CHENNAI: Ever seen 40 kg of chicken biryani disappear in 20 minutes? That’s what happened at the Great Biriyani Challenge on Tuesday, courtesy the opening of Aasife Biriyani, Palavakkam, their 10th outlet in the city.
Ever since the competition was announced on social media early February, over 10,000 registrations came in, and the organisers randomly selected 25 enthusiasts. The lucky few that were selected sat across each other at a long table for the final showdown at 11.40 am on Tuesday. We weren’t surprised when most told us they had skipped breakfast.
In contrast to most eating contests where things get rather messy – the only rule at this one was ‘no spilling’. So rather than stuff their faces within the allotted time of 20 minutes, these biryani fanatics instead chose to take their time and chew. And every time a bowl of biryani was emptied, a fresh one full to the brim was brought. Midway through, a supervisor made it a point to encourage everyone eating to sip water at frequent intervals. While a cheering squad of over 100 friends, parents and relatives watching from the sidelines cheered these gallant eaters to the finish. Or in this case, when the clock struck 12.
In the end, Dinakar S was declared the winner. He managed to eat an incredible 2 kg of biryani in 20 minutes and took home the grand prize of Rs 10,000 in cash and an anytime voucher of Rs 15,000 worth of biryani! The engineering student chuckled when we asked him his secret. “I did some practice eating a couple of days ago, but the truth is, I do that with biryani whenever I have the money.” Well, that certainly won’t be a problem anymore...
C Y Aasife Ahmed, MD of the chain, says the next challenge will be exclusively for women and kids.