Tigers Experience at Junior Kuppanna - Chennai

*Disclaimer* - My palate is tuned to the North India style cooking ,I have tried my best to grab each flavor by ordering basic understandable dishes so please excuse me when i write the description of the dish my way .One of the most tough reviews i have written so far .

"Move over Ponnusamy "   yes for sure - for year we have sworn by the non veg food available at Ponnusamy hotel so this time we opted to be different and try Junior on several recommendations and reviews  - was it a good choice YES 100% .. had the most amazing meal after a long time in Chennai . Actually another reason why preferred junior was that the number of dishes compared to ponnusamy are limited - trust me the palate needs to start watering on reading the menu which really doesn't happen when you see too many things on the menu . KISS - Keep it simple stupid, and it belongs to a family chain with home grown recipes .

The review is based on a telephonic discussion with the nephew of the Owner Mr Prabhu. Man was it enlightening. Ok here's how i reached him called up the GM Sarvanan who connected me to Mr Moorthy the son of Mr Kuppusamy, we had a bit of language problem hence he connected me to Prabhu his nephew  who looks after the chennai operation . Very pleasant man to speak to - patient and passionate about Junior Kuppanna

 All recipes are a BIG SECRET , ALL MASALAS ARE A SECRET how mean can that be . Good for me but sad for the people who cook LOL.

Junior Kuppanna — named after Kuppusamy by his son's Moorthy and Arumugan, both of who have Junior preceding their names. Junior' K. Murthy and Junior' P. Aruumgan (as their business card proudly states) reveals that the original restaurant was started in 1960 in Erode by his parents, Kuppusamy and Rukmani Ammal. His mother still supervises the blending and grinding of the masalas that go into the food. When they opened their first branch in Coimbatore, Arumugan's brother ‘Junior Moorthy' excitedly tells us he thought up the name “Junior Kuppanna, since we're the sons of Kuppusamy”.

Kuppuswamy + Anna = Kuppana .

Simple easy to understand menu , well priced .

The Spotless Kitchen

Was taken for a guided tour of the kitchen - man was it impressive YES , systematic , no chaos , everyobe doing their own defined task , all utensils containers shinning so very impressive - a general observation in chennai the kitchens are always spotless , commendable . They took me to a room where all the Master Gravy masalas were being grounded - god was it was amazing - i tasted all the raw masalas to understand the flavors - chicken , mutton , fish were being ground and each was absolutely different from the other even though the colors were almost  the same. So one room for the masalas , the next room where the gravies were being boiled and then came the dosa cum parotta room ... so systematic .And on the side were four quiet women washing utensils at rajnikant speed - they didn let me take a pic of them in action .. All the kitchen team wore face mask and head mask - hygiene is number one .

The big secret of the funda behind jr Kuppana is that there is no chef or head chef - the food is so systematically prepared that even a amateur can have ago at it - guess the masala recipes the process is detailed superbly by Mrs Rukmani Kuppusamy the inventor .

Eating on Banana Leaves

This one is funny as we sat down to eat they plonked huge banana leaves in front of us - then came a man sprinkling water on them and we were what you doing dude - thats when our host intervened and told us that we are to wipe the leaves dry ourselves - not bad - so the stage was set the palate drooling the stomach actually hungry for some authentic south india no nveg food - SERIOUS EATING . Amongst us were some angrez who wanted to eat with fork n knife - they were boooed out and forced to enjoy the meal with their bare hands .

Our host who understand the Punjabi Palate helped us ordering - actually didn need much of  his help as things are simple Biryani or Meal and then some specialty dishes thats it , and those dishes were to die for .

The Complete Biryani Meal 

The Onion Raita and Egg Curry 

Simple cold Onion Raita freshly made .. The Egg Curry was not the loose gravy it was a thick gravy like a sauce poured over the boiled egg. Just mash the egg in the biryani and enjoy .

Chicken and Mutton Chettinad Curry 

See this is what i said above the color was almost the same but flavours were miles apart . SO basically we were served only gravies with the biryani ... choose mix and eat .

Simple Aloo Sabzi

Very basic south indian simple aloo sabzi with bits of cocunt corriander cliantro.

The Armour

The Concept of Junior - Biryani or Meal . I opted for the biryani meal - which is as follows - Banana Leaf - small katoris of different curries - chicken , mutton, fish , egg , aloo sabzi (mind you only curries no meat in them ) onion raita - and Biryani thats it . So u have the choice of mixing any of the gravies with the biryani and relishing it . We opted for the Mutton Biryani . The Meal option i think is steamed rice sambar rasam and vegetables .left it for another day .

Mutton Biryani

The biryani served is with Seeraga samba rice which is traditionally used in TN for Biryani. The taste is also authentic taste from the interiors of TN. Traditional Short Grain rice fat and small grains . Very unsual and flavor full . The mutton cooked well propbaly a yakhni style of cooking where the meat and the rice cook together - closest to a pulao.

Fish Tawa Fry

Had only two portions of this fresh fish - looks more  like a red snapper for sure but it was the Seer Fish  -single bone animal ,  the marination was just amazing - spicy sour and chilly . I actually am not a fish eater for the thorns and the smell - but this one was relished by tiger LOL We all kept complaining about the spice but yet carried on hahahahaha. 

Sukkha Mutton

Well this one was not like the expected Bhunna Ghost - it was dry thick gravy with small slightly fleshy pieces of mutton nicely stirred in the masala - awesome with the parotta. Could evidently see green chillies and Kurry Pata the rest was a secret like all other dishes  The meat pieces had fat on them for absorb the masals and to make the meat juicy . ALso easy to cook .

Pallipalayam Chicken

Named after a town close to Erode - its chicken Pallipalayam is famous across the country . This was country chicken , nattu kozhi -supposed to be the best side dish with a Biryani . Stir fried with mild coconut flavor . A total new experience with a country chicken , always preffered country to broilers for the flavor of the meat .

Prawn Masala

Killer no1 . Prawn Masala with Parotta - Small size prawns , masala slightly khada - like it is in north indian dishes - with coconut and kadi pata flavor .... Our host had told us to must try this dish , it was was so delicious that we ordered couple of extra portions and wiped them off. The flavor was South Indian made the north indian style , slightly sweet , mild spiced . Sorry about the pic next time will use a better camera .

Brain Masala

Killer No 2 - Brain Masala with Egg Parotta OMG this was just too good - the brain was a much better version of  the silken tofu or paneer hahahahaahh...  the masala so nicely wrapped on the brain and together with a parotta it was divine . A very difficult pieceof meat to cook ,so delicate one step and its all over - very nicely done .

Rasam

Very different Rasam - tomato based - Khata / Sour fresh and digestive. I prefer this to the normal regular daal wala rasam .

Egg Veech Parota

As light as feather wonder how do they  this... made like a pizza - wafer thin on the tawa.. Hanky style packing as they call it - four different was of folding the parotta ... egg there but not seen visibly ...  superbly artistically done - a must try . Again a secret how they make it .

In Full Action .. aiyooooo

Sorry for this ugly picture but the truth RULES .... messy , makes u least like a child ,play a little eat making balls ... what a fun meal . Get a bit messy when the bones start collecting on the leaf .... hahahahaah

The Pigs from Delhi 

Hahahaha 24 of us attacked Junior they gave us a separate floor far from the maddening crowd - Serious eaters with some appetite, we all had built our appetites up with some chilled beer before reaching JR. so u can imagine the hunger  .. we ate and we ate and we ate more til there was pin drop silence at the end of it and everyone had the content look on their faces ...  only a 16000 bill for 24 which is not bad at all . All you could hear onthe two tables was "Pass me that"  " You want more" " Isthere more brain "  " Eaten tooo much " hahahahaha.. had promised them that i wont post this picture but couldn resist .

Payasam

Cold sweet milk with coconut , sewaiyan - soothing for the stomach which was blasted by fiery masalas.. thank god for this .

Spotless Floor of the main kitchen

as per industry standard for kitchens , it should be spotless clean - so clean that you can actually eat of the floor . Yes the entire restaurant was spotless including the loo's .

all over the south now they should be Up North Soon

Overall Tigers Experience - Outstanding 

Food : Fresh ,Perfect Flavors , Healthy, a perfect homey , going back to discover the secret of the secret recipes . and no zinetec required after the meal.

Ambiance - Surprisingly not noisy - oh i know why everyone is busy eating non stop - serious eating 

Pricing - as per me it was economical - but as per chennai friends it expensive 

Service - Mind Blowing , the servers stand by your side like hawks on duty , they never give a reason to look up .

It was definitely a great experience to eat at Junior Kuppuna - where the entire experience of Food Service ambiance was well balanced .. certainly going back for more . Definitely going back soon to cover the rest of the Menu .. greedy Tiger