God's own food

In the absence of a maid to cook us wholesome meals, we are eating out more often. Yesterday was another such day.
Dinner was at Kumarakom, one of those Kerala restaurants that are well-patronised partly because the fare is good but mainly because anything that swears by the name of God's own country sells amongst homesick Malayalis craving for naadan food. In fact, Kumarakom has eclipsed the age-old Malayali hotel in Chennai, Kalpaka, and even Kayal. Their Anna Nagar branch has been in the field for the past two years at least.
A bit crowded, with the tables set too close for comfort, the one redeeming factor was the actual rendition (and I initially thought they were playing the film cassette, sung by Yesudas) of a popular Malayalam film song Kallayi Kadavathu... by one of the waiters in uniform. When I visited their Nungambakkam branch some years back, I heard the restaurant owner himself sing. So I guess the music is part of the menu.
We pacified our growling tummies with the many layered parotas, appam and Kerala Chicken curry, which was too spicy for my liking. Ash however licked the gravy clean off his plate. He is one for hot and spicy stuff - I wonder if I ate too much spicy stuff when I was expecting him. I remember keeping off green chillies because someone said it could burn the feotus's eyes!