ITP Indian Travel Places: Food, Travel, Tourism Business Events and Trade Shows
Phone: 044 48656595
Address: 112-113 AL Block , 4th Avenue, Shanti Colony, Near Shankar IAS Academy, Zamindar Hotel Complex, AL Block, Anna Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600040 India
Time: 12 Noon – 11 PM
Meals for two: Rs. 300
Cuisines: South Indian
Facilities: Home Delivery, Vegetarian Only, No Alcohol Available, Gluten Free Options, Vegan Options
Prems Graama Bhojanam, Anna Nagar, Chennai: Decor
Two large dining areas with a PDR on the ground floor of Fab Hotel Flamingo is Prems Graama Bhojanam’s most sophisticated outlet in Chennai. I like the Warli influenced stick paintings bordering the walls and the village themed decor. The crockery, although melamine, is terracotta red with white Warli stick figures around the edges, reminding me that this is traditional village food, made mostly using the different millets India ate before wheat and rice took over. Most of all, I love the table mats that let all their diners know of their Times Food Award, 2018.
Prems Graama Bhojanam, Anna Nagar, Chennai: Food
In keeping with the millet theme, my warm Mint Soup is thickened using some millet flour and the crunch comes from Ragi Fryums and Sweet Potato Crisps. I like the flavors and the texture of the thick soup. The Sweet Potato Crisps are totally irresistible. And I love the fact that this spud is loaded with nutrients, including Vitamin A.
Apollo Paneer: a take on the Apollo Fish that originated in Hyderabad, this one has thin square-ish yellowish pieces of the softest paneer, surrounded by slit green chillies and curry leaves. Coated with small-millet flour and a little bit of whole wheat atta, it is deep fried first and then cooked on the tawa. Surprisingly, the dual cooking technique does not harden the paneer. A dash of lemon brings out the flavors well, and lets the ajwain contribute its bit along with tulsi, raw camphor and cardamom.
My last starter, a favorite with kids is the Sweet Potato Tawa Fry. From the looks of it, I cannot seem to have enough of this spud. Discs, made in the style of South Indian Fish Fry are marinated in ginger-garlic-chilly paste before they are roasted to a delicious softness on the tawa.
On to the Millet Thali with a Ragi Chapatti and lobia (karamani in Tamil) kurma, it also has a cute collection of katoris holding different forms of ‘rice’. The Fox Tail Millet Sambar Saadam has rustic flavors. And even though it’s called Rasam Saadam, it is not, technically rice. It is the Barnyard Millet. The ingredients include the paan leaf, ginger and pepper because Rasam is meant to aid digestion, and this one certainly tastes like it means business. Last is the most-slurpy little millet Thayir Sadam. It leaves a happy taste of liquid curds.
I end my meal with Black Rice Halwa, a smooth black paste made using black rice flour, sweetened with organic jaggery and blended together with a little ghee. This one begs to be finished and I do a good job of obliging.
Prems Graama Bhojanam, Anna Nagar, Chennai: Plus & Minus
The food tastes a little different from what one usually eats at home. But once I begin, it’s all gone. I like that they use millets, the rural Indian grains which use only a quarter of the water cereals like rice and wheat need.
