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Rad and red breathe the culinary fires of Chettinad at the brand new Anjappar in Melbourne
Anjappar—Authentic Indian Restaurant in Melbourne

Rad and red breathe the culinary fires of Chettinad at the brand new Anjappar in Melbourne

‘Foodpreneur’ Shekar Mani is offering the foodies of Melbourne another dimension to the palate-tingling South Indian cuisine. After the tremendous success of Saravanaa Bhavan that offered an array of strictly authentic vegetarian cuisine, Shekar has brought to our shores spicy Chettinad cuisine, which as the name suggests, comes from the Chettinad region in Tamil Nadu and was made popular by the Chettiar community.

Being traders, the men brought home with them the best spices from around the world which was used in the preparation of the dishes. Chettinad cuisine can be said to be the spiciest and the most aromatic of all cuisines in India. Taking Chettinad cuisine to the world, Anjappar became the “global ambassadors of Chettinad cuisine”.

Anjappar, which started in Chennai more than 52 years ago, has today become synonymous with Chettinad cuisine. Over the years, they have mastered the art of using the various spices and preserved the exquisite traditions of Chettinad cuisine to give the diner’s taste buds a scrumptious food experience

The cuisine always reflects the climate and the way of life of the people who created it. Hence a variety of sun dried meats and salted vegetables are used in the cuisine reflecting the dry climate of the region. Most of these dishes are served as accompaniments to rice or dosas, appams, idiyappams, adas and idlis. The uniqueness of Chettinad cuisine is that the tastes are not limited to the boundaries of South India. Diners will experience tastes that are inspired by the cuisines of Sri Lanka, Burma, Malaysia and Singapore.

The rice pudding made with sticky red rice served as dessert reflects the Chettiars mercantile contacts with Burma. The cuisine offers both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, but beef and pork dishes are not served. Some of the spices that flavour the dishes are star aniseed, lichen, chillies, fennel seeds, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and tamarind.

Anjappar, which started in Chennai more than 52 years ago, has today become synonymous with Chettinad cuisine. Over the years, they have mastered the art of using the various spices and preserved the exquisite traditions of Chettinad cuisine to give the diner’s taste buds a scrumptious food experience.

The magical interlay of a variety of spices used to grind the fresh masalas to prepare the various signature dishes is what makes Anjappar dining a unique experience.

“We wanted to bring to Oz quintessential Chettinad cuisine made famous globally by Anjappar,” says Shekar, who recently opened an Anjappar restaurant in Melbourne. Melburnians can now get a taste of this uncommonly subtle and aromatic cuisine. Once you taste the food at Anjappar you will look no further. It is the freshness of the products and the use of original yet improved recipes of the Chettiars that bring food lovers to the doors of Anjappar time and time again!

And as for what diners are saying, well…

“Delectable and good service. Chettinad cuisine is divine,” commented Robert Colanzi, ex-Mayor of Yarra Council after dining at the Anjappar in Melbourne. And Vijaya Vaidyanathan, CEO of Yarra Council says, “I especially love your fish preparations. Over all 10 out of 10!”

 

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