Mouth-watering biryani from Sports Club a big hit

MYSURU: The 75-year-old Sri Kanteerava Narashimaraja Wadiyar Sports Club, commonly known as the Mysore Sports Club, is famous not only for recreational activities but its mutton biryani.
Apart from members of the club, descendants of its founders, the Mysuru royal family, love the mutton biryani here. Recently, the heir apparent of the royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar in an interview to STOI revealed his love for this biryani.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah too is a fan of this dish. "Mutton biryani here has a different taste and whenever I visit the club, I always have it," said leading dentist of the city Vinod Kumar.
The man behind this popular dish is L Narayan, who for the past 34 years, has ensured the taste has been maintained. "The ingredients used are the same used in eateries and clubs, but the ghee, mutton, and rice are of high quality and proportion of spices is slightly different," he said, refusing to reveal the secret formula. It was in 1989 that Narayan, who is from nearby Lalithadripura, joined the club as an assistant to cook Abdul Sattar and later became the head cook. Though many hoteliers and restaurants have tried to lure him with offers of a large salary, he has refused to quit the club. He gets a monthly salary of Rs 12,000.
According to Narayan, film star-turned-politician Ambareesh is a regular visitor to the club and has biryani during his visits to the city. "Many VIPs, film stars and politicians have enjoyed my biryani," he said, adding that his only worry is to maintain the taste. On many occasions, even non-members carry biryani parcels from the club through members, he said, adding how it's sold out within a couple of hours of preparation.
Narayan starts preparing the biryani at 11am and finishes it within an hour. "The club sells between 80 to 100 plates of biryani every day and it costs Rs 130 per plate. Coconut pulav and vegetarian pulav are also prepared by Narayan. The biryani is sold only on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.