A Taste of Kerala
After power walking along a new blend of concrete and dirt terrain, I didn’t see any restaurants that looked potentially worthy; so, I turned around as it was starting to get late.
Just before passing the Egyptian restaurant that I enjoyed recently, I decided to turn onto a new street. I figured that if I didn’t see anything, I’d head back towards my hotel. On the way I’d grab the always pleasing option of a falafel and salad.
Fortunately, I came across a new restaurant. I saw people that I guessed were probably from the subcontinent. I happily strolled in. While grabbing a table, I said:
“What kind of food do you have?”
“From Kerala.”
The state of Kerala lies as far southwest as you can get in India. While traveling around the cultural intermix of Hindustan last year, I had intended to make it to Kerala. But, as I realized while traveling there, I’d only be able to see a small bit of this grand peninsula. After spending three months on the sultry subcontinent, I felt that I’d barely scratched the surface.
The closest I got to Kerala was Goa, around 1,000 kilometers from this southern most state.
Upon walking into the Kerala food establishment, I was glad that I’d persevered in finding a new restaurant. Since that night of determination, I’ve been back to the Athidhi Restaurant at least five times. I’ve lost count.
There is no menu, the items vary a little bit depending on the night you go. The waiter speaks enough English to tell you what’s on offer.
This bread called Parotta translates to layers of cooked dough. The flaky bread concoction tastes heavenly when dipped into this spicy curry. The cook surely has a flair for packing heat. It’s just the way I like it. This snack was brought to my table the first time I sat down in the restaurant. I didn’t order it. If they guessed that it would provide me with a great first impression of their restaurant, they were right.
Like the curry above, this chili chicken has just the right amount of spice: a lot. While chewing the flesh off of the bone and copious cartilage, wonderful flavor sinks into your teeth and gums. I’ve quickly become a huge fan of South Indian cuisine.
If you like your food spicy, you’ll love this dish and restaurant. This chicken is moist, tender and perfect as it bathes in the best curry I’ve ever tried.
On my most recent visit, last night, this roasted chicken was the featured chicken dish. As it isn’t nearly as spicy as the two above, it’s not my favorite. But, it still has a little bit of spice and a lot of flavor. Wedged between a piece of parotta or blended with a bit of rice, it’s delicious. Like the above chicken curry, it’s moist and juicy. While biting into it, I thought: the chef sure has a knack for chicken.
As I’m not a big beef person, this isn’t my favorite dish; but for meat, it’s still good. This is because it’s cooked to perfection, and immersed in yet another nice sauce. The mixed veg and potato behind the meat is a staple item here and compliments everything well. I think I’d like any type of food that hails from Kerala. 
In the middle you see the parotta. I stuff my face with so much of it when visiting this place. When you run out, they keep replacing it. To the right of the parotta is chana or chick peas. Behind that is a spicy gravy that adds amazing flavor to a piece of parotta or some rice. In the back center is a small amount of ajar or pickles. To the left of the ajar is dal and in the left front you see sabzee or veggies. This swadisht or delicious meal is a vegetarian’s dream. NOTE: The italicized words are Hindi.
In the background you see many faces glaring up at the live cricket match on TV. These people take their cricket seriously.
These nine plates were easily devoured by my coworker and I. The plan is to constantly turn people on to this place as it’s currently my favorite restaurant in Riyadh. These dishes, plus free filtered water, and two cups of chai, came out to a mere 21 Rial or $5.60. As there is no tax or tip, it was less than three bucks each. I’ve never been charged for individual items, they just give me a total at the cash register on the way out.
This sweet milky chai is a perfect way to end an Indian meal. Like at the Andhra Pradesh restaurant, this tea is the real deal, just as if you were in India.
Athidhi Restaurant is located on Prince Saud Al-Kabeer Street, in the Hai Al Guds – Rawdah section of Riyadh. They can be reached at 2480127. If you’d like directions, call them, or email me: mike@earthdrifter.com
What’s one of your favorite restaurants?
My name is Mike, aka Earthdrifter. I managed to travel on and off between work, from the mid-90s till the mid-00s. At the start of 2011, after a five year exploration hiatus, I eliminated a home base and started traveling indefinitely. Now I combine my love for travel, writing, and improving my personal culture. As I enhance my existence, I hope to help you do the same. 
I like TOI Taste of India Restaurant in Batha near Shifa Al Jazeera clinic…. its more north indian food but with a kerala touch but i love their food
NASERK: Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve never had North Indian with a Kerala touch. I’ll make a note to try and find TOI the next time I get up to Batha.
I love Indian food, I’m impressed at how they blend the flavors to each of the dishes which compliments the taste. This restaurant is like heaven of delicious food that will fill you up to the brim.
MARIA: Thanks! I love Indian food too. I always walk out of this and most Indian restaurants satiated beyond comprehension.
Looks yummy. Like you, the closest I made it to Kerala during my three months in India was Goa, although I did enjoy some Parotta somewhere (Your description brought back some memories for me!). I’m going to have to make it back one day – I think I’ll combine Southern India and Sri Lanka into one trip.
KATIE: All this Southern Indian food consumption makes me realize that I’d love to get back to India and check out Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. There’s also so much more than the food. There’s the energy, the people and the endless surprises that makes India one of the most rewarding travel destinations on earth.
Wow, amazing price for all that food! What was your favorite, of the 9 dishes?
PRU: Yeah, luv it when the values are amazing like that. One favorite is the Thali because it’s the healthiest. The gravy the goes with it is super tasty. The curry in the first picture with the parotta and the one with the chicken is amazing, the best curry I’ve ever tasted in my life, so definitely my other favorite.
That’s an incredible deal, 9 plates including meat for $5.60! I was just in Kuala Lumpur about a week ago and discovered a southern Indian Chettinad restaurant – and similar to you, I found the food to be so amazingly good that I returned 3 days in a row – and I’m still dreaming about it.
MARK: Excellent! I’ve never heard of Chettinad cuisine until you mentioned it. I just researched a bit and will now keep my eyes open for it. I’ve found out that many Chettinad people of southern Tamil Nedu have relocated to Malaysia, Singapore and the US.
I love spicy food but I find it depends where the spice comes from. For some reason I can have hot peppers in Latin America but when it comes to Indian food spice I`m all runny nose and watery eyes.
I love it anyway.
AYNGELINA: Perhaps, while traveling in Mexico, you developed a high tolerance for Latin spice. Maybe, if you were to eat Indian food more often, your nose and eyes would eventually adapt. This is just an empirical guess. I didn’t grow up eating spicy food. Traveling and eating various regional spicy dishes built up my tolerance for them.
Yum! This all looks so good!
LOCALTRAVELER: Thanks! It tastes as good as it looks too.
Wowee wow… that food looks sensational. Indian food is… well I really can’t rank it high enough. When I lived in Tokyo, I ate it pretty much everyday for 5 months. If gluttony is a sin, I might as well reserve a place in hell now!
MARGYLE: It’s easy to be gluttonous in this city that I’m in. I just looked at my gut in the mirror. I’ve definitely put on a few pounds. It must be all the Parotta and Pakistani pita bread. When in Rome… After this stint, perhaps I should consider moving to Japan where I could easily rectify the situation by living on sushi, miso soup, tofu, seaweed and octopus.
The dishwasher is going to be happy with the way you cleaned those nine plates!! It must have been good, it certainly looks delicious.
ANNETTE: Ha ha! Considering you’re a restaurateur, you’d think of that. Thanks for enhancing my empathy skills.
If you haven’t been to Kerala, you really missed a good bit of India (I’ve never been there
but it’s said to be second most beautiful place of India after the valleys of Kashmir). It’s also the most literate state of India and has the best male:female sex ratio (decreasing number of females is quite a big problem in India; it’s currently around 930 females for 1000 male; Kerala has 1040). Another blog friend of mine Mayur Hulsar had a trip to Kerala last year; you can just check with him about the beautiful land of greenery and backwaters.
And you noted it quite right. We Indians, wherever we are, take our cricket seriously
GANESH: I really wanted to go to Kerala, but there just wasn’t enough time. I just read that Kerala has a 100% literacy rate. There are many Kerala people here in Riyadh and they all seem to know some English. They ignore my Arabic and speak English to me.
. I’ve checked out some of Mayur’s Kerala photos. Yes, the backwaters there sure look beautiful and unique.
copious cartilage? sounds appetizing! lololol you should post for the food network!
glad your enjoying the food and the new location and job!
ANNIE: Thanks for the confidence boost.
Like FB, I also need to get a Foodspotting account.
You’re actually supposed to eat the cartilage, as they do in many cultures throughout the globe. In Japan, there’s a dish called nankotsu or fried chicken cartilage. It looks like fried calamari, so I tried it. Most Japanese people love it. Believe it or not, it’s actually quite good.
Cool! I am going to inbox you a fb message. I love all of your stories!! Thank you!
BRIDGET: Thanks! I’m gonna get the FB thing together here momentarily. For some reason, I keep procrastinating.
Looks like you´ve landed at food paradise…!
AL: All things considered, yes. The service is also excellent and the staff and Kerala patrons are quite friendly.