I Tried Arabic Food In Kerala

allaykum everyone. We are in Kerala [Music] and there's a famous saying that says if you want real Kerala food go to Dubai. If you want real Arab food come to Kerala. So we're going to put that to the test today. We're going to be going around Kochi and trying the most authentic Arabic restaurants and seeing if they live up to the hype. Allah [Music] Can we get the real taste of Arabia in Kerala? That's the question we will answer today. Our first stop is at Alim Meni and this is the first Meni restaurant that opened up here in Kerala. And as you can see right there, it says the real Arabian taste. Now, if you're going to start a video, you want to start at the most authentic with the OG's because this is going to set the bar for us. Is ar mendy as authentic as the meni we can get in Dubai? We shall find out. First thing first, traditional meni. For those who don't know what meni is, it's essentially to make it easy, it's like an Arab biryani. It's a mix of rice, uh, spices, and either meat or chicken and it is cooked. And what meni means is actually the de which is uh it's the essentially the way of cooking the meat that makes the meat as moist as possible. When you come uh in in a traditional Arabic restaurant they bring the sauce on a uh like a little metal saucer. Here they have the red chutney and a sauce uh squeezy thing and they have the secret ingredient. How many of you can guess what's inside here? This is mayo. So when the Keralites brought the meni back to Kerala, they added their twist to it. >> Yes. >> Now what's better, Meni or Biryani? >> Mandy. >> Well, I mean, you work here though, so imagine he said Biryani. The boss calls him in. Can we have a a chat, please? >> I'm really really hungry, man. Masha Allah. >> Oh, wait. This is like a mixed meni. >> Yeah, it's a mixed mundi. >> It's a mixed one, huh? So, right now we have Bali. We got a new guest with us. Bali >> joining us to take us around for some food. Apparently, he knows the cool spots to go to. So, my question to you is, do you have you been to Dubai? >> Yeah, I've been. >> You've tried the food there? >> Yeah. >> The Arabic food. >> Yeah. >> Do you think the Arabic food in Kerala is as good as the Arabic food in Dubai? I cannot tell you that because it's somewhat matching to the appearance of Mallayalis now here. >> Oh, so they've uh >> they have modified it. Yeah, exactly. >> So that's where the mayo and the meni come. >> Exactly. This is the OG Mandi place in Kochi. >> Is this the best meni in Kochi? Would you say >> that? I cannot tell you. But this is the most popular one. >> Everyone is speaking diplomat. >> Very political, very diplomatic. I love it. I have never had a mixed meni. >> Oh, really? >> This is a mixed meni I call it. It's a mendy with all the different meats. >> Okay. >> This is the equivalent like imagine if you had a biryani with chicken meat and shrimps inside inside it. We're going to take a full Kerala mendy bite. We're going to go. Here we go. [Music] Here we have our first bite of Kerala Mendi. Our first Arabic food in Kerala on this tour. >> Oh wow. >> Usually when I don't know what to say. >> So what about compared to the Dubai one? What's it taste? >> This is it's the real deal. Okay. >> The rice is like delicious. All the flavor. The meat is so moist. So moist. melted in your mouth. I can see why this is the OG and the most popular because like I can get this in Dubai >> for sure. Absolutely delicious meni. Wow. This is one of the juiciest. No doubt. Get me this please. >> Creamiest. meatiest but mutton I have. >> The meatiest button. >> Oh, very good. >> This is the meatiest meat I've ever had. >> So, I'm going to have this bite with extra chili. Let's go. [Music] I can handle this spice, man. You got nothing. >> Okay. It really hurts now. Oh god. Oh god. Oh. Oh no. [Music] We're good. >> I'm going to have one more bite and enjoy it off the camera cuz this deserves to be enjoyed just a little bit. This good food. Mashallah. You get a fivestar from me. And you have set this video up for success. I have faith in Kerala Arabic food. Anyway, we're going to eat. We'll see you at the next restaurant. We're done. Our first restaurant, Hotel Alim, you get a five stars out of me. That 4.3 on Google reviews does not do you justice at all. Unacceptable. Five stars. Great rice, great meat. Great mendy. You have done the original mendi from Yemen, from the Arab world justice. This is what you call taking it, making it great, and serving it. Mashallah. Keep up the great work. Our Arabic food tour of Kerala. Now it's off to a cafe with a very interesting name. You have to wait this video to find out. Okay, next up we are at Alaza Lebanese kitchen for a bite of an Arabian staple, the shawarma. [Music] And near they have the shawarma and they have something called a shawarma burger. Huh. So Alaza got a 4.4 stars on Google review. 12,000 reviews which is really really good. Tom Peter here who's verified says Alaza is undoubtedly Kochi's top rated shawadama spot. >> Let's go try it. We're serious about mayonnaise. >> What makes the Alaza special? Where's the sh special sharma? That's a special sharma. >> Special. >> Why is it special? >> It's a signature of the shop. It has total 110 g chicken with cheese mayonnaise. >> Cheese mayonnaise. That's something I've never had before. Cheese mayonnaise. I've only had standard mayo, chili mayo, cheese, garlic mayo, cheese. Like Mendi is very Gulf Arab. Shawarma is like all over the Arab world and all over the world. So that's why if you really want to test how seriously they take Arabic food in Kerala, you have a shawarma. Now we'll know. >> Yeah. One question. >> Huh? School days. Which sharma do you remember? >> Uh sea shell refreshment. >> Yeah. Who owns sea shell? >> Oh, right. >> Wow. I never thought about that, man. So, Sharma and Malalis have always been chetty buddies. >> So, here we have uh let's take a look at the spread they've gone. First of all, very uh good serving style. I like it. 10 out of 10 for presentation. Here we go. We're going to have our first bite of the Alaza special shawarm. Oh man, that bite was Oh my god. I have never had a show like this in my life. It's got this like tanginess to it. So like with the cheese and the mayo and then the crispiness of the fries and the chicken. They put this on rumali which is a traditional like Indian bread. Very different to the traditional sharma but absolutely delicious. Here we go. This is what they had on the menu that I was like, "What?" Oh, no. They had it on the sign out there. This is the shawarma burger. So, it's basically this special shawarma in a different bread. So, if you were coming with like a bunch of people, you could order this for like a group. >> The quality of their bread here at Plaza is some of the best I've ever had. Oh, wait. There's one thing I got to try for the culture, and this is something I'm completely against, but I'm going to try it for you all. Now, we have the infamous Soya showa. First time ever trying a vegetarian shaala. That's cool, man. This is good. I can see why vegetarians really like it cuz it's very very tasty and it has all that creaminess, all the ingredients, same freshness. Yeah, gets good big points for the for the Soy Shawama. It's the real deal. Plaza Kitchen, man. Five stars. Well done. [Music] All right, from comfort foods like meni and shawarma to a bit more premium, we're at Zatar restaurant here in Kochi [Music] and we are here to have a famous Arabic dish called mluba. Now, what magluba is is when they take all the vegetables and the meat at the bottom, cover it with all the rice, cook it, and then they flip it, and then you eat it that way. I'm so curious to see how authentic they make it here, and if they've added a Kerala twist. Let's find out. Zata, here we go. I wanted to ask you, why did you call the restaurant Zat? >> Like a spice, right? >> Yes. >> And do you sell zatar here? Like anything zat? >> People doesn't like the malanis. >> Oh, they don't like zatar. That's crazy. What's the most famous dish? The most popular dish. One of the popular dishes is the patt here. So, Arabic kebabs. >> We are using the like little bit diffusion like we are adding more spices. >> Oh, okay. So, the famous part of the maguba is when they flip the pot onto the pan and then lift it up and then all the beautiful vegetables come on top of the rice. Let's go. [Laughter] We're going to go on a full everything shot. We're going to do the chicken, the eggplant, the potato. First bite of a traditional mloba. A dish that I've tried uh from a Palestinian family that was absolutely delicious. Maloba right here in Kerala. [Music] I think this is the most traditional Arab dish I've tried in India. There is no extra masala or an Indian or Kerala twist on this dish. This tastes like traditional maluba. I love this so much. Mashallah Zat restaurant for taste, authenticity, ambiencece 10. You absolutely killed it with the muba. Now for the uh the moment of truth, the Zatal kebab platter. [Music] Let's see how good their kebabs are. We're going to try their uh chicken kebab first, just plain by itself. This stuff is nice, juicy. This is grilled like alahim. So what alfahim means on the coal. >> So we're going to have a bit of the on the coal chicken. In Dubai, I would get the chicken, the bread, put it in some hummus, and there you have like your all these little mini sandwiches and you just eat it like that. Solid grills, man. These kebabs over here seem Indianized. This is like the original on the cold chicken. You make good food, clean food, healthy food, kebabs, and you're doing it in a way that shows respect to the Arab roots while adding a bit of your touch to it for the local people here. Mashallah, zatar, 10 out of 10. I would say it's the 80/20 rule. They've got 80% Arabic with a little 20% kerala touch. There's nothing wrong with that. You have to cater to the local people. And I think Zatar have done an incredible job. would definitely come back. 10 out of 10. All the rewards deserved. Keep doing what you're doing. S out. For those who know, in the UAE, there's a a viral restaurant that serves desserts called B Leban. And here in Kerala, they've opened up their version of it. It's called Side Leven. I've tried Bee Leven once and it was just like really sweet. It's like they put all but it's crazy sweet. It's like all these different sauces like pistachio sauce, cream sauce, chocolate sauce, more chocolate sauce, Nutella sauce, pistachio sauce, nuts. Nah, all the stuff. Juicy, creamy, sweety, milky, fruity, everything. >> Tasty. >> Tasty. In Kerala, what's more popular? Biryani or >> mandi? Mandi Mandi. >> Why? >> You have to go to Alima. >> We were there. >> Oh, it's a >> Yeah. Very good. >> So, did you ever hear of any other restaurant the same as this? >> So many duplicate stuffs. >> It's quite natural, you know. So many so many duplicate stuff. This might be some second copy of some restaurant. >> All the things in here is very Everything is possible. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Everything is possible. >> You were named as Pom or something. [Music] >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Very good. >> You guys were great. Thank you so much. >> Now, this place is so famous that it's always packed, full of people. And once we're in, it was time to see if all the wait was worth it. >> I just don't know what to go with, man. There's so many things. They just drench everything in milk and sauce. I'm just going to go there and say pistachio lotus. See what happens. >> I here it comes, guys. So excited. Heck you. Finally got it. Got it. Here the sign lean. Like you have a mix of everything in this dessert. You've got milk cake, kafa, custard, pistachio, lotus, everything you can think of right in here. Uh, the only question I have is how sweet is this thing? Let's give it a shot. Bismillah. You know how I was talking about everything we've eaten so far is like gentle, not so sweet, calm. This is like the absolute opposite. It is like every ounce of sweetness is going crazy in your mouth. This is like a once every month maximum. You've done a good job. Mashallah. Keep keep selling these crazy sweets to the world. Much love. You know, originally we said that this was going to be a video about Arabic food in Kerala. But as the video was going on, I realized this isn't really a video about food anymore. This is a video about people. You're seeing a 360 movement between Kerala and the Arab world. And it's absolutely beautiful. It's like you're seeing this bridge between two different countries get smaller and smaller and smaller. And that is why every time I feel I come here, I feel like I'm coming home. And for me, that is the biggest lesson that I've learned today. The deepness of the connection between Kerala and the UAE. And it's a beautiful, beautiful thing. Alhamdulillah. Much love and God bless.

Kerala mandi is 🔥 Much love to https://instagram.com/zubinology for showing us around! Love you brother.