for the city's North Indian communities."

"Sowcarpet remains a stronghold of Northern Indian culture and food in the South, but among the crowds, snatches of Hindi, Gujarati and Tamil can be heard - its street food is similarly expansive."

Chennai's culinary landscape reveals layers of historical influence and cultural complexity. Mylapore preserves traditional Tamil foods including idli, dosa, pongal, and filter coffee around the 7th-century Kapaleeshwarar Temple, while street vendors sell kuzhi paniyarams and samosas. The city's food character developed from 1640s East India Company settlement at Fort St George, attracting merchants from Rajasthan and Saurashtra who established communities in George Town and Sowcarpet. Sowcarpet remains a stronghold of North Indian culture and food, where Hindi, Gujarati, and Tamil blend together. Tamil cuisine's vegetarian reputation stems from upper caste cultural influence, though the broader reality encompasses diverse food traditions.

Read at CN Traveller