CHENNAI: When one thinks of a seafood thali, often dishes like meen kozhumbu, fish fry and eral curry come to mind.
The Pulicat Festival held at Sea Salt restaurant in collaboration with In Season Fish at Wallace Garden Road in Nungambakkam, presented an authentic seafood thali, made specially by the fisherwomen of Pulicat.
The festival was part of an awareness drive to save the livelihood of the fishing communities from the repercussions of building the Adani port, which was planned to be constructed just around ten kilometres away from the fishing villages at Pulicat.
The Adani group has acquired land near the area to build a fishing port that would pan over five kilometres on land and over four kilometres into the ocean.
“This city has seen devastating repercussions of building the Chennai and Kamrajar ports. The river mouths of Cooum and Adyar rivers have been narrowed due to their constructions. During heavy rains or cyclones, which come in from the Bay of Bengal, the water draining out into the sea gets restricted and flows back, flooding multiple areas inland. The Adani port would also cause the same effect. It would block the mouth of the Kosasthalayar river, causing the fishing villages in the area to flood. More so, the port would cut into the fishing grounds of the locals,” said Nityanand Jayaraman, an environmental activist.
A part of the Pulicat lake that sits within the boundaries of Tamil Nadu is one of the few places near the city where healthy aquatic environments still remain. The quality of the seafood reflects the same. The Festival reminded us what good quality seafood tastes like.
The thali was a replica of what is served in the houses of the fishing community at Pulicat. Steaming hot crab soup, which was brought to us in a steel tumbler, set the mood with the right amount of spice and juicy tender meat.
Three starters — eral vadai, fish fry and boiled shrimp — were served on a banana leaf that was set for the thali. The eral vadai had a perfect buttery texture that our teeth smoothly cut into with every bite.
For the main course, we sampled the ayala and oodan fish curries along with pepper crab.
The ayala fish had a tanginess that was achieved after soaking the citric juices of the tomato curry in which it was served.
The pepper crab stood out for its spicy masala mixture that hit the back of the throat as we hungrily swallowed mouthfuls of it with plain rice. The thali also included prawn biryani which got our eyes rolling in single bite. With a good ratio of prawns in every portion, it was a hit among the crowd.
Oodan puttu, raita and brinjal curry were served on the side. A simple, delicious payasam for dessert was the perfect end to a heart-pleasing meal.
During the course of the meal, the guests watched a short film that traced the everyday journeys of fishermen in Pulicat.
It also showed us glimpses of the fisherwomen preparing and serving a similar thali to their families.
But what hit the sour spot was the clipping of the expected aftermath once the Adani port is built.
While the entire experience was one to be relished, it sure had some food for thought for the community to act and save these families residing near Pulicat.