Great Indian Food Trip – South Indian Biryani Trail
It’s said you can’t make everyone happy as you are not a Biryani! Biryani, the word itself brings a smile on our faces. In a recent survey it was found that Biryani has been one of the most ordered food in the year 2017. No doubt it is as it’s the easiest on the go meal one can enjoy. So when Scout My Trip, a road trip community platform approached us with the concept of the Great Indian Food Trip which began with a Biryani Trail of South India we were excited to the fullest.
Biryani is one dish which can be had at any part of the day. Thus, getting our hands on to try one of the finest Biryanis in South India while being on a road trip was a trip to definitely hop on to. Here is the route we followed on the Great Indian Food Trip South Indian Biryani Trail.
The route we followed
The trip was supposed to commence from Hyderabad and end at Calicut covering Bangalore, Chennai and Coimbatore enroute. This was a 10 days trip in which we were supposed to find the finest Biryanis in cities visited, enjoy it with the local foodies there and carry the best out of the lot to the next destination.
The Team: Deepak, Nikhita, Saumya, Himanshu and Srikanth (L to R)
Here’s the team which formed the flag bearers of the Great Indian Food Trip:
1) Deepak Ananth: Deepak aka Captain is one of the most sorted guy you will come across in life. The founder of ScoutMyTrip and a fanatic road tripper, he can drive effortlessly throughout any trip. Enjoying Bollywood numbers big time with some meaningful conversations, it’s the journey you cherish with him.
2) Saumya Rai: That’s me, the better half of RoadtoTaste and a true blue roadtrip lover, I love to be a part of any travel story. While I just love trying various cuisines, Biryani and camera are my only love after Vishu.
Srikanth, the man behind the wheels of Duster!
4) Himanshu Sehgal: The man behind MY YELLOW PLATE, this guy from Delhi carries his yellow plate on all his expeditions. A man of few words, Himanshu is very focused towards his work and makes all the efforts to capture the best of food and travel on his Yellow Plate.
Me and Himanshu enjoying Hot Filter Coffee from our Milton Thermosteel
5) Nikhita Biswas: The girl from Milton, she was the cool, super approachable and a pleasure to talk to. Although she kept herself busy with work most of the time, she never missed catching a stunning sunrise at the beach.
Nikhita, The Milton Girl!
The power machines used for this splendid trip were a Skoda Superb and a Renault Duster. While Deepak took charge of the powerful Superb, Srikanth was behind the wheels of the AWD Duster.
Meet Lucifer! 1666!
The purpose of the South Indian Biryani Trail was to find the best biryani in a particular city. We were supposed to hunt for Biryanis throughout the day, eat them all and discuss the best of the lot at the end of the day. Whoever won was supposed to be awarded the Certificate of Excellence. The best biryani from that outlet was carried from one city to another in our Milton Microwow Caserroles.
Biryani In a Milton
Aadab Hyderabad
We all gathered at Hyderabad and spent a day together before the trip began. During the initial hours of getting acquainted it felt comfortable and everyone seemed to be extremely excited for the upcoming adventure. The trip began on a high note as we had a foodie meetup in Hyderabad.
Foodies from Hyderabad
Food and travel bloggers from the city joined us to enjoy the Biryanis the city of Nizam offered and also helped us in finding the hidden gems there. Zubair from Hyderabad Food Diaries was kind enough to show us around. He also helped us get an exclusive entry to most of the kitchens where the famous Hyderabadi Dum Biryanis were being prepared. As they say that people of Hyderabad are very sweet both by nature and by language, we totally second that now after the wonderful experience. Special thanks to our foodie friends Sharmistha, Poulami, Dhruva and Indu for being a part of the Great Indian Food Trip in Hyderabad.
Namma Bangalore
Next up was Namma Bangalore. The IT capital of our nation has some rare and mouth watering Biryanis to enjoy. While we were hunting the best Biryani in Bangalore, we found two different kinds of Biryanis which were truly stunning. We also discovered two different delicacies, Khunafa and Moroccan Mint Tea while looking for Biryanis at various outlets. The bloggers we met during our visit to Bengaluru treated us with a lot of warmth and helped us diligently in our search. I would personally like to thank ScoutMyTrip for taking me to Bangalore and helping me meet my lovely friend Sakshi Rajat, a travel blogger based in Bangalore. Although we have been knowing each other through social media for almost an year, meeting Sakshi in person added to the charm of visiting Bangalore. Chittra from Masala Box was another friend who met us in Bangalore and helped us explore the city more.
The best thing about travel is you catch up with old friends and make new ones.
Foodies Meetup at Bangalore
Khunafa at Ali Baba Cafe
Vanakkam Chennai
The drive from Bangalore to Chennai was short, sweet and picturesque. On the way to Chennai from Bangalore we tried the famous Ambur Biryani at Ambur. The sunrise at Marina beach in Chennai is definitely worth mentioning apart from the Chettinad biryani we enjoyed there. The true foodie spirit was set to example by Ekta from Food Talk Chennai, a food blogger from Chennai. Though she cannot withstand non-veg food, she still came and joined us on our biryani trail in Chennai. Thanks for the lovely sandwiches Ekta, they were just amazing and a much needed change from the rice bowls of the past few days.
Sunrise at Marina Beach with Milton
Here we come Chennai!
The next stop from Chennai was Coimbatore as per the itinerary. However, we took a detour and stopped at Mahabalipuram for a few hours. The beautiful shore temple at Mahabalipuram was definitely worth the additional kilometers clocked.
Getting clicked!
Vanakkam Coimbatore
Coimbatore had a completely different taste of biryanis to offer and the same goes for Calicut. The biryanis at Coimbatore had a different type of rice used for the preparation. One should not miss the Mysore Pak (local sweet dish) at Coimbatore.
Sukhamanno Calicut
Calicut also offered a beach view with the taste of Biryani just like Chennai. The city has a very positive and safe vibe for any solo traveler. We explored the city by local transport and also loved it for the Kerala Parathas offered here. This was also a city to offer Fish Biryani apart from Mutton, Chicken and Veg Biryanis.
The competition became tough with each passing city. The newly revamped face of Milton had brought in some exciting new products. More details shall be shared in our next post where we talk about our Biryani experience from each city in detail.
Sunset at Calicut Beach
Each city had a different taste of Biryani. The method of preparation, the type of rice, the spices, the aroma and the appearance made the overall experience a magical one. While the amount of Biryani we had during the entire trip had our Biryani quota full for almost a quarter, the journey enjoyed with a group of amazing folks and the camaraderie built over 10 days is surely gonna last much longer.
This was Part-1 of all the fun and biryani we had on the Great Indian Food Trip.
Click here to read Part-2.
Do you like Biryani? Don’t forget to share your biryani stories in the comments section below.
7 comments
The pictures says it all… 😍😍
Waiting for your next post
Hello Indu, thanks!
The second post is live now, please do check it out!
All the biryani lovers out there, this road trip is a must for you!! Put it on your bucket list right away. – @VoicelessVagina
The greatest post I have watched read.
Thank you!
The greatest post I have read.
Thank you!