Looking for meat-heavy breakfast options in Madurai? Try Amsavalli Bhavan

Amsavalli Bhavan in Madurai is among the oldest restaurants in the city.
| Photo Credit: MOORTHY G

It is not yet 9am when a man arrives at Amsavalli carrying a steel thookuvali and a cloth bag. The hum of workers getting the parcel counter ready fills the air, and he waits patiently as uthappams and parottas are being prepared in the kitchen. It is a dinner-time ritual for people in Madurai to lug a thookuvali to a streetside parotta shop for salna. At Amsavalli though, this also happens at breakfast time. The restaurant, that has been in existence for over 75 years, offers a breakfast menu unlike anywhere else in the city: think mutton liver curry and brain fry. Here, mutton offal is served for a little over an hour from 9.30am onwards, getting sold-out long before lunch is ready.

Mutton cops at Amsavalli in Madurai served for breakfast with uthappam and parotta.
| Photo Credit:
MOORTHY G

G Arunraj, the third-generation owner of the restaurant on East Veli Street, says that the menu is an extension of his grandfather’s idea of offering mutton samosas, trotters paaya, and dum tea from 4am to 6am. “This was served from our initial days,” says the 47-year-old, adding that their chief customers were workers at the wholesale markets at nearby Nelpettai and Vethalaipettai. “The entire neighbourhood used to be bustling from as early as 3.30am, with load men lugging bulging sacks,” he says, adding that they also had early morning walkers who would round off their routine with a cup of their paaya.

The pre-dawn snacks eventually gave way to the present menu, that Arunraj says gets sold-out by 11am. The menu includes a range of mutton offal curries that can be paired with their soft parottas or uthappams.

The curries come in small portions, and can be easily polished off with two uthappams. We order a serving of almost everything on the menu. The mutton nenju chops, a fiery semi-gravy of meat slow-cooked until it is softer than their parotta, is easily a favourite.

Although tempted to order more portions, we move on to the other offerings: eeral kulambu, mutton liver cooked in a chilli and coriander masala base, mutton kidneys enveloped in a spicy masala, and the mutton chukka. The latter pairs well with their parotta. But the highlight is the mutton onion kulambu, a fragrant curry of meat simmered in shallots. This is best had with their thick uthappams: douse a piece in the curry and wrap it in a small piece of mutton to enjoy the flavours of meat and the curry to the fullest.

Mutton liver curry at Amsavalli
| Photo Credit:
MOORTHY G

Our waiter suggests we try their famous apple milk. The chilled dessert of tiny pieces of apple and thick milk served in a tall glass, we realise, cools down the palate after the onslaught of the spices. Two parottas, one uthappam, and several plates of the curries down, we realise why this menu works. Mutton is irresistible, no matter which part of the day it is served.

Open for breakfast from 9.30am to 11am. Call  0452 262 0117 for details.