Recently, I had been hearing about a new place that opened near Kazhakuttom and whats so unique about the place is that they make and serve Biriyani as early as 3 AM… This was surprising for me cause at pretty much every restaurant that I have ever been to, Biriyani has always been served exclusively for lunch… Even today, its nearly impossible to find a restaurant serving Biriyani for dinner and here we have the Saranyaa Mess who serves Biriyani at all times… It has been a while since I have been wanting to visit the place and finally got a chance to do same and here we are 🙂
The restaurant claims to be making Ambur Biriyani which is one of the styles of Biriyani from Tamil Nadu… Tamil styles of Biriyani typically involve an all in one pot cooking process instead of having layers and multi-stage cooking process as is the case with the most other kinds of Biriyanis… What makes Ambur style Biriyani different from others like the Thalappakatti Biriyani for example is the more subtle use of spices and the use of the dried red chillies paste and tomatoes, both of which, dominates the flavour profile… For the record, it was just after 6am when I reached there… At that time the menu had their Biriyani variants as well as a couple of side dishes… So, I went for their Chicken Biriyani and also a portion of their Chicken 65 both of which arrived as can be seen in the pics below…
As can be seen in the pics below, the biriyani came with a gravy, onion raita and lime pickle as is typical with most kinds of Biriyanis in India… However, the gravy in this case was not the typical Brinjal based gravy thats usually seen with most other forms of South Indian Biriyanis (outside of Kerala that is) but instead it was a Chicken based gravy which reminded me of the South Indian style Kurma gravy… It was nice to have with the Biriyani… Coming to the Biriyani itself, it was indeed tasting like the typical Ambur Biriyani, though on a slightly more spicy side cause of their use of the red chillies paste… I personally am a fan of the Tamil styles of Biriyanis cause being made using the one pot singular cooking process, every grain of rice would have all the flavours of the entire biriyani init… The same was the case with this Biriyani as well… The only problem I felt however was just that the pieces of Chicken (very generous portion) were overcooked and dry… My guess is that maybe the portion I got was from the end of the batch they were serving from, considering the timing and thats probably why… As for the pickle and raita, the pickle was indeed briny and spicy as expected… The raita was just like the onion raita I had from the Dindigul Thalappakatti restaurant being made with incredibly rich and thick yogurt and fresh onions… Considering how this biriyani was on the spicy side, the raita added a whole dimensions of richness to it while also mellowing out the spiciness… So, I recommend having a lot more of it than what you see in the pics… Thankfully they place a sizeable pot of it on the table 🙂
The friend who recommended this place to me had mentioned that I must try their Chicken 65… In fact, she had recommended that I try their Chicken 65 Biriyani which I decided to split and try the Chicken Biriyani and Chicken 65 separately… lol… Anyways, the Chicken 65 arrived as can by seen in the pics below… It was clearly freshly fried being so pipping hot… So, first of all, unlike the pieces in the Biriyani, the Chicken 65 pieces were perfectly cooked with a very thin crispy outer layer and was just yummy to have… I felt that the use of spices in this was better balanced compared to the Biriyani… I mean it was just right along with just the right usage of lemon juice, enabling the flavours of the Chicken to come thru which was thoroughly enjoyable… I just loved it and I would highly recommend it as an evening snack with Tea 🙂
That’s it for now… I have two more options of Biriyanis to try which would be the Egg Biriyani and the Chicken 65 Biriyani, since I don’t eat any other kinds of meats… Hopefully will try soon and also hoping to try other items from their menu as well… The problem is that their menu in the delivery apps is extremely limited and the way the place is set up (that tiny spiral staircase), its a bit difficult for somebody with my physique to enter and exit… Of-course, the place is a testament to the changing food culture in Trivandrum where not too long ago, it was unthinkable to even expect customers late night or early dawn, let alone be able to serve Biriyani at those times… So, lets see… Will post about more of their food when possible…
