Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Chennai Chicken..

These two months in Chennai have cleared many misconceptions of mine about Chennai. Or Tamilians, to be specific. 

Northies generally perceives Tamilians as devout, mild-mannered, religious, strict vegetarians, who consume idli-sambar for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On landing in Chennai, I was in for a surprise. People do eat idlis and dosas here, but the most popular dish here is chicken biryani! I swear there are as many biryani outlets here, as there are vada-pav stalls in Mumbai!

Probably one reason is that the Tamil Brahmin - the quintessential "Madrasi" has moved out of Chennai, to settle in more prosperous areas like Mumbai, or even better, the US. What is left behind in Chennai is the non-Brahmin, who gobbles down biryani and chomps on meat.

So all Northies, who sneer upon Tamilians as sissy pushovers, beware. The Tamilian is reborn!