Paaya

Lamb or goat trotters (paaya) slow-cooked for hours in a fiery, thin broth of shallots, tomatoes, ginger-garlic, and whole spices until the collagen melts and the broth becomes deeply gelatinous. A pre-dawn Chennai Muslim breakfast eaten with parotta or idiyappam — sold from roadside stalls near mosques from 5am, with a bone-marrow richness that no other morning dish can match.