Biryani vs mandi is a legit debate in Kerala today. Over the past decade, the subtly flavoured yet satisfying Yemeni dish has crept into the Malayali food scene and has now acquired the status of “an emotion”. While its distant cousin, the biryani, is still the most ordered dish according to a popular food aggregator platform, it is the age of the mandi in Kerala. Known in local parlance as kuzhimandi (kuzhi meaning pit), entire meme wars are fought over the mandi supremacy and restaurants serving it exclusively have mushroomed across the State.
A typical mandi is rice and meat, flavoured with spices and cooked in a pit. Lighter in comparison to the average biryani made in Kerala with a unique smoky flavour, what is it about the mandi that has made it a household name?
“It is the Malayali’s love of rice,” says Sakeer PK, partner of Al Reem, a restaurant chain in Kerala, which sells mandi exclusively. “Rice and meat is a winning combination in Kerala and the mandi is the best example of this. It is not heavy on masala, ghee and oils like biryani. Also, it is available for reasonable rates. One full mandi can be shared by four to five people,” he says.
