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That is about Kumarakom in Kerala, made famous by Prime Minister A B Vajpayee after his weeklong stay there about one-and-a-half years ago. There is a Kumarakom in Chennai also. But it is a Kerala restaurant that serves karimeen brought from Kumarakom!
When I write about food and restaurants, I am at a loss: First I am a vegetarian (I don't know why most of the dishes in Kerala restaurants in Chennai are non-vegetarian) and second, I don't have a mother-in-law spirit who tastes her daughter-in-law's extravaganzas. (I envy some journalists in the city who dissect each dish to the core to find fault for fault's sake and thus to strike a 'journalistic balance'.) The vegetarian meals I had on a Saturday afternoon at Kumarakom was a sort of jugalbandhi - the pure white Tamil Ponni rice in the company of Kerala curries like Kerala aviyal and naadan chambanthi. (I think this marriage is meant for Mallus for whom the hard naadan kuthari has turned enemy because of their flirting with Ponni). The 'ada pradhaman' taste haunted me for the rest of the day. The restaurant, started six months ago near Palmgrove Hotel on Kodambakkam High Road, appears to be the haunt of Chennai Malayalees.
The Kerala menu starts with puttu-kadala curry, it goes through palappam-stew, Kerala chicken curry, Kerala chicken fry, kappa meenthala curry, kappa biriyani… Recently, they have introduced Athazham (supper) which includes kanji (naadan kuthari), meen peera/meen curry, kadala olarthiyathu/payar, mathi/ayala fry, naadan chambanthi, pickle, pacha moru/kaachiya moru, pappadam and kondattam. You are right if you feel these dishes have a Kanjirappally taste, because the restaurant's proprietor George Abraham (Sojan) hails from Kanjirappally. He has two restaurants - both are called Kerala Restaurant - inside and outside Black Thunder, Mettupalayam.
There are other dishes like Continental and Chinese mainly to cater to those who have not been initiated into Kerala items and whose outing means Chinese and other varieties. Call at Kumarakom on your next outing and taste the exotic karimeen. Meanwhile, I will search for a pure vegetarian Kerala restaurant in Chennai. Salil Jose Readers' response/inputs can be e-mailed to salil@chennaionline.com.
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Kumarakom, situated in the western side of Kottayam district, with its bird sanctuary, paddy fields and Vembanattu kayal, is locally famous for kappa (tapioca), karimeen and toddy. Youths, especially students from nearby colleges, throng Kumarakom to taste these items in its breezy and exotic ambience.
Does Kumarakom karimeen taste excellent in Chennai too? It does, that is why the visitors' book in the restaurant is full of karimeen praise: 'The karimeen was excellent, as usual. I love to eat Kerala food here' - a random selection.
Listen to any of the families at the nearby tables who loudly explore the menu and you will hear an exact pronunciation of 'karimeen vazhayilayil pollichathu', or 'beef olarthiyathu', or 'meen vattichathu'. The correct pronunciation will make you say, "Of course, they are Mallus". If you do, you might, hear a wrong pronunciation, draw your own conclusions while waiting to be served.
"Visitors from Chennai to Black Thunder, who tasted our food, suggested we start a restaurant in Chennai. That is why we started it here," Sojan's wife Mercy says.
