Jab murukku met Mumbai

A royal recipe from Tamil Nadu combines nutritious rice flour and urad dal to make delightfully crispy twisties Popularly known as murukku sometimes murukulu this is a deep fried snack thatrsquos savoury and crunchy Thattai flat disc belongs to the same snack family These delicious crackers are made using lentils grains and spices and come in a variety of flavours and texture Meena Subramanian says itrsquos her thattai and murukku that inspired the launch of Perimarsquos KitchenJackfruitSubramanianrsquos family hails from the ancient city of Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu Although she was born in Mumbai she kept in touch with her roots through what her mother Saraswathi rustled up in the kitchen ldquoMy siblings and I loved her vatha kulambu a delicious and spicy gravy thatrsquos sambar in concentrated form Itrsquos served to you when you are under the weather and goes well with hot steamed ricerdquo says Subramanian 59 Her personal favourite though was the avial a vegetable stew of sorts made with 13 different vegetables commonly found in the Western Ghats seasoned with coconut oil and curry leavesAlso Read Why you should order from these restaurants delivering South Indian fare Her motherinlaw Lakshmi took off from where her mother had left off Because thattai and murukku wouldnrsquot be available in Mumbai Subramanian would make packets and ship them off to her nieces Two years ago they suggested that she turn it into a business ldquoBut since I had aged parents to care for I didnrsquot give it much thoughtrdquo she confesses It was finally in the 2020 lockdown that Perimarsquos Kitchen was born ldquoPerima means motherrsquos elder sister or maasi In the lockdown I had sent a few vegetarian Tamil dishes to my sonrsquos friend He called me to say I had to consider doing this on a commercial scale Now the kitchen operates every SundayrdquoBanana wafers with chutneySubramanian sources critical ingredients like sambar and rasam powders black lentils for idli oil and tapioca from Tirunelveli during twiceayear trips and she says thatrsquos what makes all the difference to taste She pounds fresh masala two days prior to opening her kitchen on Sunday mornings Her recipes are all vegetarian and she abstains from onion and garlic too except for the sambar A full meal costs between Rs 800 and Rs 1000Also Read Best South Indian Food in MatungaSubramanian puts out a new menu every Monday on Instagram for customers to place early orders ldquoWe donrsquot have an agrave la carte menu we only deliver whole mealsrdquo she says adding that the bisi bele bath and avial are favourites with clients ldquoItrsquos not even a year since I started and I already have 2000 followers on the page learning about and enjoying vegetarian Tamil foodrdquoAlso Read Malad woman charms Goa with Mumbais very own East Indian foodFollow perimaskitchen InstagramOrder 9619251940