Nestled in the Western part of Tamil Nadu is one of the lesser-known secrets of Tamil cuisine that offers a delightful treat to those who seek it. Kongunadu cuisine derives its name from the ‘Kogunadu’ belt comprising regions like Coimbatore, Pollachi, Salem, Karur, Avinashi, Mettur, Tiruppur, and Palani whose culinary traditions are unique and rooted in their region. 

Kongunadu cuisine differs from Chettinadu cuisine in its conservative use of certain spices, and ample drizzlings of pepper, jeera and grated fresh turmeric. The foods are usually prepared using gingelly oil or coconut oil and turmeric, as the region is the highest producer of these crops in Tamil Nadu. The cuisine, largely made in home kitchens, uses ingredients that are locally sourced like freshwater fish and country chicken; short-grain rice like ponni; kollu or horse gram (mostly used in rasam); dried or grated coconut; and a variety of region-specific vegetables. Millets are used predominantly in the food menu like Kali, a popular dumpling made from soaking and steaming millets in a mud pot. 

Some of the popular region-specific dishes are Kambu (pearl millet) dosa, drumstick soup, Vazhapoo vada (made from banana flower), Manikaram spicy vadagam curry (made from holy basil and betel nut leaves), Arisi paruppu sadam (rice cooked with dal and spices - a recipe that has existed from the fourth century CE), a tangy sherbet called Nannari, Thenga Paal (sweet hot milk made of jaggery, coconut and cotton seeds), Ulundu Kali (a sweet dish made out of jaggery, gingelly oil and black gram), Kachayam (dessert made from jaggery and rice), Arisiparuppu Sadam, Kambu Panniyaram, Ragi Pakoda and Pori Urundai.