Sankranti - Annanagar

Sankranti

A 36, Block A,6th Street, Anna Nagar East, Chennai 600102. Landmark: On the lane next to P.ORR & Son

This was originally in Alwarpet and due to some issues with building approvals, it shifted to Ananagar in Oct 2014

I have tried their Singapore outlet a couple of years ago. This was in their outlet on the first floor near Mustafa shopping in Little India.. My brothers who live in Singapore usually order food from them for birthdays or other social get-togethers. And, this is how it panned out in our very own Namma-Chennai Annanagar outlet

Ambiance: Exactly a replica of what I saw in SG, white walls decorated with the framed posters of "baapu bomma" created by the legend "Baapu" The Padma Shri winner for his brilliant illustrations, paintings and memorable movies in Telugu (pelli pustakam, mr.pellam to name a few you should must watch). You can see the bangles on the ceiling sleeved over the lights and traditional silk embellishments. These first glimpses take you to your roots or your andhrite connection if you are one.  The place is maintained well  and it really gives you that nice feeling as you walk in. Being a sunday evening, not many places were occupied and there were 2 tables with guests. I have heard from my friend that he had to wait all the 4 times he went for lunch

If there was a lineup of the baapu bommalu on the wall, here is a lineup of what we ordered: Bomidayala pulusu with steamed rice, naatukodi vepudu biryani, mamsam biryani, kurma and raitha and finally Junnu

Maamsam dum biryani 240/- : Mutton biryani, was spicy tomato rice with well cooked pieces of mutton stuffed in between with a garnish of caramelized fried onions. It lacked any flavor or biryani feel. I hail from Vijayawada in AP and we have a biryani which is neither Chennai or layered hyderabadi style but something in between and very delicious. This was not close to that, may be if they worked on the masala it should work

Naatu kodi vepudu biryani 240/-: The biryani base is the same only that two pieces of country chicken plus an egg are added to this.

Bomidayala pulusu 305/- with steamed rice 95/-: This was the best dish of the night. It tasted exactly like how we make it at home. 6 pieces of this SMELT FISH has very soft bones.. so you can pick one and as you put it in your mouth and grip them with your lips and pull out the bone, it comes clean leaving the soft fish meat in your mouth. This is a bland fish with no taste and therefore the soup makes up for it. Musty try

Junnu 115/-: Colostrum milk cheese (1- 3 days milk after calving) , the milk is mixed with regular milk, jaggery, cardamom for flavor and aroma and pepper powder sprinkled on top and pressure cooked to make this yummy dish. The junnu we had was tasty too but it felt slightly artificial (like china grass one)

and finally a cup of curd 25/- was yummy and creamy

You also get punugulu, gongura, dosakaya mamsam, pappu podi and nalla karam which are traditionally andhra

I haven't tried their bhojanam priced at 199/- and a special bhojanm at 299/-. Should visit once again for it

Verdict: Ambiance is spot on, food was lill pricey but andhra dishes tasted very good. e.g., just a bomidayala pulusu (I am aware sourcing it is a big effort) and steamed rice would be 400 and would suffice a single person. Biryani could be better.

I left the place with this song on my mind pa pa pa pappu dappalam, vedi vedi annam meedha kammani pappu kachinneyi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN__ILOVeOU&index=7&list=PLge3qZtHs3axqPNa0mq7668X3yP4PoJdc