By Akshay Shetty
Ever woken up with your head feeling like it's hosting its own rock concert, thanks to a night of enthusiastic drinking? Forget the usual hangover cures you've heard a million times. This article dives into the real deal – from greasy, spice-laden feasts to the unexpected magic of lemon rice discovered during a midnight munchies quest. It's a rollercoaster ride through the streets of Bangalore to the sunny vibes of Goa, all in the noble quest of finding the ultimate post-party salvation
The financial year ended with a series of long weekends. Amidst all the form 16s and 30s, a lot of drinking must have been undertaken. In between all the complaining about what the government gives us in return for our taxes, a night, or possibly several nights of heavy drinking were the course for the day. Work was a bitch on Monday. You might think you were getting old. Maybe you shouldn't have that much of a good time, you might be thinking to yourself. Worry not, I have a better way. A solution far better than the hangover cures being marketed to you. It might not be a total elixir but it's the closest alternative I have to it.
Experts say that the trick to recover from a hangover is to restore the balance of water and vitamins in your body to pre-alcohol levels. But when push comes to shove, when your head is pounding to the beat of a marching drum, does one really want to be thinking of electrolytes, potassium levels and antioxidants? I guess not. So when you wake up the morning after with your mouth dry, a throbbing head and copious amounts of regret (probably mixed with last night’s Greater Than) coursing through your veins, what would your go-to meal be? Personally, I feel a great meal either before or after a heavy round of drinking mops up the alcohol and makes the next day slightly more bearable.
During college, our wallets were light and difficult choices would have to be made between ordering food and alcohol. The nights used to be evenly split with the initial part being devoted strictly to alcohol, with barely any bar bites ordered, and the latter half being dedicated to a meal.
My earliest memory of a post alcohol ritual was a meal I had was from a little roll shop in Bangalore called Lazeez. Located at the end of Brigade Road within the Rex theatre complex, this tiny pop-up cart would be filled with hungry and slightly tipsy college kids screaming out their orders. The most popular was the double chicken double egg roll; a masterpiece made of a flaky thick paratha layered with two omelettes, a generous helping of tava fried chicken cooked in a thick onion and tomato gravy, pickled onions and seasoned with a secret masala (it was probably just chaat masala but an unlabelled jar does make ones imagination run wild).
My next discovery was a slightly fortuitous one and slightly unusual as it was a mid-drinking session find. We were at a friend’s place in Koramangala when we realised that we were out of cigarettes. One of them remarked that there is usually a guy on his cycle near the St John’s signal who would sell cigarettes after hours. When we rode there we found out that not only did he have cigarettes but he was also distributing these tiny wrapped brown packages of god knows what. On enquiry, he just grunted unintelligibly. Those were the days of experimentation though so we decided to take one of them and find out for ourselves. A lot of anticipation was built on the ride back which was slightly dampened when we finally did open the packet. Lemon rice or chitranna; that poor, unfancied (and if I may say it, vegetarian) cousin of the biryani peered back at us.
Hunger however is a great equaliser and after deliberating for a couple of minutes we decided to dig in after which we did realise why people would line up at that tiny cycle cart; it was tastier than we could have imagined. The rice had that perfect lemony flavour which was sharp but not overpowering and the occasional bite would be punctuated with the crunch of fried urad dal or peanuts. Accompanied by this unusual coconut based sambhar type gravy which was embedded somewhere in between the rice, it became a post drinking staple.
These days, whenever I come back home to Bangalore from Mumbai, my first order of business after a heavy night would be to call for a steaming hot cup of masala chai. ‘Call for’ being the operative word here because the very thought of actually making a cup of tea for myself would plunge me into despair. And of course, the chai is not meant to be had alone because an integral part of recovery is breaking down the previous night’s debauchery with your fellow alcoholics. So as you sit around the table and stories fly about; “I can’t believe he whistled at that cop dude!” or “Why did I try and pay that auto guy with cigarettes”; the first tiny step towards normalcy is taken.
Once the chai has been consumed and the morning ablutions are out of the way, the thought moves on to the main event, lunch.
It must be greasy enough to soak up all the previous night’s alcohol, it should burst with flavour because it should shoot through your sinuses and once completed it should put you in a dazed stupor. Now the simplest dish which does tick all of these three boxes is of course biriyani. My personal favourite is from this obscure little restaurant called TN 81, a place I am sure I will never visit personally but which occupies a lofty position on my Swiggy list. An order of biriyani rice (or empty biriyani as it is colloquially known as they don’t put any pieces of meat into it) paired with their fiery chicken gravy laced generously with fresh pepper and curry leaves sends waves of spice streaming down your throat and sinuses, almost blasting away your hangover. And of course, reverence must be paid to science and rehydration so a perfect accompaniment to this meal would be the humble lime soda, un-humbled by a liberal dash of salt and ginger.
But the question one has to ask is, is it preferable to have your meal the previous night itself and nip your problems in the bud? While definitely the better option, this would involve strategizing to ensure that your meal is prepared before your night of drinking. A go-to meal for me is a hearty bowl of sambhar accompanied by a vegetable of choice, usually something that can be whipped up quickly, for example a mushroom stir fry or a cabbage poriyal.
The natural option of course would be to pair it with rice but that is intentionally not prepared along with the sambhar. In fact, it is saved for when the party reaches its conclusion, the call of “put the rice on da” ringing out as the night winds down; a natural bridge between the final act and the curtain call signalling the end of the night. The more adventurous of us supplement the meal with the last drink of the night while the wiser ones stick to water.
Of course, I do like to change things up a little while I’m on vacation. It is probably the only time I can subscribe to the ‘hair of the dog’ idea; that the solution to a hangover is a little more alcohol. But of course, this has to be supplemented by a meal. The ideal vacation post hangover meal varies, depending upon where you are holidaying. So in the interest of making this as accessible as possible, I would put down my favourite meal in India’s favourite vacation spot, Goa.
Throw on your sunglasses, hop on your rented scooter and make your way to any of the numerous tiny shacks dotting the streets to sample one of their fish thalis. Steaming hot rice, a spicy fish curry thickened by coconut milk and kokum & a sliver of crispy rava fried fish is just the jump start that you need to shake off that hangover. In case you really want to get your hands dirty you could also ask for a side of tisrya sukhe, clams cooked in a spicy green masala and drizzled with liberal amounts of grated coconut. Wash this all down with a small glass of sol kadhi to complete the circle and once you’re done with your meal, lean back in your chair, cradle that pint of Kingfisher and wonder why every afternoon couldn’t be as perfect as this.
Akshay Shetty is a football lover, travel enthusiast. When he's not busy working, he spends his time trying to discover which Mumbai bar has the best bombil.
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