This is a series on food that we had at Madurai & Dindigul, March 2024. Read earlier posts here – Konar kadai, Murugan idli

In a nutshell:

What started as a search for the famous ‘Dindigul biryani’ of Tamil Nadu, ended up being a memorable lunch, with a lot beyond a great biryani

Address & other details:

Instagram (Singapore) – https://www.instagram.com/venudindigulbiriyani?igsh=MTk2bm1mMWR1aGJnbQ==

Could not find an India Instagram site for them. Please write in comments if you do find

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076333802293&mibextid=uzlsIk

Google – https://g.co/kgs/chzvhdx

Meal for 2: ₹500 onwards

Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian

Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews. YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.

YUMMRAJ rates all the food items & then gives a final overall rating, which is a simple average of the individual item ratings. What the ratings stand for: 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Disaster

Short description- in case u r in a hurry

For the uninitiated-

While the name biriyani or biryani is commonly used across the Indian subcontinent, every region/city has its own version of biryani. From the choice of rice to the texture of the rice to the choice of the meats & the way they are cooked, to the way they are served, the differences are as much as a modern bread slice & a tandoori roti (both being technically breads).

While the Awadhi & the kolkata biryani use aromatic extra long grains, the biryani rice is expected to be independent, not sticking to each other. These biryanis are subtle, refined, not even remotely rustic. The Hyderabadi biryani also uses long grain independent strands of rice, the overall spice flavours & scoville quotient is much higher.

The biryanis we have had in Kerala & Tamil Nadu so far have small grain rice & usually they stick to each other. These biryanis are generally more moist than the north & east india counterparts & are robust in flavours (on a relative scale) & rustic.

Dindigul was on our list for a while & when we decided to do a trip to Madurai, we requested Vana safaris, our tour curator to add a stop over at Dindigul. We have been travelling all across India on food & culture immersion tours since 2019 & have got addicted to their unique layered tours way beyond the obvious that no amount of Internet research could get us ever.

When we told our foodie friends Mukunthan & Praveena of Madurai about our plan to drive to Dindigul to have the famous biryani, they suggested Venu Biriyani hotel without a blink & also suggested the dishes we should order at Venu.

P & M have been running food walks in Madurai from the time when food walk was an almost unknown concept in India. If you are a foodie & are travelling to Madurai, I would recommend you not to miss a food walk with them.

Website – https://foodiesdayout.com/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/foodiesdayout.tht?igsh=Njh3bHVzYW9wdjZz

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/FoodiesDayOut?mibextid=uzlsIk

So we arrived at Dindigul from Madurai (60 km one way) to eat Biryani!!!

Venu biriyani hotel has a massive, imposing facade. There are spaces around the entrance which are used for car parking. Venu has appointed security guards to help organize parking.

As we walked in, we saw a massive non AC dining hall on our left, a large waiting area on the right. We opted for a seat in the relatively small but otherwise large AC area.

The menu of food at Venu (with pictures of every dish), was printed on the walls of the waiting area.

At 1 pm we entered the AC dining area & it was already bustling. We got the last empty table!!!

The gentleman who served us food understood we don’t know Tamil. He was extraordinarily warm with us & tried his best to make us feel at home. I showed him the list of food that M had recommended & the list brought a smile on his face. He said ‘oh your good friend has recommended the best’.

The interiors of the dining hall were simple & nice. The dining hall had traditional heavy wooden furniture.

Food was served on banana leaf. The custom is that guest re-cleans their leaf with water using fingers before food is served. Guests also fold the leaf in a certain way to indicate end of the meal.

Absolutely loved the biriyani, admire the variety & the consistency, but bowled over by the fluffy fried eggs & the quail fry.

Detailed description – in case u hv the time to njoy reading:

Karandi omelette (Fluffy fried eggs) were super juicy, soft & fluffy. Simply Unputdownable. Rate it 4.75/5

Mutton kola urundai ( Mutton meat ball fry) was good to taste, a bit dryish, had the perfect seasoning , had a soft inside & a crisp outer layer. Rate it 3.5/5

Meen kola, (crumb Fried fish) was really nice. The fish was flaky & juicy. There was a thin coating of masala between the fish & outer coating. The outer coating was crisp. The seasoning was perfect. We loved this. Rate it 4/5

Mutton chukka had small pieces of bone-less mutton, cooked in a dry gravy. Had this dish thrice in the 3 day trip to Madurai. The chukka here was very good but a close third in rating after the other two we had. Rate it 4/5

Mutton liver was very good to taste. The minimal gravy was simple & really enjoyable. The liver pieces were small , soft & enjoyable. Rate it 4.5/5

Kaadai (Quail) fry was a revelation. We re-ordered this dish. The deep fried quail was immensely juicy, had robust flavours of the meat, had a crisp outer layer & was really good to taste. Extraordinary. Rate it 4.95/5

Kaadai Quail curry was excellent too. Super soft meat & a very tasty, rustic, robust gravy. The flavours of the spices overpowered the flavours of the meat. The gravy was grainy & very tasty. Rate it 4.25/5

Dindigul mutton biryani, the reason for us to be in Dindigul was very very good. The biryani was brought to the table in small bowls & served on the banana leaf. There were 3 options- full plate, half plate & quarter plate. We went for quarter plate each – hence small.

The small grain rice was sticking to each other. The flavours of spices & that of the meat mingled very well. Loved their chemistry. The flavour was unique. There was no masala on the face. The masalas were rather very well cooked. Could get the flavour of pepper from among many spices. The scoville factor was moderate & hence the focus remained on the taste, rather than being distracted by the heat (teekha).

There was a hint of sour probably from a curd base. This biryani was different than the one we had at Madurai. Really worth the travel.

The chunks of meat were abundant. They were super soft & really good to taste.

Rate the biryani 4.75/5

The biryani was served with dhaalcha, a daal cooked with Mutton with bones. We have had daal with fish head in Bengal but this was new for us. Loved every bit of this dish. Super tasty. The flavours of daal & meat mingled very well. Rate it 4.5/5

Javvarisi payasam came at the end. It was a bit too sweet for our palate but that’s how it is had here. Really liked the soft sago along with the thickened milk. Rate it 4/5.

Overall rating of food at Venu averages out to

Surely RECOMMENDED BY YUMMRAJ. Worth the drive from Madurai.