Dindigul after dark – The Hindu

Mani Ram, 27, a fourth-generation entrepreneur who runs Ponram restaurant, founded by his great-grandfather Ponram Yadav in Dindigul in 1973, where the newly launched dinner menu is curated, felt like he was going through a family album. Each of the 10 dishes on the menu takes him back to his childhood, to memories of his grandparents, aunts and uncles, savoring carefully prepared dishes and trips with his grandfather to neighboring villages in search of specific local delicacies.

“I vividly remember singing along to my accompaniment. at work From Dindigul to Natham, about 20 kilometers away,” says Mani Ram. “The area had several quarries and a large labor population. Starting at 6 a.m., small restaurants were open serving poricha parotta, the quarry workers’ staple. “It was affordable, filling, and kept them full for long shifts.” These memories led to the inclusion of this regional specialty in Ponram’s new evening menu, Dindigul Nights.

Tune in to parotta, poricha parotta, karipaniyaaram and more — Dindigul Nights revisits what the town eats after sunset. | Photo Credit: Special Editing

The bigger idea behind the menu is to introduce Dindigul’s local nightly cuisine to a wider audience. “The desire to preserve and popularize everyday traditions led to this menu, served only in the evenings.”

Familiar dishes across the region have evolved with tweaks and additions. Take kothu parotta for example. In Madurai, it is usually prepared by mincing the mixture on a hot tawa and adding eggs and salna (a delicious, spicy gravy usually served with parotta, idli or dosa) before serving hot. However, in Dindigul, the food takes on a different identity and is known as set parotta. Here, the parotta is cut by hand into several large pieces, combined with pieces of meat, and finished by pouring a ladle of thin, steaming salna over it. “Even poricha parotta is prepared differently here,” says Mani. “In Dindigul, it is shallow fried, unlike Virudhunagar where it is deep fried.”

Seafood takes pride of place in the menu, which includes dishes like idiyappam served with prawn sodhi, ilandosa paired with nethili karuvadu thokku and mini idli with meen kuzhambu. Meat lovers can opt for kothu kari made with mutton or chicken, served alongside mini poori, idli, dosa or idiyappam.

Mani Ram remembers his grandmother Jaya Ramachandran, now 63, preparing her own versions of karuvadu thokku and meen kuzhambu at home and serving mini-sized Poori and Idli to the children. “We wanted to convey that experience, so we kept the size,” he adds.

Kari paniyaaram | Photo Credit: Special Editing

Karipaniyaaram deserves a special mention here. The dish, carefully prepared in large paniyaarakkal, requires a dough that retains its softness for a long time. Black gram is used by carefully adjusting the fenugreek ratio to get the right texture. While the filling is made with mutton or chicken mince, the accompanying chutney also attracts attention. “This is a simple chutney made with dried red chillies, coconut, roasted channa dal and garlic,” says Mani. “Traditionally, it is spread on paniyaarams before serving and we follow the same method at the restaurant.”

With Dindigul Nights, Mani Ram says he hopes to celebrate the spirit of his hometown by offering a dinner menu that goes beyond biryani. The showcase brings into focus the dishes from Dindigul’s many home kitchens and night stalls serving jaw-dropping dishes.

Ponram is located in Ashok Nagar. Phone: 7824008301.