Jolarpettai is a town in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu in southern India. It is a sparsely populated town and is a good place for people who love exploring delicious cuisine. The food in Jolarpettai is greatly influenced from the Tamil cuisine which is based on the philosophy that serving food is a noble service. Most of the dishes that are served in Jolarpettai are vegetarian and are made from rice and lentils as they are the major crops of this region. Although some of the non-vegetarian dishes are also served in the restaurants of the town.

Here are some of the most popular dishes of Jolarpettai;

• Idli –

Idli is one of the major dishes that are served and famous in whole southern part of the country. Idli is a form of cake made from rice and cooked in steam. It is served with coconut chutney, sambhar, and tomato chutney. It is a major breakfast item that is loved by people here.

Idli – Img Src: Flickr @ Aditi Patnaik

• Dosa – Dosa is another south Indian dish that is popular in this region and is made from the paste of finely ground rice and lentils. It is a paper thin layer of shallow fried rice paste stuffed with potato fillings called masala. There are many versions and variants of Dosa available in this region such as Masala dosa, Rava dosa, onion dosa, Paneer dosa and many others. It is also served along with coconut chutney and sambhar, which is made from lentils and a mixture of vegetables and spices.

Dosa – Img Src: Flickr @ Anoop Negi

• Vada or Idiyappam –

It is another popular breakfast dish of Jolarpettai and is made from rice flour. Balls are made from dough of rice flour and are stuffed with grated coconut and are deep fried on medium flame. It is served with different curries of thick consistency.

Idiyappam – Img Src: Flickr @ Abdul Gaffoor

• Rasam –

Rasam is a tasty tamarind soup made with lentils and tamarind along with rich spices such as peppercorns, cumin seeds, asafoetida, and turmeric and is served with steamed rice, idli or dosa when sambhar is not available. In some recipes, Toor Dal is used in place of lentils.

Rasam – Img Src: rasam.co.in

• Hyderabadi Biryani –

Although, biryani is made and famous in all parts of India, but Hyderabadi biryani has its own charm and taste. Hyderabadi biryani is a delicious dish of Mughal period and is made from meat pieces, basmati rice, spices like cardamom, cinnamon, chillies, pepper, bay leaves, etc. A lot of ghee is also used in the recipe for rich taste and aroma. The meat used for making this biryani can be of chicken, mutton or beef depending on the preference.

Hyderabadi-Biryani – Img Src: Tripadviser

• Uttapam –

Uttapam is another major dish that is served on the food stalls in Jolarpettai. It is a thick pancake that is made from rice flour and is topped with various ingredients like onions, chillies and capsicum. It is very identical to Pizza and is also termed as Indian version of pizza.

Uttapam – Img Src: Google

• Parottas –

This is a lip-smacking dish that is served as a popular street food in Jolarpettai, and you can find that easily on a food shop on the roadside. Parottas are made from egg and meat along with an extremely spicy sauce termed as Salna. It is normally served along with onion raita. Other variants of parottas served in Jolarpettai are kothu parottas, chilli parottas and egg parottas.

Parottas – Img Src: WordPress.com

• Pani Puri –

Pani puri is a major street food that is liked by people all over India. Along with that, you can also enjoy aloo chaat, dahi vada and papdi at the food stalls at the roadside in Jolarpettai.

Pani Puri – Img Src: Wikipedia.org

With such as rich cuisine, you can easily say that Jolarpettai is a like heaven for foodies.