If you love South Indian cuisine and hot, spicy food, its time to head over to Four Points by Sheraton Pune. The South Indian Food Festival will fire up your taste buds and have you reaching for that glass of water.

If you are a regular reader, you will remember reading about a preview of this festival last year. This year’s preview was limited but the festival menu itself isn’t. In keeping with tradition, the hotel will offer a cyclic menu during the festival, allowing you to taste and enjoy different delicacies every day of the festival. Five different regions have been highlighted, most notable among them being Karnataka and Kerala.

Malli Rasam, a clear soup made with coriander kicked off the tasting. The hot peppery rasam warmed us up inside out and set the tone for the rest of the meal.

Vadas are a mainstay of South Indian cuisine, and the Keerai Vada, made with chana dal and greens started off the meal. Fennel seeds offered a unique flavor to these vadas.

The Paneer Curry or Palkatti  Thakkali curry  was fire engine red, and made the chili a star. Tangy and unusual, this gravy will offer something different from the run of the mill makhani gravy or masala.

Avial combined specific vegetables like moringa, raw banana, chayote, green beans, all made in a coconut based sauce. Coconut oil ensured the signature Kerala flavor of this vegetable curry.

Veech Parotta turned out to be misleading. If you are vegetarian, beware, because this parotta contains eggs. Crisp and flaky, it was perfect to sop up the plentiful sauces.

The Kari Kai Soru rice was deceptively hot, but not very indicative of South Indian food. I was reminded of the different rice delicacies from South Indian cuisine like Puliodharai, Bisibele Bhat, Vangi Bhat, Lemon Rice and so on. My book Rice Bowl highlights all these and they are quite popular among the readers.

Dessert had the quintessential Kesari, or Sheera as we call it in Marathi. Payasam or Kheer is another flagship Southie dessert.

With the weather turning, we are beginning to crave warmer meals. The South Indian fest at The Eatery at Four Points is a good way to welcome the changing seasons.