Nellika Restaurant: Payar Kanji

For the past couple of weeks or so, I have been seeing this new place pop up in the food delivery apps… Its called Nellika Restaurant and as per what the app tells me (since I can’t locate them online), they are located in Kazhakuttom right next to the Railway line… They have a very small menu consisting entirely of variants of Kanji (or Congee)… However, whenever I tried ordering from them they weren’t available… So, it was finally today that I got to place an order and have a taste of their Kanji and well, here we are 🙂

First of all, let me set aside a possibility of misconception by saying that the cute note on the pack has nothing to do with my decision to write this post ? Anyways, among their menu items, I went for what they call as Payar Kanji simply cause that combination of Cherupayar (Green Gram) with Kanji has been my favourite… So, it came as can be seen in the pics below showing the Kanji that I unpacked into the vessel along with the accompaniments…

Now according to their menu, this is supposed to have the Kanji cooked with Cherupayar along with Cherupayar or Beetroot Thoran or Kadala Varattiyathu, Idi Thenga (Coconut) Chammanthy, Homemade Pickle, Mulaku Kondattam and Pappadom… As can be seen in the pics here, the Kanji which clearly has been cooked with grated Coconut and some Cherupayar in it, came with Cherupayar Thoran itself and the rest of the mentioned accompaniments… The quantity felt more than enough for me…

Coming to the taste, I felt that the seasoning was perfect as I didn’t have to add salt to the Kanji as I usually end up having to do to enjoy it… The rice was cooked just right… The Kanji on its own had flavours of the Coconut and Cherupayar in it, along with Shallots and Green Chillies… In-fact I found a few whole Shallots and a Bird Eye Chilly in it as well… Personally, I felt that the Kanji on itself was good enough to have had as a meal… Now, coming to the accompaniments, the Chammanthy was just like any other that we see included as part of Kerala Meals and essentially had a dominating flavour of Coconut and Dried Red Chillies… I do however wish there wasn’t any of those little bits of the Coconut shell in it as chewing on that unexpectedly is not a pleasant experience and definitely not good for the teeth… As for the Cherupayar Thoran, it was nice… Just the right amount of spices usage and that too just the basic Chilly Powder and Turmeric combo along with Coconut, Curry Leaves, Mustard Seeds and Shallots… The Mulaku Kondattam ended up being on the spicy side for me but nonetheless it was nice to have with the Kanji… Finally, that Pickle ended up being one of the most saltiest and sour pickles of Lime that I had ever had… Literally made my face squint every time I bite of one of the lime pieces… lol…

Overall, felt nice to have this Kanji along with its accompaniments… One accompaniment that I was missing was the Curd… Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep some in stock before ordering next time… 🙂 Thats it for now… Hoping to try some of the other variants of Kanji that they have in their menu soon…