Tiny and unpretentious, Kabab Corner stands on a quiet, shady lane off Anna nagar's 3rd Avenue. For the past three years, its brand of Tandoori and Mughlai cooking have made it an extremely popular eat-out and take-away. In the sparkling clean kitchen is one of the few coal tandoors in Anna Nagar that imparts to the kababs a characteristic slow-cooked, faintly smoky flavour. Kabab Corner might seat only eight - and another handful outside - but at dinnertime, it is an irresistible draw for the kabab and biryani lovers of Anna Nagar, Sheony Nagar and Kilpauk. Then, one finds a line of cars parked at the kerb, while the occupants make out their orders, mostly for take-aways. Kabab Corner boasts of as many as 800 regular customers. An alphabetical index lists all their names, addresses and phone numbers and assigns each a code number. When a regular customer phones in to place an order, all he need do is name the dishes he wants and his code number, and as soon as it is ready, the food is delivered at home.

But there is more to the place than excellent kababs, biryani and genuine halal meat: there is Jamal, the man behind it, friendly, companionable, a good conversationalist and a chef with impeccable credentials. He spent many years with the Hotel Intercontinental in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where, besides working in the hotel, he spent three years at the palace of King Faud. He was one of the Intercontinental's Tandoori and Mughlai specialists, and so was often sent to Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong to do duty at food festivals. As a seasoned professional, he is very particular about his cooking; for instance, he makes his garam masala himself, with all of 27 herbs. "That is why my kababs move better and faster than anyone else's in Anna Nagar." Quality, he asserts, has been the most important ingredient in his cooking, and the most important factor for his success in business. "If I don't have quality, I can't sit here in Anna Nagar," he says. He selects his vegetables and meat himself from Purasawalkam market, and never delegates the job to his assistants. "I can't say I serve Halal food and ask my boy to buy the chicken."

This writer finds a special magic here on Sunday nights, while sitting out on a seat along the sidewalk with a plate of chicken biriyani. In the quiet dark, one savours the food and listens half aware to a gentle concert of sounds: the low murmur of conversation and soft stereo music from cars parked nearby, the tinkle of the shop telephone, the rustle of leaves in the wind and the occasional purr of a passing car or motorbike. It is good to be at Kabab Corner! It is open, on all days but Friday, 10 am to 11 pm. Kababs and Tandoori dishes are available from 6 pm to 11 pm. 

Kabab Corner is at 79, H Block, 5th Main road, Anna nagar (East) Chennai 600 102
Telephone: 628-1372

Arun Masilamoni

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