With the current, fast paced life finding clean, healthy food is a rarity. Even when you are successful in finding a place that serves one, there is no guarantee that the vegetables used would be pesticide free, organic ones. Because of this, when you find one such place that promises you best quality food using farm fresh, local produce devoid of any pesticides, it is absolute joy.
Situated in a sprawling one acre land well within the city, Azeezia Food Outlet in Padivattom is one such place. As you enter the property, to your left side is a vegetable outlet, Azeezia Farm Outlet, where you can buy farm fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, and while there, one can’t help but notice the pumpkin patch and the potted cauliflower plants around it.
The restaurant is semi open, providing ample fresh air and a relaxed ambience. Next to it is a kids’ play area with a couple of slides and swings for the children to play while waiting for the food to be served. The glass covered kitchen with an open counter as well, is built right next to the restaurant, visible for all and calling out to you to check out how neatly maintained it is and proudly showing off the clean and hygienic interiors. You can see the soft, fluffy appams and the crispy dosas being made, the general hustles and bustles in the kitchen, and the food being plated up for the hungry souls outside.
There is no set menu since it varies daily depending on the availability of the produce. That said, it mostly consists of varieties of Puttu including Ragi and Chamba Puttu, Chappathi, Appam, Dosas, Parathas along with veg and non-veg curries like Kadala Curry, Green Peas Curry, Beef Roast,Egg Roast, Fish Pollichathu, Chicken Curry and Chicken Fry, to name a few. There are no starters but as you take your seat a plate of fresh green salad consisting of cumber, carrot and tomato is served on the table. You can also order your choice of fresh juice, squeezed out of fresh fruits and vegetables, without any added essence and even sugarless, if preferred. The food has a homely taste to it, a pleasant deviation from the creamy, oil/ghee laden dishes that you usually end up being served in a restaurant, thereby bringing to you the unmatchable warmth and comfort of home food. The dessert is mostly homemade tender coconut pudding with small, crunchy pieces of tender coconut in it – definitely one of the best that you will ever have and leaving you craving for more. The pudding, it was told, is the speciality of the proprietor, Mr. Abdul Azeez’s wife and is made only in limited quantity.
It needs to be mentioned that the chicken used here is a special variety ‘Omega 21 Chicken’, which is a patented, research product of Central Institute of Fisheries and reared in Pattambi. The Omega benefits is provided to the chicken through fish food that is given as fodder and unlike hormone injected broiler chicken, there are no side effects to this. Also, as compared to broiler chicken, the taste too is different and you can sense the difference quite evidently. This chicken is available for sale as well in their outlet and in fact, Azeezia is the only outlet which sells this ‘Omega 21 Chicken’ in Cochin.
Mr. Abdul Azeez says, “the idea of setting up the place was to provide clean food to the people with the purest ingredients and taking into consideration hygiene and neatness.” A very simple and friendly person, Abdul Azeez is an Electronic Engineer by profession with 40 years of work experience and another 6 years of business experience in Qatar. His love for food and the urge to provide high quality, clean food using fresh produce is what inspired him to start an initiative like this. He reiterates the fact that he is not running this for profit and it is solely his passion for good food that is the motivating factor here.
“All the advertisements have been solely through word of mouth and no other means of advertisement has been done to market the venture”, adds Mr. Azeez. There seems to be a lot of patrons and well-wishers for the place since the place is sprawling with customers at dinner time and the same holds true for the fruits and vegetables stall as well.
The produce comes from his farm in Trichur, which is both sold in the outlet as well as used for the day’s menu in the restaurant. Mr. Azeez manages the place with the help of his 50 member staff that includes his employees both at the farm as well as the restaurant, who, along with him, ensures that quality food is provided to the customers. Plans are also being made to set up a bigger restaurant in the same property to meet the growing demand and providing people with a healthy dine-out option.
This place is sure to not just satisfy your hungry stomach but your heart as well, cooking and serving food with love, and placing health and hygiene before everything. In this era, when food has become highly commercialized and clean produce is neglected for pesticide induced, large, glossy ones, Azeezia Food Outlet stands tall and proud serving the customers with unadulterated yet soul satisfying food.
