Visitors from all over Ontario are travelling to Dindigul Thalappa-kattu, a small restaurant at a plaza in Scarborough, for a taste of an Indian dish called biryani.

BIRYANI 101
This mixed rice dish is a staple at most Indian restaurants throughout the city. Think of it as stir-fried rice but in the Indian or Pakistani manner. Every town has its own version, but it’s generally a variety of spices and condiments cooked with puffed rice or basmati rice. A protein (typically chicken) is also cooked in the spices and rice. It’s served family style with an assortment of sides from raita (cucumber and onions mixed in yogurt) to chutneys.

The biryani at Dindigul is vastly different and unique compared to what you’ll find elsewhere in the city. In most cases, a plate of biryani is slightly dry with al dente–type rice and soft aromatic flavours. At Dindigul, chef and co-owner Anbu Panbarasan cooks it differently, slowly layering rice and a secret mix of spices to create a biryani that is slightly lumpy and wet. The best comparison is that it feels like paella on the fork; its taste is reminiscent of the iconic Valencian dish.

Panbarasan opened the shop in November last year, going against the grain and featuring only one item on the menu: chicken biryani. It confused most guests that walked through door — they expected to see a menu of small snacks (short eats), tandoori items and curries. But Panbarasan decided that he wanted to stick to what he does best: Dindigul-style biryani. Since then he’s started to feature a few other styles of his classic biryani, mostly changing the protein. In the mornings he serves chicken, in the afternoon he does mutton.

Panbarasan is soft-spoken and shy about how popular his biryanis have become in the last six months. He is of Tamil descent, originally from south India, where he learned to make the southern-style biryani in the Tamil Nadu state. Panbarasan is reticent about revealing what goes into the biryani. He’s scared of someone ripping off his recipe.

SWEET FINISH
Recently, Panbarasan decided that it was time to put a dessert on the menu, and he chose one of India’s most recognizable ones, gulabjamun. The celebratory dessert is made by creating dough balls with khoya (milk solids), deep-frying them and then soaking them in rose water or other sweet syrup. It’s meant to be served warm. Panbarasan’s gulabjamun is the best  in recent memory.

Dindigul Thalappakattu Biriyani, 3850 Finch Ave. E., 905-471-6161