Pattai (cinnamon)

Pattai (பட்டை) is Tamil for cinnamon – the dried inner bark of Cinnamomum verum, also called lavangappattai in some Tamil households. In South Indian cooking it is used as a whole quill, not a powder: it goes into hot oil or ghee at the start of the dish.

Where ours comes from

Ours is grown in Gudalur in the Nilgiris. True cinnamon from this part of the world is thin, pale and fragile, and snaps rather than splinters – it is the softer, sweeter bark, not the thick cassia usually sold as cinnamon in supermarkets.

How it is used in South Indian cooking

• In biryani and pulao – a short quill in the ghee with cloves and cardamom.
• In kurma – with coconut, cashew and fennel for the pale Tamil kurma.
• In chai – a piece in the boiling water.
• In Chettinad masalas – roasted whole and ground.
• In Kerala ishtu and stew – with cloves, cardamom and pepper in coconut milk.

Storing it

Whole quills keep their aroma for two years or more in an airtight jar. Break off what you need rather than grinding a batch – ground cinnamon is far weaker than the bark it came from.

Buying and cooking

See pack sizes and prices, and the recipe for Tamil vegetable kurma.