Pune has a large number of outstation students and IT professionals who are living in different parts of the city. It is therefore not surprising to see eating out joints serving food from different regions which have gained popularity over time. Kerala Fast Food is one among them. It is a popular name among those who love savouring food from the popular state. Their outlet at Aundh Gaon sees a huge crowd over of the weekend while on weekdays, it’s more of online orders.
Unni Raghavan, who is managing the family-run restaurant says, “We opened our first outlet at Khadki three years ago. This one (at Aundh Gaon) opened some eight months back and we have also started one at Wakad recently.”
Kerala Fast Food serves Egg Appam, Fish Fry, Chicken Fry, Chicken Masala Roast, Vegetable Curry, Kadala Curry, Porrota, Appam, Puttu, Biryani, thali and a few other items. “We serve exotic dishes. We have handful of dishes but each one of them is unique,” says Raghavan, adding, “Not many restaurants serve these items. Our extra spicy Chicken Masala is very popular and our fish is prepared differently as we use Kerala tamarind in it.”
He says that they source their spices and raw material from Kerala. “We grow the spices in our backyard in Kerala; my grandmother takes care of it. Except for the Porrota, we cook in coconut oil because it’s our staple oil.”
He adds that on weekends, many patrons from Baner, Aundh and Pimple Saudagar visit the place. “The IT crowd mostly comes during weekends and on weekdays, we mostly get students and young bachelors who come to have the thali and therefore, we have made it pocket friendly — at Rs 100. In the veg thali, we serve rice with Thoran (stir fried vegetables), Kootu Curry (regional curry), Morru (buttermilk), papadum, pickle and Rasam,” he says.
Raghavan says that many non-Keralites visit the eatery too. “The crowd consists of half Keralite and half non-Keralite population, mostly people who are well travelled and love our food,” he says.
Several students work part time at the restaurant during weekends. The family is involved in day-to-day running of the restaurant. “My mother takes care of the kitchen and supervises the recipes,” he says.
