Dindigul Thalappakatti Restaurant, Annanagar, Chennai

I love India. I love to travel in India. And I absolutely LOVE to sample the best food that this beautiful country of ours has to offer. It is even better if the restaurant serving the fare is an institution and Dindigul Thalappakatti in Annanagar, Chennai is an institution in Indian and Tamil cuisine.
Dindigul is the region in the South of Tamil Nadu and Dindigul Cuisine along with Chettinad are the two most distinctive Non Vegetarian Food schools emanating from the Southern most state

of our country. The food of the region was made famous by the efforts of one Nagaswamy Naidu who by his distinctive head dress earned the nickname of Thalappakatti (Tied Turban). Thalapa in Tamil means "turban" and katti, "Tied", the food popularised by Mr. Naidu is today known as Thalapakatti Dindigul cuisine and is a completely different strain of Indian food in its own right. Long may his soul rest in piece.
The decor at Dindigul Thalappakatti in Chennai is that of a typical Chennai meal restaurant, straight lines of tables seating 4 people each. The food at the restaurant is served on Banana leaves which are kept of steel plates. We ordered quite a spread at Dindigul Thalappakatti, we ordered the famous Dindigul chicken biriyani, chicken idicha veruval, brain egg fry and a Karandi ommelette. The Chicken Idicha veruval was a bonlesee chicken veruval and was not too spicy which is usually a problem area in South Indian food if one is not careful. The brain egg fry was basically a scrambled mash of egg and brain and was ok but had too much of the masala flavour almost overpowering the taste of the brain and the egg. The other two dishes were what made the meal special. The Dindigul Biriyani is again a unique adaptation by the region of India's most popular dish, firstly it is cooked with small rice - called seeragasamba rice as against the Basmati used in the North. The Dum flavour is also almost entirely absent. The water used in the dishes preparation is also apparently translated from the Dindigul region. I can already hear screams of sacrilege by Biriyani aficionados but hey, the dish is interpreted differently by all parts of our country and it was very tasty!
The highlight of the meal however was the Karandi Ommelette, which is the most wondrous egg preparation that I have ever seen or heard about. What you get is round hot ball of egg served at your table. It truly grabs your attention and makes you gasp and you have to see it to believe it. The egg is apparently cooked in a round shape container akin to what is used for making Idlis. There is actually an open kitchen in the restaurant where you can see the dish being prepared. Brilliantly there are also innovations where you get the preparation with stuffed meat or prawn. Unfortunately I did not have the appetite to enable me a taste but the same is a positive must have when next in Chennai. The very thought of the preparation is enough to make anyones mouth water. We also rounded off our meal with a glass of Jil Jil Jigarthanda - the traditional drink from Southern Tamil Nadu but it wasn't half as good as what you get in Madurai.
A meal for two at Dindigul Thalappakatti restaurant without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 650/-.
How to get there: Dindigul Thalappakatti Restaurant is in Annanagar. From the Annanagar round circle you have to take the road towards Chintamani. Then you have to take the first left. The restaurant will fall on your right.