Why do people spend hours of their leisure solving a crossword puzzle or a brainteaser? Kathryn Friedlander of the University of Buckingham published research in 2018 around the “aha” (or penny-drop) moment that solvers strive for. Quoting from the extract,
…we have evidence from a previous survey of cryptic crossword solvers that the ‘Aha!’ (or penny-drop) moment is the most important driver of continued participation in this hobby, suggesting that the positive emotional ‘payback’ has an energizing effect on a participant’s motivation to continue solving…
So it’s not that different from hunting for a good Biryani.
Work had been nerve-wracking and hectic, and I took a couple of days off to unwind. This coincided with the Banker taking time off during the week of the US elections to avoid the chaos. He did not avoid it, and went in mid-week. But we kept our Biryani appointment. He’d heard, through his grapevine, of a highly recommended satti soru, a glorious meld of traditional asian claypot-rice and a biryani, all the way in Sembawang. Flush with excitement, we met up, and made our way up north.
“Man, I’m so excited, I didn’t eat breakfast even”.
“I looked it up, they open at 11.”
We got kicked in the face, metaphorically, a 30-minute cab ride later, when told that they only start at 4pm on all days except Friday. We loitered aimlessly in the hot mid-day sun, unable to process the disappointment. Neither of us spoke. We’d discussed this for days.
“I need a biryani, bro. I came for a biryani. I can’t go home without one”
A hasty google-search directed us to a very stereotypical-looking Paradise Biryani not too far away. We shrugged and settled for it. It surely wasn’t the Paradise Biryani, from Hyderabad - we knew that much. We mocked the signs outside an empty restaurant at half-past noon, while waiting for our temperatures to be taken.
“Hahahaha, someone made an app called Kerala Cats, to deliver Malayali food”
“I’d sign up for it, if it’s any good”
“Oh, it’s Kerala Eats, not Cats”
“We might as well go to McDonald’s, it’s right here. And end this rubbish day now.”
“Legit list of restaurants on Kerala Cats, I’ll admit. I’m going to guess Marmaris is mallu-owned”
A quick look at the menu provided some succour, being an obviously authentic Malayali place. The on-point beef page woke us from our malaise. The waitress was obviously southern, and soon confirmed to be mallu. Things were looking up.
“2 Parotas. Beef Fry. 2 biryanis.”
The order was a reflex, from years of practice.
The food was outstanding. All the three items were authentic, and clearly the work of an experienced cook. The biryani was amazing - we tried both the chicken and mutton, and mutton won that contest, hands-down.
Malabar Biryani is mostly white, although it yellows once the ingredients mix. It’s usually jeerakasala (or kaima) rice, and there’s a lot of fried onion and ghee involved, apart from the spices (star anise is the highlight). It’s a dum biryani - the rice and meat are prepared separately before being brought together for the final cooking. The two best-known variations are the Thalassery [1] and the Kozhikode styles. This one felt like the Kozhikode variant, and we confirmed later that the cook is from Calicut. One of the owners, Manaf, asked us to try the Fish Pollichathu the next time around.
..we started a couple of years ago, and meant to make north-Indian food, but it turns out that Kerala food was good enough to bring in a lot of customers…
The place had filled up by then, too. We were in food-coma heaven for the rest of the afternoon, having now forgotten our earlier fiasco. Paradise Biryani is a keeper. They’ll deliver if you don’t want to go to Sembawang. I’m yet to try it, but Kerala Eats feels like a good find - Kerala cuisine is one of the great traditions of the Subcontinent. A successful afternoon’s work, in all. That positive emotional payback will keep me going for weeks.
[1] Pratibha Karan’s book of recipes have a Tellichery Biryani, as being different from a Thalassery Biryani, and being simpler and without star anise