Sweet, smoky seaside indian pizza

At bustling Kasimedu market, fisherfolk make spongy atlappam , following a recipe that’s been in their families for decades

“It’s like pizza, but a sweet version,” says K Menaka, covering her eyes with her sari’s pallu as smoke puffs up from her makeshift oven. It’s 7 am and the Sunday morning madness at Kasimedu fish market is at its peak.

Menaka sells atlappam by the road that leads to the New Market. A small crowd has formed around the stall she has put together out of dried coconut fronds. It’s an unusual sight, even for Kasimedu’s standards, what with its mammoth stingray and dramatic fish sashaying past on loaded tricycles.

Menaka has set up three ovens — each comprises two earthen cooking pots stacked one atop the other on a wood-fired stove. One pot, that holds a palm-sized plate filled with batter, is placed on the stove; another pot with hot coals is on top of it. Menaka lifts a pot with the coals to check if theatlappamis done. It is; she lifts the plate with the dish — it has risen nicely — and slides it on to a makeshift table inside the stall using a spatula. She slices it into quarters and hands it to us on a newspaper.

The sunshine yellow atlappam is soft and fragrant; it’s mildly sweet with a crunchy crust. Priced at Rs. 40, one piece is filling enough to be made into a meal by itself.

“It is a Kasimedu speciality,” says S Nayagam, Menaka’s mother-in-law. She is seated on a low plastic stool nearby, ladling batter into the plates while Menaka does the baking.

Born and raised in North Chennai, Nayagam says that the dish is a regular at fisherfolk households in the area. “My grandmother taught me the recipe,” she recalls, sprinkling coconut slivers, cashews, and raisins on the ladled batter. “It consists of 12 ingredients — ground rice, rava , fried and ground gram dal , egg, ghee, oil, fennel seeds, cardamom, sugar, and vanaspati , and coconut and dried fruit to be sprinkled on top.”

Nayagam makes the batter at home; she adds the egg and toppings just before the dish is baked. “I’ve been making this for 24 years,” she adds.Atlappamcan be had at any time of the day. “But it is not an everyday thing at home,” explains Nayagam. “We have to set up the oven and it has to be done outdoors because of the smoke.”

As the morning wears on, and more people stop by for a bite; Nayagam adds that there are two other people selling it in Kasimedu. “We sell only on Wednesdays and Sundays when there’s a good crowd,” she adds.

We walk on, munching on the spongy treat, merging with the crowd and the multitude of fish, we make a careful note of her location — the next time we want atlappam , we will have to come to Kasimedu — it’s not available anywhere else in the city.