Kochi & Kerala’s Love For Fried Chicken

Fried chicken is one of the most popular food in the world and Kochi is no exception. From the early 2010s I noticed that we keep getting more and more new restaurants in the city and they try to make them franchises as well by opening up new ones in hopes of making theirs a chain. he name of the game is ‘southern fried chicken’ and we Malayalees / Keralites absolutely love them!However since the first time I posted about the number of outlets have closed. MarryBrowns and SFC Plus in particular are the ones that I miss.

All this is due to the large population of expats (loving called Non-resident Indians or NRIs), including my family, in the Arabian gulf. Most of these countries where Malayalees flock to for jobs, along with their families, had already had plenty of KFC outlets. After KFC took the Gulf region by storm decades ago, many locally owned franchises have tried to replicate that success and tweak the recipe and make some changes. Chicking is one such as was SFC Plus (the latter is still running in the Gulf though they have closed don their 3 centers here.

So when I take a look back so many of them closed down. Chikos was another one that had about 2 to 3 outlets in Kochi alone and although they close down, they thrive in a few other cities in the state. Krispy Chicken, which I never got to try, also closed down their outlets in Kochi. So what survives? Well Chicking who were the OG place in Kochi and Kerala in general still rules supreme. They are known to be that family places choice. They are followed closely by KFC who have opened more outlets in the state and in Kochi. Doing amazingly well.

The only other international one we have is Popeyes which is the newest entrant. They only have 1 outlet in Kochi and they do have stalls in a couple of other cities in the state. I eagerly await for them to expand more. AFC & AJWA opened up in the last few years and they are doing decent business. Kochi.in opened very near me and I think that is their only outlet but it’s in a prime location so they should do well. Fried King is ok, nothing special, and not pictured is King’s Crust who have recently expanded and their Korean fried chicken option is amazing. Also not pictured is the famous AlBaik from Saudi but I haven’t tried them yet and finally Maheens Broasted Chicken, which I am yet to try.