Kolkata being a melting pot of so many cultures is known as a mecca of food lovers. One of the varieties but not that wide spread in this city is the coastal cuisines. Now what you wished for has become a reality. One does not need to visit beaches of Goa or Varakala to enjoy these flavorful palette. Pappadam at Southern Avenue brings to all connoisseur the delicacies of the coastal areas. Bloggers of PanchPhoron were exclusively invited to explore the coastal flavors from their menu.
In quenchers, one can opt for chilled and salty Buttermilk or spicy and hot Rasam. Buttermilk is prepared by whipping curd mixed with chopped green chili and ginger with dash of black salt. The finishing of mustard seeds and curry leaves makes this a must try. Never tasted a better buttermilk yet. Rasam is tomato flavored hot liquid with curry leaves, red chili, mustard seeds, garlic and asafoetida served with cumin powder.
We moved towards starters with buttery squid, juicy chicken, crispy prawn and classical babycorn. Squid Kali Mirch has fresh squid rings batter fried tossed with ginger, garlic, bell peppers and onion, finished with squeeze of lime. Don’t miss this. Babycorn 65 have cubes of baby corn tossed in pan with South Indian spices like mustard, red chili, curry leaves and finished with grated coconut.
Prawn Koliwada is fresh water prawn skewers dish deep batter fried in coconut oil, served with dash of lime and onion rings. Chicken Sukka is a hot and spicy preparation, cooked in select spices like mustard and red chili will have burst of flavors in your mouth.
In the main course we explored Bhetki Malabar Curry, a thick yellow gravy is a delicious blend of aromatic southern spices amalgamated with pure Bengal bhetki and Crab Masala is a thin gravy of onion, tomato with fragrant medley of South Indian spices and aromatic curry leaves. Its spicy punch is set off deliciously by the sweet crab meat. These goes so well with staples like Lemon Rice. The yellow steamed rice prepared with lemon flavor tossed in wok with curry leaves, mustard, red chilies, cashew and grated coconut. Strong flavor of lemon overpowers the spices didn’t went well to my liking.
Food fair continues with Paneer Chettinad, moist paneer cubes in think gravy cooked with mystery flower kalpasi from Srilanka and Marathi moong to give a tangy toss with coconut milk and Mutton Ishtew, soft mutton pieces stewed in a sweet and mind blowing mixture of coconut milk with onion cubes and South Indian spices. These sides makes a fantastic combination with Malabar Paratha or with South Indian flatbread Appam.
To conclude with desserts, what can be better than Kesri Halwa, prepared from sooji reduced with kesri milk topped with cashew and Payasam, simai cooked in rich gravy milk with dry fruits and saboo dana.
A quiet homely comfortable little neighborhood restaurant serving awesome coastal food at reasonable prices. It still hasn’t drawn large crowds and continues to be a hidden gem. The ambiance is tastefully simple. The service was excellent but the food was delicious! Definitely worth a visit.
Must Try: Buttermilk, Squid Kali Mirch, Chicken Sukka, Mutton Ishtew and Kesri Halwa