Ziyad Cochin Dum Biryani

Kochi’s MG Road is always a bit of a mess with the traffic, especially near Padma Junction where things tend to bottle up. We’re located right in that thick of it, Ernakulam - 682016. If you know where PAI Dosa is, Ziyad Cochin Dum Biryani is pretty much right there too. The building is older, but it serves its purpose for making dum biryani every day. We start early in the morning because the rice and the meat take a while to get right. You can usually smell the spices hitting the air before we even open the doors for the lunch crowd. It is a small operation, mostly just us moving around the kitchen trying not to get in each other's way. The tables get filled up quickly when the office workers from the nearby buildings come out for their break. We don't do much in terms of decoration; the walls are plain and the focus is just on the pots of food. Sometimes the rain in Kochi makes the street outside look like a river, but people still find their way in, shaking off their umbrellas. It is a loud, busy place because of the main road noise, but we’ve gotten used to it over the years. We just keep our heads down and keep the stoves going. It is honest work and we have been at this spot for a while now. We don't have fancy signs, just the food in the pots.