Karaikudi is the Chettinad land famous for its Chettinad cuisine. So when I planned a trip to Chettinad, I enquired where I could have my authentic Chettinad lunch and many suggested Sri Priya mess in Karaikudi.
Google maps location link;Sri Priya Mess - Karaikudi
Started in the year 1968, Sri Priya mess was started by Shivakumars parents and now is taken care of by him and his wife.
To my surprise, there was no biryani and they cater to only lunch. There is no lunch that can be fulfilled without a Biryani.., that’s what I thought till I had lunch at Priya mess.
Their meal plan is a little different... in other hotels and Eateries you can either Order for a veg lunch or a non-veg lunch... with non-veg lunch you get few non-veg gravies but here at Sri Priya mess, there is no veg lunch. The customer has to order a non-veg dish be it chicken, mutton, fish ( either curry fish or deep-fried fish) mutton liver, mutton head curry, mutton brain fry, mutton spleen fry, fish head curry, prawn, crab .. there are about 14 to 15 non-veg dishes to choose from.
So after the customer orders, he gets the non-veg dish with rice served on a banana leaf with two veg dishes.
The gravies that come with this rice are a specialty here.., all the gravies are thick and went so well along with rice ... you get all the gravies like the country chicken gravy, Chettinad chicken gravy, mutton gravy, fish gravy, crab gravy, prawn gravy, mutton bone kulambu which was like rasam...
My preference was the country chicken gravy and the Chettinad chicken gravy. It was thick, loaded with flavors, and tasted extremely good...
In the non-veg dishes, I tasted mutton, fish, mutton brain fry, mutton spleen fry.
Mutton spleen or suvaroti was the best. The suvaroti was so soft, and the masala was extremely good. I could definitely say that this is the best suvaroti that I have tasted. The best and I truly mean it.
The mutton brain fry was also good, the brain melted in my mouth and it’s masalas tingling my tastebuds...
Wow-what a meal is all that I could say...
A true Chettinad food in Karaikudi that I have craved for a very long time was fulfilled with this lunch at Sri Priya mess.
Yes, Sri Priya mess not only successfully filled my stomach but my heart too !!!!
So after the customer orders, he gets the non-veg dish with rice served on a banana leaf with two veg dishes.
The gravies that come with this rice are a specialty here.., all the gravies are thick and went so well along with rice ... you get all the gravies like the country chicken gravy, Chettinad chicken gravy, mutton gravy, fish gravy, crab gravy, prawn gravy, mutton bone kulambu which was like rasam...
My preference was the country chicken gravy and the Chettinad chicken gravy. It was thick, loaded with flavors, and tasted extremely good...
