It has been a long time since I last had Pothichoru and also anything that falls under the category of Seafood (ever since the lockdown)… Besides, in-spite of the mixed reviews that are out there, the Pankayam Restaurant is one place I wanted to try ever since it opened but sadly, never got the chance to do so… So, I guess it should not be a surprise that when I saw the option for Pothichoru from Pankayam Restaurant in Swiggy that too having Fish, I just had to try… Ever since the lockdown began, any kind of restaurant food has been a rare sight here in my home as we reduced the activity of ordering parcels to being “the last resort”, because of the obvious risk factors because of which the lockdown even began in the first place… This is also why I haven’t posted any food reviews till now too since then… Nevertheless, I must say that this was the order with the least turnaround time ever that I have had from Swiggy… I mean the order was delivered in less than 15 mins, all well packed as can be seen in the pic below…
What I went for from the menu is the Pankayam Special Pothichoru and according to whats mentioned in Swiggy, its a Pothichoru consisting of Cheera Thoran, Chammanthi, Mezhukkupuratti, Achar, Ozhichu Curry, Chemba Rice, Mutta Porichathu and Meen Porichathu all wrapped in Banana Leaf… The Ozhichu curry ofcourse arrived in a separate container, but the rest were all in the Banana Leaf wrapped parcel as shown in the pics above…
The Pothichoru, for those who are unaware is a parcel of Kerala Style Rice and Curry meals wrapped in a toasted Banana/Plantain Leaf… It is typically used as a take away lunch especially by the working class people of Kerala who carry this for their lunch from their homes… This isn’t something you can enjoy freshly made as it needs a couple of hours for the fragrance of the Banana leaf to get infused into the food inside… After all, its designed to be made in the morning to be consumed for lunch… 🙂
So, coming back to this Pothichoru, as can be seen from the pics, all the components mentioned in the menu was present including the Cheera Thoran (stir fried local Spinach with Coconut), Chammanthi (Dry Coconut Chutney) and Mutta Porichathu (the Omelette)… The Mezhukkupuratti was made using “Kottapayar / Payar / Achinga” or Long Beans and the Achar was made with Raw Mangoes… The Ozhichu Curry was a Cucumber Mooru Curry, which is a loose butter milk based curry… Last but not least, the Meen Porichathu or Fried Fish was made with Sardines…
So, coming to how everything tasted like, clearly, as expected the fragrance of the Banana Leaf could definitely be felt everywhere in a subtle way… The rice was cooked just right to almost an al-dente which is how I like it best… The Omelette was lite and fluffy made and it had some chopped onions and chopped green chilly added to it… The Cheera Thoran and Payar Mezhukkupuratti were clearly done with enough care to not mask the flavour of their ingredients with spices… I could really enjoy both of them… The Mango Achar was not too spicy, but it seems to bring in some spiciness and sourness of the Mango to the whole meal… And it does indeed complement the taste of the Mooru Curry, which seemed to provide the freshness of the cucumber used and by itself had only very subtle sourness compared to how most places make it… What surprised me about the Mooru Curry is that it had quite a considerable taste / fragrance of Ghee in it as that was a first for me… The Chammanthi was the same Coconut, Ginger, Shallots and Dried Red Chillies based chutney thats usually found served as part of Kerala Meals… It was also mildly spiced… As you can guess by now, its the Achar that compensates for the lack of spiciness and sourness in the rest of the meal…
The only complaint that I had was that the fried fish ended up being overcooked as they felt dry and a bit rubbery… But still, it felt to be perfectly seasoned… I guess if the temperature was correct, it would’ve been awesome…
Anyways, overall, I think its a great Pothichoru to try for those who can get them and once the current COVID-19 crisis gets over and when life goes back to normal, I am hoping to visit that restaurant and try from the rest of their menu…
