From DIY meals to South Indian favourites, Chennai's Knock Out Rusi delivers robust flavours

For the past couple of months at Indulge we have been tracking and savouring delightful offerings from home kitchens across the city that have turned commercial during lockdown. This week, saw us gorging on meaty DIY beef cutlets from the month-old venture Knock Out Rusi. Their menu features South Indian comfort food like paya, chicken 65 and the quintessential biryani, among others. A combination of DIY dishes and ready-to-eat, the flavours are robust and homely. The attention to detail and the spot on taste can be credited to Patricia Narayan, the brain behind this mother-son venture. Her son, Praveen Rajkumar, who is also one of the partners at the resto-bar Barracuda Brew, has added his own inputs to the menu like the ‘fluffy omelette’. 

Prawns & possibilities
Patricia, who has started her own YouTube channel recently, has already made her mark in the food business in Chennai with her Sandeepha chain of restaurants, her 35 years of experience and has also won the FICCI woman entrepreneur award in 2010. “Times are tough now for all businesses. I find that there is nothing like good, wholesome food to dispel the gloom. Besides the business aspect, cooking and feeding people gives me immense joy,” says the entrepreneur, whose story of success against all odds has inspired many over the years. Pescetarians can rejoice, as Praveen promises us that a 
seafood menu is in the works that will include Prawn Biryani, among other dishes.

Crank up the heat
Our lunch from Knockout Rusi last weekend featured a delicately flavoured Mutton Biryani with long grained rice and well-done meat pieces. The accompanying Prawn Masala was redolent with spices and cranked up the heat rather delightfully. We suggest you just go ahead and deep fry the DIY tub of marinated Chicken 65 and not bother with attempting shallow fry. However, their Beef Cutlets fared splendidly in the air-fryer and encouraged us to pop half a dozen down the gullet without guilt. Since we ended the meal with dollops of the ghee-laden Badam Halwa, we would dare not call it a guilt-free meal!

Deliveries on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Mutton biryani, half kilogram at INR1,300. Ready-to-fry beef cutlets, 12 pieces at INR 550.