Today's episode brings you a fascinating food trip between Thalassery and Kannur along with our host Shihad from Kannur City Heritage Foundation. This short food tour covers a legendary biryani place along with a few other popular pit stops. Let's walk you through the experience.
Our first destination was the legendary Paris Restaurant. It’s an old-style eatery that attracts patrons from all walks of life. The place is divided into small rooms with four tables each. Almost everyone over here could be seen digging into a plate full of biryani. Here we tried their chicken and mutton biryani that consisted of tender and succulent meat pieces and aromatic rice. From the first morsel itself we got the idea that Paris Hotel's biryani is absolutely irresistible. The accompaniments included a coarsely ground coconut and green chili paste, some pickle and onion-curd raita. This Thalassery biryani was so flavourful that one can have it just by itself. This place truly lived up to its enormous reputation and we were happy to visit it.
After this brilliant biryani, Shihad took us to Thalassery Heritage Street to show us a slice of the culture, art, architecture, history and heritage of this city. The presence of many buildings over here with vibrant wall graffiti and its proximity to the Thalassery Pier, has turned it into a favourite hangout spot for local youths and tourists. Next we took a stroll down the beach side and enjoyed some murukku and peanuts from the two small stalls.
Next we reached Chayakadda near Cooperative Hospital bus stop. It was a busy place with busy staffs serving tumblers and snacks to the huge crowd that had gathered there. We ordered a kaipola or banana cake and pazham nirachathu or a shallow fried sweet snack made of ripe plantain and coconut filling. Both the snacks were quite decent but the tea really invigorated us.
Our next stop was the famous Muzhappilangad Beach which is Kerala's only drive-in beach. It was a cloudy and windy afternoon, so a walk around it felt surreal.
The last stop was Nasar Ka Thattukada in Kannur. Thattukada are local fast food stalls where one gets a wide range of snacks, local bread and curries. Because of the pocket friendly menu and quick service, these places are a blessing for the locals. On the recommendation of the genial owner, Nasar Ka, we tried a parotta mix which is essentially a mix of shredded Kerala parotta and chicken curry. It was filling and tasty. The interesting part of these eateries is the electrifying vibe and the theatrics that unfolds at the counter.
Heartfelt thanks to Shihad and Ziya for showing us their city's food culture.