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Where taste lingers on

Photo: G.Moorthy

Delicious Array of non-vegetarian dishes that lure customers

It’s authentic to a T. From its recipes to the taste, Kumar Mess will have you smacking your lips.

Sans swanky interiors, which most posh restaurants flaunt, it is the Chettinadu and the traditional Virudhunagar food combination that does the trick here at this 17 year old non-vegetarian restaurant. Décor wise what you cant miss are the attractive glass paintings on the wall.

“I inherited the recipes and cooking style from my grandfather Ramasamy Pillai, who was an expert cook. My maternal uncle who was an assistant to my grandfather, was also popular cook in Karaikudi area. When he came here during the Chithirai festival in 1976, he suggested that we start a roadside eatery to cash in on the overwhelming crowd during the festival season in Madurai. It paid off,” narrates proprietor D. Ramachandra Kumar.

From a humble beginning as a roadside eatery, the restaurant now has four branches in the city and plans to add a few more.

Though their menu is similar to a few more joints elsewhere in the city, the USP of Kumar Mess is distinctly the “taste”.

Lip-smacking exotic varieties like the boneless crab, rabbit curry, quail (read ‘kaadai’) roast and dove chukka get them customers effortlessly.

“We have exclusive customers for the boneless crab. Generally, people buy frozen tinned boneless crab pieces and then cook. But we buy fresh crab and separate the fleshy portion for the dish,” says Mr. Kumar, whose knowledge gained as a D.Pharm student helped him.

“I bought surgical knives specially for this purpose. We take utmost care in seafood purchase,” he assures.

His exposure to food preparations right from childhood days has stood him in good stead.

“When we started our joint in 1991, I was the parotta master and I used to help in preparing gravies that accompany the main dish while my brother cooked idlies. We did not achieve success overnight. During initial stages, we could go to bed only at 3 a.m. after settling down all daily chores. We even manually drained out the sewage water, as there was no underground drain facility that time,” he lists the hard grind he and his family members underwent.

Even now he makes sure that at least one family member is present in the kitchen. “We never fail to meet our customers in person. This personal interaction has helped us to develop our customer base,” he says and thanks his labourers for being the pillar of strength to him at difficult times.

Whoever has tasted the food at this restaurant can never forget the mutton ‘kola urundai’. it leaves the customer with a lingering taste and wanting for more.

“This dish also brings more people to us. It is one of the authentic recipes taught by my maternal grandmother, Amma Thaai, to me. The finely chopped mutton (kheema) pieces are sauteed in a dry pan and drained. Finely chopped onion, grated coconut, garlic, ginger and green chillies are fried in little oil. The powdered mixture of cinnamon, cloves, pepper, jeera, saunf and cardamom are added to the mutton and coconut mixure and grinded well. Small balls are made out of this mixture and deep fried to make delicious ‘kola urundai’,” Mr. Kumar explains.

Dinner at this restaurant also is a pleasurable experience, with the traditional signature dish of Madurai, ‘idlies’, available. Besides, no one can stay away from the mutton ‘kothu’ parotta, which the joint is famous for.

The restaurant is open for lunch between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m., for Tandoori and Chinese varieties from 4 p.m. till midnight. For orders dial 0452-4360391 for Tallakulam branch, 0452-4370391 for West Perumal Maistry Street branch and 0452-2530105 for Union Club.

T. SARAVANAN

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