Sunil Thampan has had an idea for almost four years — a one-stop curry shop, exclusively for sadya dishes. Kalan, sambar, thoran, avial, payasam, pickle, papadam… everything that goes on a sadya leaf is available, all year around not only Onam or Vishu. His father the late K Hari Thampan ventured into catering, in 1967, after learning under the legendary Neelakanda Iyer, chief cook of the Cochin Royal Family. Lockdown, the time and the resources at hand, of Poornasree Catering, gave him the time to explore this option and in July, 2020, set up Curry World in Tripunithura.
“If you suddenly have guests over or have to organise a function at home and are not able to prepare a sadya… the items are available here. The response has been so good that we are opening another branch in Panampilly Nagar on August 23,” says Thampan.
Only sadya dishes are available, including poppadum, pickle and payasam but no rice. The dishes are priced between ₹ 150-200 per litre and the payasam from ₹250-300 per litre.
Curry World is open from 10.30 am to 2.30 pm. There is also the pre-booking option, but it can be picked up without as well. The minimum portion is half a litre, “We don’t insist on large quantities being picked up or fewer dishes. Sometimes families would need just two or three dishes, not the entire sadya. We have catered to that requirement also,” Thampan says. Since catering is their core business, they are able to cater to the demands of the curry shop.
This formula works as many people prefer vegetarian fare on a regular basis, and paucity of time leaves little space to prepare an entire sadya at home. Also caterers, pre-booking aside, insist on a minimum order of say 10 sadyas or more.
This way, if there are only four people – a sadya can be put together. Although the payasam menu changes daily, there are two types every day. The dishes are prepared in the morning, and if there is high demand for an item or a few items it is quickly replenished, Thampan adds. “We have tested to see how long food prepared in the morning will stay, so we plan our schedule accordingly. If refrigerated, the dishes can stay up to two days,” he says. Home delivery is available for orders above ₹ 500.
