Appam

Back in SinCity. Two girlfriends of mine arrived for a visit. It is always gives me an opportunity to rediscover the city. We went through non-touristy places like Geylang, expat-places like Holland Village and had a nice dinner at my old time favourite Keralite restaurant. Instead of the usual Parotas or Chapatis I made them discover the wonders of Appam. Some people find them bland and they are usually used the same way we use bread in France. But well prepared they can be very tasty and that's the case here. Bowl-shaped thin pancakes made from fermented rice flour. We wanted more but the kitchen was closing...

Traditional Drink For Hot Summer Days

It is not every day I feature a drink. But this one is very special. In India it is called Sambharam. I had a couple of glasses at a Keralite restaurant tonight as well as tasting it a few times in the past. It is made of butter milk which is a fermented sour milk lower in fat than regular milk as the fat has already been removed to make butter. As a result it does not actually contain any butter (shouldn't it be called nobuttermilk then?) and do not get confused with Lassi as it does not share anything with it in terms of consistency and taste. But mind you, it is not for delicate palates. It is stuffed with salt, grated ginger and green chillies. Spicy but so refreshing!

A Taste of Kerala

Been a long time I did not feature any food, didn't I? This evening I went with an Indian friend to the outskirt of Little India for a taste of Kerala. There are so many restaurants from the South East coast (Tamil) but the ones from the South West are quite scarce. The food is definitely different. Lots of marinated dishes with a mix of hot but subtle spices. And the coconut...! The coconut is everywhere. From the new things I tried there was a Kozhi Varutharachathu which is a chicken cooked in aromatic gravy of roasted coconut and spices and a very filling puttu wich is made of coarse rice flour steamed with grated coconut in a tube shaped mould (picture above). But what I usually enjoy most is the Sambharam (also called Butter milk). And no, there is no butter inside! It is a very refreshing drink made out of yoghurt with some curry leaves, cumin, ginger and green chilli.

Pongal

Today is Pongal festival. It is the only Hindu festival that follows a solar calendar and usually falls on the 14th or 15th of January. It signals the end of the traditional farming season in South India. As a result I made my way to Little India after work and headed to Campbell Road to see the cows and to taste the pongal (sweetrice) which also is one of my favourite indian food. I wanted to find a restaurant to enjoy the treat but there was actually a free street distribution. I therefore seized this opportunity to have my share!