How far can a biryani shop go?
From a betel nut shop to a 4 seater hotel… From one small local restaurant to 40 plus global restaurants.. From a 200 Rs turnover to a 200 plus crore business.. From Nagasamy Naidu to Nagasamy Dhanabalan.. From a rural setup to urban glory..
This restaurant has set a turnaround example for all restauranteers ever since its inception in 1957.
Going steadfast for more than 60 years, The thalappakatti biryani is not just for the taste, but it’s a whole legacy out there. A perfect Case Study for any MBA grad I would say ! !
Just a brief amplification of the first 4 lines to throw the light on the legacy –
Mr. Nagaswamy Naidu(The Man behind) initially, had a small betel nut shop at Dindugul. He then expanded the shop to a 4-seater hotel(Anandha Vilas). Naidu believed his wife’s biryani recipe was unique and that would be his restaurant’s Unique Selling Proposition.
True to his belief, the authentic Dindigul recipe soon became famous with the localites and even started attracting people from far away. Just as popular as the biryani, was the white-turbaned Naidu behind the counter. Over time, the restaurant went from being called Anandha Vilas to Thalappakatti (Thalappa means traditional Turban.) Naidu passed away in 1978 and his son took over and renamed the restaurant as Thalappakatti Anandha Vilas. From 1957 to 2009 there was this one restaurant functioning at Dindigul alone. A short stint was tried at Coimbatore, but wasn’t largely successful.
The real turnaround came when Nagaswamy Dhanabalan, GrandSon of Nagaswamy Naidu stepped in – Owing to circumstances, Dhanabalan, Who was working then at London had to return and take over the business in India in 2008-09 to tend to his ailing father. His strong idea to expand to Chennai and rebrand the name/logo of Dindigul Thalappakatti served greatly fruitful (or Rather biryani Ful :P)
From then on, there is no stopping Dhanabalan from realising the power of his Grandfather’s brand, expanding and scaling to more and more restaurants at Chennai, other cities and even globally.
Was this Planned Expansion or destiny or a combination? Only Dhanabalan has the answer. Nevertheless, he has brought the biryani taste of his Grandmother alive to the world.
Now, Shifting the focal point from history to Our biryani taste, Dindigul Thalappakatti has a unique authentic spice (Infact more spicy than other biryanis), smell and flavour. Thanks to the seeraga samba rice used, the chief reason for the authenticity.. Seeraga samba rice, unlike basmati has no taste of its own, so it completely absorbs the flavours of the spices.
Though the spices used are all conventional like the regular biriyani ones, What makes this biryani taste real different is the custom blending of these spices to give the unique flavour. Apart from the usual masala, a lot of pepper is used. Unlike most other biryanis, Dindugul biryanis, in general does not use tomato.
Thalappakatti Mutton Biryani is the favourite of the lots – it has the perfect balance of spices and tender boneless meat.
There is of course the other biryanis like the chicken 65 biryani. The restaurant also boasts several unique dishes of their own. Black pepper chicken is one of my favourites and can go well with the biryani. Of course, there is always the solid chicken 65 which is a strong recommend as well.
Thalappakatti biryani has secured a great appeal to Chennai’s Biryani food Palate, go for it and check out the taste yourself!
Leave a Reply