Barotta Master knows best

CHENNAI: If you’re like me, you’re sure to have had big plans — week-long ones or even just weekend ones — for road tripping through the southern districts to sample some of the best meat dishes on offer. Madurai biryani, Virudhunagar mutton kothu, karandi omelette and what not. However, if you’re anything like me, I’m sure those plans still remain plans with no room for fruition in the near future. Well, it is for us unfortunate folks that Barotta Master brings the delicacies of the South to our doorstep. From the coveted poricha parotta to the very intriguing biryani parotta pottalam, it has every dish to make your food trip come alive in your very home. 

And that precisely is the point, says A Devendran, the manager of the restaurant that was started by a group of five doctors. “Normal parotta is something simple that you’ll get anywhere. What can we do to make it more fun and interesting? That’s when we considered bun parotta and poricha parotta. It started there. Then, we drew more items form the different places we had travelled to; what’s special to each place became part of the menu. The idea was to present it all in one place at the same price,” he says, explaining the genesis of this cloud kitchen.

The chef, Raman Alagiriswamy, he managed to get on board couldn’t agree more. “People want to try new things. If we were only providing the regular parotta, they will like it for two days but on the third day, they will hate it. So, we wanted to give them something innovative while retaining the local flavours,” he reasons. 

All that good intention certainly translates into the food they have to serve. The bun parotta was perfectly toasted and with just a hint of sweetness typical of the maida bread when it’s made well. The Ceylon veechu parotta lived up to its reputation and the poricha parotta was sinfully good (though it’s only recommended for immediate consumption). Not to be sidelined by its off-district cousins, the nool parotta was very satisfying too. While these are enough to bowl you over, their Master’s Signature Leaf Parotta section has more surprises. Like the teepori spicy beef ilai parotta; fashioned like the kizhi parotta, has tender and succulent beef packed between two perfectly toasted parottas and is potent enough to send you into a food coma. 

“Kizhi parotta is something you get everywhere. We wanted to give something new there and so added biryani to the mix — hence the parotta pottalam. You’ll find some authentic local dishes on the menu too. For example, the nei podi kozhi is very famous in the south. It is prepared here with homemade masala,” points out Raman. The chef is ably assisted by five cooks with great experience in local cuisine featured at the restaurant, adds Devendran. 

These are all the reasons why patronage at this five-month-old restaurant has been very encouraging, says Raman. While the pandemic has had a devastating effect on the restaurant business — shutting down many crowd favourites and sending others into severe loss — there was still hope for surviving amidst all this with just good food and a creative menu on your side, says Devendran. “It was challenging to start the venture during this difficult time but we had the confidence that people will support us if we offer good food. So, we made sure to plan well for it and that has seen us through so far,” he shares. 

And he doesn’t want to stop here. Barotta Master may have other branches in the future, if it keeps going the way it is now. Branching out into other cuisines, Devendran has plans for a momo restaurant and a shawarma outlet too, for who can have enough of that. Meanwhile, Baratto Master’s delicacies are available on Swiggy, Zomato and Dotpe. 

For details, visit Instagram: @the.barottamaster