Travelling within India can rarely be done on an impulse. You need time, organisational skills and local friends to help you…as I recently discovered when I recently spent a week in Chettinad with a girlfriend, the award winning graphic designer, Falguni Gokhale. The upside – it was well worth the effort. In less than a working week we had it all sewn up – flights, car, driver (remember to hire one who speaks both Tamil and English. Don’t bother with Hindi, you’ll get nowhere) and hotel rooms. Chettinad can be hot, so choose the kind of hotel which offers you creature comforts like powerful air conditioning, glasses of cooling nannari root and soda or limbo paani around the clock and room service.
We fly into Madurai which, by the look of it on arrival, is a dusty South Indian town like any other… except for the baskets of the most fragrant jasmine on every street corner. However, a visit to the Meenakshi temple and the Palace are highlights worth stopping for. The journey to Chettinad is an hour and a half through sleepy villages and arid farmland. The Chettiar community began as merchants trading salt and rice in South East Asia for the Chola kings between the 10th and 12th centuries. They then moved into gems and finally became the middle men between imperial bankers and local farmers and traders. Their trade stretched to Burma, Ceylon, Malaysia, Sumatra and South Africa which had its hey-day from the 18th century to Independence, a period of just under 200 years. During this time, they amassed substantial souvenirs from those cultures which they brought back to decorate their lavish mansions…solid Burma teak columns, marble from Italy, Ivory tusks. Pious by nature, they also heir considerable wealth to build temples both in Chettinad and all over South East Asia. They collected spices on their travels and adopted the habit of eating meat, fish and fowl which gives their cuisine a particularity in the orthodox Hindu South.
What to do in Chettinad besides eat- there’s plenty. Use local guides available at the hotels, blogs and books to help you. These are my recommendations:
Must Do: If you are an architecture buff or just love beautiful things, you will be mesmerized by the mansions of Chettinad with very their expansive courtyards, Burma teak , silky egg plaster walls and Athangudi tile floors. We didn’t tire of visiting one after the other. Amazing that they were made by untutored local builders using local craftsmen. Do buy the book Mansions of Chettinad – publisher Meenakshi Meyyappan/ Graf which is an iconic testament to the subject.
There’s plenty if you are interested in local crafts – kottan baskets both from the palmyra palm leaf and plastic look likes; mirror finished tiles from Athangudi, checked cotton saris ( locals will tell you that most of Sonia Gandhi’s cotton saris come from Chettinad) and a little antique market in the town of Karaikudi.
There are also some wonderous temples, some dating back almost 2000 years, with those familiar Dravidian style painted statues on a conical flat topped entrance.
Must Stay: Visalam, an elegant art deco 1930s bungalow of 15 spacious rooms converted into a luxury boutique hotel by the CGH group from Kerala in a quiet, quiet village called Kanadukatham . It was a gift from a wealthy Chettiar to his daughter, Vishala. From the fine cotton bathrobes and towels to the jasmine soap, dreamy pool, garden and traditional walk through kitchen – it’s all pretty perfect. Do meet Ramanathan or Ramu as he is affectionately known as. He is an invaluable guide to everything local. Food – both the banana leaf lunch and traditional dinners are a treat. Ask for the ladies from the village to come and cook which adds that touch of authenticity (and extra spice) to all the local dishes. The difference here is if you want muesli for breakfast instead of the traditional ‘palakarams’ (dosai, idli, upma) they’ll do that too. They serve with great humility and efficiency (http://www.cghearth.com/visalam)
Must Eat: A traditional lunch served on a banana leaf which will consist of rasam, parappu (dal with ghee), rice, kozhambu (thick vegetable curry), kootu (vegetables with lentils), poriyal (vegetable with grated coconut), something crispy, pachadi (chutney made with jaggery) and mandi, a vegetable made with water from washed rice often flavoured green chilli, shallots and tamarind. Even at lunch, a fried fish or chicken is always served. You may even get milagu masala kozhi (zh’ is pronounced ‘l’ locally) or chicken Chettinad as it is commonly known. It will be surprisingly flavourful with the (not numbing) heat coming from the round red dry goondu milagai chili and black pepper…. Light years away from the stomach wrenching dishes calling themselves Chettinad chicken in many restaurants in cities.
The one stop shop for the most amazing food in the area – both the banana leaf lunch and traditional European style course wise dinner or Thali dinner can be found at an oasis called Bangala. Meenakshi Meyyappan has single handedly been promoting Chettinad, it’s food and its culture for many years now. She has been described by NY Times writer and frequent visitor to India, Guy Trebay as ” a chatelaine (mistress of a mansion) …an elegant and disarmingly urbane Chettiar woman habitually dressed in saris of muted colour, a pair of discreet diamond sun bursts in her ears….” I saw and found a friend. Meenakshi is “with it” as we used to say in the seventies. Aware of the latest international trends in food and fashion (she also has a fabulous store on the premises), she will disarm you with her frankness, her sense of humour, business and entrepreneurship and her up to date knowledge. We discussed food of course, but so much more too. Do buy her book The Bangala Table. It’s available on Amazon as well as in her shop. It will give you a delicious glimpse of the food to expect but also really a well written forward on the Chettiar community. You can also stay at Bangala and enjoy 3 or 7 day Chettinad food Master classes (http://www.thebangala.com)
A word of advice: November to January is high season principally because of the weather. I would avoid those months and travel in September/October or February/March when the weather is moderately hot and everyone is free to pamper you properly. You’ll get service not only with a smile but served with great humility.
