Soumya Prakash Basu may not be able to complete his share of biryani at home, but he gobbled up two-and-half kilograms of Rann Pulao under 15 minutes at SodaBottleOpenerWala’s Rann pulao and haleem #eatingchallenge! “I am shocked at my new found talent,” he states, poker-faced.

At the eatery, five people participated in the contest to eat three and half kilograms of Rann pulao — leg of of a lamb served on a bed of rice flavoured with huge amounts of ghee and dry fruits. “Six people could have easily eaten the pulao but amid all the cheering, I managed two and half kilograms on my own.” Watching him over a live video, Basu’s wife was also shocked and along with the rest of his family, kept checking to he was doing okay, after the event. Sowmya, shares how he planned it all. “The dish was more flavourful than biryani, so my strategy was to finish the tastier part first. I ate the entire leg of lamb in 10 minutes and then ate the rice slowly. The accompanying raita helped me gulp it down.” He had mocktails and a cheesecake to settle all the food. Should people be apprehensive to invite him to a dinner party? “I think they should be. I never knew this talent existed in me,” he laughs.

Bharath Suthapalli’s  

Cheat day

Then there was the second haleem challenge that was won by Bharath Suthapalli — he had five bowls of haleem, each of 250 grams. “Last year I got a complimentary prize but this time I am the winner,” he says excitedly.

The Deloitte employee is currently on a keto diet and exercises at a gym regularly. “I am into cardio and weight training. I weighed around 110 kilograms but with regular exercise I am 78 kilograms now. My trainer was impressed with my hard work and gave me one day to cheat and that happened to be the contest day,” laughs Bharat. He was prepared to have only one bowl of mutton haleem. But when the crowd began to cheer, he couldn’t stop; in 10 minutes he had polished off five bowls of a vegetarian, chicken and mutton haleem. Any after effects? “It was not hard on my tummy, I even had some dessert after that.”

While Amith Nair and Basith Ali were the runners up, Pavan Kumar Shewakramani and Smita Bose got the third prize.