The food of Tamil Nadu is revered all over India and even abroad, and dishes like the dosa, idli and uttappam are especially popular. But there’s more to Tamil cuisine than what you’ll find at your corner South Indian restaurant.

Food is an integral part of Tamil culture, and Tamilians are a hospitable people. A visit to their home will often entail homemade snacks, if not a whole meal. While a lot of the cuisine is vegetarian owing to a majority of the population being Tamil Brahmins, there are plenty of meat and chicken dishes to be had that have become favourites in kitchens all over the country, such as the delectable Chettinad chicken curry, special for the unique way it is cooked, and the succulent mutton kheema, stir-fried with coconut. There is often a propensity to club all south Indian food together, but Tamil Nadu’s food is very different from the food of other regions like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The beloved idli-sambar and dosa however, remain perennial favourites everywhere.