I’m not afraid to admit that when it comes to Indian food,
I’m a novice. I’m not knowledgeable about which dishes originate from a
particular region, the spices still meld into one on my tongue, and I haven’t a
clue on how to gauge a restaurant’s authenticity. Yet, it’s a cuisine I want to
get to know better. Hence, I turn to the Internet and rely on “best of” lists
and crowd sourced reviews before I return to Scarborough, my childhood home,
where there’s an abundance of Indian restaurants to try.
As their name may give away, Karaikudi Chettinad offers
Southern Indian dishes from the Chettinad region. Wikipedia hints to me that
the cuisine from this region is known for their use of masala and rice (the grain even used in wraps such as dosais). Hence, it helps narrow down my
choices on Karaikudi’s extensive menu (it even includes Hakka-style dishes) to
those using these two ingredients.
During lunch, a great meal for one (or even sharing) is a thali, a round platter made up of
various dishes incorporating all six flavours. The chicken version ($14.99) is
sparse in terms of meat (two deck-of-card sized bone-in pieces), but the curry
is lovely – full of flavours and spicy enough while not overwhelming.
Still, it’s the other small bowls that draws me in; urging
me to dip and experiment to my heart’s
content. By all means, I have no idea what I’m having most of the time, but
it’s the different textures, flavourfuls and spiciness levels that gets me
excited.
One moment it’s the lusciousness of the dal (a lentil dish) or surprising heartiness of the stewed
cauliflower, then I get an unexpected bitterness from an unknown vegetable. The
huge bowl of what looks like lethal green chilies turns out to be refreshing
crunchy string beans, stir fried with onion and bits of egg. Crisis adverted. There
are just two items to watch out for:
- A lone spoonful of thick hot sauce, a telltale sign cautioning you to use sparingly; and
- A light coconut and cardamom tapioca dessert. If you’re not aware this comes with the meal, you may end up spooning the sweet milky liquid over rice – I may or may not have dipped papadum into it before realizing the error.
Within the thali are
plenty of options to soak up the sauces: a large bowl of airy basmati rice, a
crispy papadum, and a soft wheat
flour chapathi. If you’re sharing,
I’d suggest adding on a couple of the parottas
($1.99 each) as well. The wrap has a soft chewy texture similar to naan, but incorporates
more oil leaving lovely layers … its crevices perfect for dipping into sauces.
The chicken biryani ($12.99)
looks and tastes fantastic. Somehow the rice retains a light airiness but the
grains have absolutely soaked in flavours. Just scoop a forkful into your mouth
and leave it there … slowly the flavours come out. Similar to the thali, there’s not a lot of chicken that
actually arrives with the rice, but it’s sufficient and there’s also the
customary hard-boiled egg on top.
Having heard about Karaikudi’s gigantic dosas, a crispy pancake made with a fermented rice and black gram
batter, the restaurant would be my first taste of the dish. Instead of
table-sized version, I opted for a regular-sized masala ($10.99) that incorporates a flavourful curried mashed potato
mixture in the centre. It sort of needs the potato, which adds a heartiness to
the dosa; otherwise, it would have
been a mere savoury crispy crepe with chutneys and gravy.
Karaikudi Chettinad was a great stop in my journey in becoming
a more experienced consumer of Indian food. It’s sizeable dining room allows
for reservations and the menu seems endless – thankfully, I researched ahead of
time! You start to build an
understanding of how things should taste: the biryani isn’t merely coloured rice with a faint taste of spice,
rather it’s evolved into a blanket of aromatic flavours that covers the
tongue. Bite by bite, my education
continues.
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Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
Is That It? I Want More!
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