A new hero born in the curry world? A journey to India exploring Chettinad cuisine

It has the potential to rival the champion butter chicken curry. What is Chettinad curry?

In the Japanese curry world, there is one curry that has reigned supreme for many years due to its popularity: butter chicken. How many Japanese people have been captivated by the delicious experience of eating sweet and sour, rich and creamy curry with fluffy naan? I'm sure there are many people who have become interested in the deeper world of curry through butter chicken, and opened the door to Indian cuisine. I call it "butter chicken that silences crying children," but it is such an attractive curry that I would like to come up with a better catchphrase.

However, despite its great achievements, the popularity of Indian curry in Japan will not remain solely tied to butter chicken. Recently, South Indian cuisine has been attracting attention, and a style of meal called "meals," which combines rice as the staple food with a variety of spiced side dishes and curry, is gaining popularity. I love this dish, but it lacks impact because it is an assortment of several dishes on one plate. Is there a curry that could become a more easily understood hero? I was thinking about this when I came across a certain curry.

The name is "Chicken Up Curry (Salty Chicken Curry)". It is not a very salty curry. It is dry and rich. The use of simple spices is outstanding, and the chicken curry is colored with a stimulating aroma, and the taste of the chicken is very prominent.
It was made by Venugopal, the owner and chef of an Indian restaurant called "Venus" in Kinshicho. I was enthralled by the clear and sharp flavor. I heard that it was a curry from the Chettinad region in southern India. The sound of the word "Chettinad" made me feel that it had the potential to surpass butter chicken.

Learn to cook rich, spicy Chettinad cuisine in Southern India

I was so impressed by the "Chicken Up Curry" I had at Venus that I tried to find out more about Chettinad cuisine in Japan, but I couldn't find any concrete information. I wanted to eat it there and learn about it there. I flew to Tamil Nadu in southern India with the feeling of going to find a diamond in the rough.
Chettinad is the name of a region in the state, and there is a hotel called "The Bangara" in the city of Karaikudi that teaches Chettinad cuisine. When I arrived at the hotel, I spoke with the owner, Madam, and asked for a cooking demonstration by the chef. It seems that I can make several curries.

In the past, there were many merchants called Chettiars in the Chettinad region. They were known for crossing the sea to earn foreign currency. They mainly went to Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, etc. from the end of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century.
They brought back the food culture that was popular in each region, hybridized their own South Indian cuisine, and created a new dish. Perhaps because they were wealthy, their curry, which was made without skimping on spices, inevitably ended up with a rich flavor that went beyond the concept of traditional Indian cuisine. It's a curry with a fascinating story.
He introduced me to the Chettinad Mutton Fry, which is rich and dry, the Chettinad Chicken Pepper Masala, which is strong with black pepper, and the creamy Chettinad Chicken Kurma, which has a coconut scent. All of them were uniformly rich and strong with spices. Now that I think about it, even butter chicken is a fine hybrid curry.

Moti Mahal, the restaurant said to be the originator of butter chicken curry, was founded in 1947 and is located in the Muslim area of Old Delhi in northern India. As you can see from this, rich butter chicken curry was born as a result of the fusion of food culture that came from the Middle East via Pakistan with Indian cuisine. It may be that the hybridization of two different food cultures results in a curry with a rich flavor.

A journey tracing the spread of "Chettinadi cuisine" to Asian countries

The food made in the Chettinad region, whether it be curry or other dishes, generally has a spicy and rich taste. However, there is no typical taste that can be described as "Chettinad curry is this one dish". Fascinated by the depth of Chettinad cuisine and wanting to go on a food tour, I also visited Chettinad restaurants in Madurai and Chennai, which are not far from the city of Karaikudi.
Among them, the "Kumar Mess" that I visited in Madurai had every dish exquisite. Some curries were so good that it felt like I was eating the spices themselves, while others brought out the umami flavor of the dashi stock created by simmering, and I was dazzled by the variety.

In addition, the merchants who contributed to the development of Chettinad cuisine, the Chettiars, not only brought back food cultures from various Asian countries to South India, but also introduced their own food cultures to the places they traveled to. As a result, countries such as Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar have developed their own unique Chettinad cuisine.
Since my goal for this trip to India was to explore Chettinad cuisine, I decided to transit through Malaysia on the way there and Sri Lanka on the way back, staying in each for a few days and visiting local restaurants. After returning home, my excitement for Chettinad cuisine had not subsided, so I decided to visit Myanmar again.
In Malaysia, there was an area with many specialty restaurants around a Hindu temple in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. In Sri Lanka, I searched all over the largest city, Colombo, and finally found one restaurant, but in Myanmar, I was able to encounter deep Chettinad cuisine. Later, when I visited Hong Kong for another interview, I also found a restaurant called "New Chettinad."

Chettinad curry is slowly making its way to Japan, so keep an eye on its future

It remains to be seen whether Chettinad curry will surpass butter chicken curry in popularity in Japan. However, there are a few Indian restaurants in Tokyo where you can enjoy Chettinad chicken, Chettinad mutton, and other dishes, but they are starting to increase in number. The previously introduced Kinshicho restaurant "Venus" is one of them.
South Indian food is becoming popular in Japan these days. One of the reasons is that it has a refreshing taste and a strong impression of being healthy. North Indian food, such as butter chicken, is delicious but heavy on the stomach. South Indian food, such as meals, is refreshing and easy to eat. This impression may be the reason.
In that respect, Chettinad cuisine, while being South Indian, is characterized by its deep, rich flavor. This curry, which seems to have taken the best of both North and South Indian cuisine, may become popular in Japan in the future.
As I think of the Chettiars who once crossed the sea and absorbed the food cultures of other countries while carefully preserving the cuisine of their own country, I fantasize about this still rare Chettinad curry becoming increasingly mainstream.
To help our readers experience at least a little of the charm of Chettinad curry, I would like to conclude by introducing a recipe for chicken curry that I learned from Chef Venugopal of Venus, which is an adaptation using easy-to-prepare ingredients.

JAL Package Asia