An earthy affair

Shanthi Sekar’s culinary journey is all about serving a seafood storm, recreating classic Mudaliar dishes and bonding with her daughter

CHENNAI: Walking up the staircase leading to Shanthi Sekar’s house, your nose picks up on that reassuring smell of musty windows and hints of the lunch menu. Greeted at the door by a smiling Shanthi, you’re instantly engulfed by the feeling of a home. Her yoga session is done, the lunch table is set and while she waits for her husband to arrive, we sit down for a quick conversation.  Married at the age of 15, you could say that Shanthi’s tryst with cooking began quite early. Away from her friends and family, she turned to food under the strict eye and guidance of her mother-in-law.

Shanthi Sekar  Ashwin Prasath

She admits that it was quite a leap — a leap from not knowing the difference between moong and toor dal when she was at her mother’s place, into the bottomless cauldron of punchy flavours and succulent meats that is authentic Mudaliar cuisine. A community of cooking that doesn’t boast of the popularity of Chettinad flavours or the reviving trend of Kongu flavours, Mudaliar style of cooking is distinct in its rich repast of seafood and poultry. “My father and my husband are both seafood aficionados and I grew up eating non-vegetarian food almost daily.

They used to head out to the fish markets near Marina Beach early every morning and bring kilos of fish and prawns back home. Fresh meat is the key that defines our cooking,” asserts Shanthi. Sura puttu — a stir-fry of minced shark meat mixed with a medley of spices — prawns masala vadai kozhambu, prawns poriyal, kola urundai and appalam kootu — a Mudaliar favourite made out of old papads — are some of the traditional Mudaliar dishes that are now a part of Shanthi’s repertoire, passed on to her from her mother-in-law. But the nethili kozhambu is the absolute crowd-pleaser. 

Experimental attitude 
The cornucopia of other ingredients that makes the hidden cuisine sing? Garlic, ginger, curry leaves, pepper, a restrained splash of oil and a pinch of Shanthi’s homemade masala powder. “I’ve always ground my own masala powder that I use in most of my dishes. Now I even grind up curry leaves into a powder so that my daughter and grandson eat it without picking it out,” says Shanthi. Her experimental attitude to cooking also resulted in a vegan twist to the much-beloved Mudaliar classic aatu kaal paaya (Sheep Trotter’s curry) with mushroom substituting the protein. Debuting the dish as the main course in her six-course dinner with Chefathon, it was an absolute winner, with requests to recreate it at other events as well. 

Muscle memory 
A culinary journey of over 30 years, Shanthi admits to never writing down recipes now that it has almost become muscle memory. Often sharing the kitchen space with her daughter, it has also become a bonding activity between mother and daughter. “I began enjoying cooking only when I began catering to several people as part of my daughter’s birthday parties. The smiles on satisfied faces is why I enjoy cooking,” reminisces Shanthi. “The more, the merrier,” she adds. Just as we wrap up, her husband, whom she calls her biggest critic, walks in for lunch. A simple lunch table set with sambar, sura puttu and a few poriyals await, and I take my leave. 

Bottle gourd and prawn poriyal

Ingredients
Bottle gourd: 1 small, Prawns: 250 grams; cleaned and de-veined , Mustard: 1/2 tsp, Split urad dal: 1/2 tsp, Chilli powder: 2 tbs, Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp, Salt: 1 tsp , Onion: 2 big chopped , Tomato: 1 big chopped , Curry leaves , Coriander leaves, Oil: 2 to 3 tbsp

Cooking instructions

• Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard and split urad dal.
• When it splutters, add in the chopped onion and saute until it turns translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until it turns to a pulp.
• Add in the curry 
• leaves and the prawns. Cook until the prawn pieces change colour. 
• Add turmeric powder, homemade chilli powder, salt and saute for about a minute or so.
• Add the cubed bottle gourd and mix well. 
• Add half a cup of water, and when it comes to a boil, simmer until the bottle gourd is cooked and almost dry and glossy. 
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with steamed rice. 

Appalam kootu 
 

Ingredients 
Bengal gram: 1/2 cup, Homemade chilli powder: 2 tsp, Turmeric: 1/2tsp, Fried appalam: 10, Ginger-garlic paste: 1/2tsp, Oil: 2 tsp, Sombu: 1/2 tsp, pounded, Dry red chilli: 2 to 3 broken, Curry leaves: a few
 

Cooking instructions

• Pressure cook the dal with one-and-a-half cups of water, chilli powder and turmeric powder. Once there are two whistles, keep it aside. 
• Heat oil in a pan and add the broken red chillies, pounded fennel seeds and curry leaves. Add in the ginger-garlic paste and saute until the raw smell dissipates. 
• Take the cooked dal and with some salt, simmer for 5 minutes. 
• Now add the crushed appalam and simmer for two more minutes, while mixing well.
• Note: 
• You can add boiled and cubed potato along with the appalam. 
• Be careful while adding salt because appalam already is quite salty. 
• You can skip the fennel seeds and instead add mustard seeds. 
• Serve the kootu as a side dish with steamed rice and kara kozhambu.