This place was recommended to me by my friend as a good option to try some good authentic Kerala Naadan food, especially the cuisine thats said to have been created by and popular traditionally among, the Travancore Christians… That cuisine is very popular as one of the best cuisines for meat eaters… The item that my friend recommended that I try is the special meals option called “Achayan’s Sadya”… The presence of meats like Beef and Pork was a concern for me since I don’t eat either of them, but I was assured that the restaurant do cater to people like me and make substitutions on protein with options like Chicken and Seafood that I can have… So, with that in mind, I arrived at Edaneram restaurant.
I felt it to be a small yet trendy place. Definitely loved that artwork on the wall… Wasn’t too crowded too… Just had to wait for about 5-10mins before I could have a table… The staff was quite friendly too… Despite the scratch marks, the tables were indeed clean and so was pretty much the entire place, in-spite of the crowd which to me is always a good sign… Now when it came to ordering the food, turns out unfortunately, the Achayan’s Sadya was not available on that day… So, among the choices available, I went for their special of the season, which was the Chattichoru… I have always enjoyed having the Chattichoru (as mentioned in a previous post of mine) but this one was a bit different compared to what I have had previously… Turns out this Chattichoru is one which comes with Fish and Beef… So, since I don’t eat Beef, when I said the same to the waiter, he offered me a choice between Chicken Curry and Chicken Fry… Since, Fish Fry is part of the Chattichoru already, I went for the Chicken Curry instead of Fry… So, after a few mins, the following pics below shows what I was served…
As he served the Chattichoru, the waiter explained to me that it has Rice mixed with the Fish Gravy, Duck Egg Omelette, Pappadom, Fish Fry, Chammanthi and a Veg Thoran and instead of Beef he served a small bowl of Chicken Curry as well… The first thing I tasted was the Omelette… This was my very first duck egg experience and it was nice… Omelette was seasoned well and had onions, ginger and green chillies in it like how most people make Omelette in Kerala… The Chammanthi was the quintessential spicy dry Coconut chutney made with Raw Mangoes and curry leaves as well which is great to have with rice… The Veg Thoran appeared to be made using a mix of both Long Beans and Mung Beans which was a first for me and I could enjoy…
The Fish Fry turned out to be a mix of Fried Seafood as it contained, Anchovies mostly but also had a couple of small pieces of Sardines, Prawns and also Squid thrown in there… They all were well cooked and well seasoned… Definitely some of the best fried seafood that I have had in recent times… But what needs a very special mention is the Chicken Curry that was given… I don’t think I can stress this enough… That Chicken Curry was simply awesome… The best Kerala Chicken Curry I have ever had… The Chicken was cooked so perfectly that the meat was falling off the bone at the slightest touch and also, perfectly balanced flavours of Coconut Milk and oil, Pepper, the Masala and of-course the flavour of the Chicken itself cutting thru all of that – it was amazing… For a second, I really wished I had a Porotta to have with it but if I do that then I won’t be able to eat the Chattichoru and so, tried with the rice and it was awesome too… This curry is definitely a must try and I really can’t wait to be able to have it again soon…
Now coming to the Rice, the waiter had mentioned that it comes mixed with the Fish Gravy but as I was digging into it, as can be seen hopefully in the pic below, turns out there is more to it that just that… The rice was clearly assembled in two layers… The bottom layer was mixed with Moru Curry, which is a curry made with Buttermilk as the base and also includes use of Coconut, Shallots, Curry Leaves, etc and Spices… Its the top layer of Rice that is mixed with the Fish Gravy… So, that by itself is a good contrast of flavours right there… However, the downside was that the Fish Gravy, to me, didn’t taste anything of Fish and to be frank, it felt like a version of Tomato Rasam for me as all I could taste from that layer was rice and tomatoes… I mean I don’t have a problem if the Tomato Rasam indeed was used, but in that case, I do wish it was seasoned a lot better… This component was the only let down of this Pothichoru and of-course the Chicken Curry, did compensate for it very easily and so, I did end up enjoying the overall meal with an extra portion of the Chicken Curry Gravy, very much…
So, thats it this time from Edaneram… As I said, I did enjoy the food very much and so I am looking forward to trying more from their menu soon… And also, I would like to say a special kudos to the team there for being willing to accommodate special needs/requirements of an individual customer despite the crowd…
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