After taking diners on a culinary journey across eleven different landscapes of India, Dhoom Indian Streatery & Bar in Dunfermline is now ready to take them to Chennai, and the colourful Coromandel Coast in the south of India, the latest region to be showcased in one of its legendary ten course tasting menus.
With a thriving population of 12 million people, and one of the largest and oldest cities in India, Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is the capital of Tamil Nadu.
Known as “The Land of Temples”, Tamil Nadu, was the centre for dynasties who ruled the southern coasts, controlling the lucrative spice trade.
The area was also where the first major English settlement in India was established, with the small fishing village of Madraspatnam being chosen as the first outpost. It grew to become Madras, and an important location and port for the British East India Company was born.
After spending four weeks in Chennai last November, when he researched his new menu, Dhoom’s Chef/Proprietor Prasad Dhaneshwar is now ready to unveil it to his customers.
Prasad said: “Chennai is a warm and welcoming coastal metropolitan megacity with a love for food, music, dance, poetry, and culture.
“It’s a city where the heritage of the past is met with a changing vista of a modern cosmopolitan. The Colonial Influence is still reflected throughout the City in its architecture, its culture, its food, and, of course, the people themselves.”
The food from the South of India is very different from the rest of the country as Prasad explained: “Coconut, curry leaves, mustard seeds, rice, dal or legumes are cornerstones of Southern Indian cooking. The region is blessed with a large variety of agricultural vegetation and produce owing to with good rains and fertile lands. The proximity to the coast means fresh seafood throughout the year as well.
“This is the “Land of Spices”, and that is very much reflected in the cuisine as well. Cardamom, pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon are some of the important spices used in the Southern Indian cuisine. All in all, it is a truly inspiring region for me to explore through a new tasting menu.
“I am very excited to showcase this new menu to our customers. As ever, the evening tasting menu has ten different courses in it, with each dish telling its own story of vibrant spicing. I have incorporated some amazing street style preparations, such as Thakkali Rasam, Gunpowder Masala Idli, Niligiri Murgh Tikka, a special Mother’s style Sambar, Kongunadu Kozhi Kuzhambu, Coromandel Lamb Curry, King Prawn Thokku, and of course, the Madras Filter Coffee, with my own special twist.”
Having noted that all of his street food tasting menus so far, have received “immense love, appreciation and support from our patrons and guests”, Prasad said that his customers love Dhoom for its unique experience of travelling India through the food. “We enable them to try authentic Indian street food and India-inspired cocktails, all the while with the spicing adjusted for Scottish tastebuds.
“My whole kitchen team, and I, feel now that our diners appreciate our hard work, and the focus on the detail, in recreating those experiences for them here in Dunfermline.
“We very much hope that the guests will show love and support to their 12th journey to Chennai as well, and will cherish this completely different and new experience of the cuisine of the Southern Coast of India.”
Prasad said his journeys to India “will never end.”
“I will keep going back to the streets of India and looking for something different, something unique and authentic,” he said. “I want to explore as many different regions, and part of India as possible, to keep bringing back that flavour, that colour, that taste sensation to Dhoom.”
The Chennai Tasting Menu starts at Dhoom on Thursday 25 April.
The seven course lunch menu is £16.95, and the ten course evening menu is £28.95.
