Foodies Day Out, Madurai

When it comes to food, the streets are the one place which could give you a holistic picture of the culinary practices and cultures prevailing in the region, that too at some really affordable prices. And when it comes to a city like Madurai, its the vivid and rich history of the town telling the story of dynasties that ruled the town centuries ago which bring out the exemplary gastronomical street side delights that the city offers. To our disappointment whenever we visit cities of such stature, tourists like us even with enough research are sometimes unable to find out those right places that are the must-try of the area. Lucky for us though, we have Foodies Day Out here in Madurai whose sole aim is promote the food in the city by providing a tour of all the best places and dishes in the entirety of this city.

Offering nothing but the best, Foodies Day Out offers their customers a personalized tour of the city, making available the native taste of the regional cuisine just as the locals do, taking them to places where no guide books could lead to. Sporting places for both the vegetarian and the non-vegetarian diets, FDO customizes the whole experience based on the customers’ dietary preferences making each one indulge in an uninhibited eating spree. With choices amongst their morning and evening tours, pricing too is fairly nominal which includes the transportation and the food costs.

During my tour with FDO, I was lucky enough to get to meet the whole team who works behind the scenes and each one provided that personal touch of insight and knowledge about what we were trying out, even to a point as to how it came into being. Starting out with a short Breakfast Tour, we roamed around in the periphery of the illustrious Meenakshi Amman Temple enjoying first a traditional Iyengar breakfast with some soft fluffy Ghee Podi Idli and Uttapams coming with 4 different types of chutneys, all served on a banana leaf, as is the norm in this part of the country. Finishing the first meal of the day up was the quintessential serving of Filter Coffee at one of the oldest shops in town using their own coffee blend and palm sugar as their sweetening agent, giving a rich earthy taste to the coffee. Roaming the street markets in the way along with some sightseeing in the terrible heat called for some refreshments where we tried the famous Ilaneer Sharbet which is coconut water sherbet having tender coconut pieces, making it a great electrolyte and a coolant for summers.

The Evening Tour was what I had been looking forward to, simply in anticipation of the non-vegetarian delights the city held – something which got satisfied at the first destination itself. Ashok Mutton Stall was the first spot where we tried the city special Ceylon Mutton Parottas with Mutton Chukka – a dry spicy preparation of tender goat chunks along. The parottas had thin layers between which a delectable mutton mince was stuffed and to make things even better, it all comes with a serving of chicken and mutton gravy. Moving forward on the meaty trail led us to another city specialty called Kari Dosa which can simply be described as a thick Dosa having layers and layers of egg, chicken and mutton on it, making each one of these a hefty, wholesome meal.

The vegetarian path of the tour again took us to a world of its own. From having crispy street side crispy Vadas and Bondas to the seasonal cotton seed milk, the journey explored every nook and cranny of the city, revealing stunning dishes that I didn’t even know existed. Idiyappam or Coconut String Hoppers were the first one to blow my tastebuds having this perfect soft and fluffy texture, coming in with a choice of being served as a dessert with sweet coconut milk or as a savoury with tomato onion gravy. Another offering that blew my mind was something known as the Thennai Kuruthu which was a tender shoot of the coconut tree, available only when a tree falls which made us all the fortunate ones to be in the city at the right time. The sweets too were an aspect which I wouldn’t forget while in this city as from crisp Adhirasam to the soft ghee-loaded Halva, each one of the items were absolutely fantastic.

All in all, if you are ever planning to visit the city of Madurai and the idea of having a myriad variety of food is enticing enough, Foodies Day Out should be your first point of contact as be it in terms of knowledge, convenience or quality, the group does spectacular in all the departments of the trade, flaunting a magical experience to all those who visit the city.

#SouthIndian