The Day Sambar Got Hammered

On Saturday, I went to one of the popular restaurants in Madiwala (A Malayalai hub of Bangalore). The restaurant, just a stone's throw away from the famous Ayyappa temple there, is named after the 'masses'; but it attracts both the masses and the classes alike.

It was my first visit and I was alone. The restaurant was full of the Saturday crowd, mostly 'soft' and 'hard' (software and hardware engineers) mallus, splurging on the typical Kerala delicacies they had been missing.

Being a kitchen-friendly person, I can prepare any of those delicacies at home. But, not fish biryani. The dish always beats me. So, I ordered Fish Biryani and, yes, I got what I ordered. No complaints there.

But, what they forgot was to pack a hammer also with the dish to break the fish in question. While eating the fish, I even worndered if it was chicken or beef. That fish had lost its individuality and personality long time back, may be in a refrigerator, I guess.

In the Priyadarshan-directed Mohanlal hit 'Kilukkam', the character played by Thilakan gives a dialogue, when his cook (played by Innocent) serves him chicken.

"Could you get me a stick as well?"

"Why sir?" asks the cook.

"I want to kill it first before eating," retorts the master.

I found myself in a similar situation.

Then the fishy tale continues...

Today, I spotted a boy selling fish on the street. I ordered some and he was doing the cutting and the cleaning for me. I told him, I didn't need the fish-head. He objected.

"Sir, this is very tasty, just eat and see. Ok, what dish are you going to prepare, sambar or fry?"

Sambar!! Why in the world sambar is related to the fish. If a brahmin listens to this, he would kill both of us, I thought.

Then, just out of curiosity, I told him it was fry.

"Ok sir, then don't take the head. It is not good for fry. But, if you are making sambar, then it is good."

Then only I realised that, for him, a fish curry or anything with gravy is a sambar.

See the depth sambar has reached… that too in South India!