To extend the South Indian cuisine experience of Bengalurueans beyond popular choices, restaurant Asia Alive at DoubleTree Suites By Hilton Bangalore have introduced the South Indian Buffet Dinner to be hosted every Wednesday. Excited and curious, we visited the restaurant the day it launched.
As we sat at a private dining table, we were handed glasses of Panakam — a drink made of lemon juice, jaggery, ginger powder, cardamom and black pepper. The mildly sweet-and-sour drink was rejuvenating after the long drive to the restaurant.
For starters, we sampled Peanut Vada (fritters with peanuts and split chickpea lentils), Chapala Tawa Fry (spicy pan-fried fish with a tang of lemon) and Chicken Ghee Roast (dry-roasted spices ground, coated on the chicken pieces, then cooked in ghee). The coating of the piquant fish would have been better with a crunchier exterior but tasted decent otherwise. But despite being hardcore carnivores, our best pick was the savoury vada with a crunchy-mushy texture combination.
We then moved on to the mains, which comprised Thenga Choru (coconut rice with curry leaves and cashews), Vetrilai Poondu Saadam (rice flavoured in betel leaves and garlic), Mammindakai Pappu (green mango-flavoured lentil soup), Cheppankizhangu Varuval (batter-fried taro root), Palkatti Chettinad Curry (cottage cheese cooked in Chettinad spice gravy), Appam, Mutton Curry and Thalassery Mutton Biryani. When the biryani arrived at our table, we noticed with a bit of scepticism the minced carrots and bits of mint leaves in it. But the mint added a refreshing twist to the flavour profile and as a result, we did not feel uncomfortable even after helping ourselves to several servings of the biryani.
Giving into our sweet cravings, we tasted Kajjaya (rice-flour pancakes with a coconut-jaggery filling) and Saggubiyyam Semiya Payasam (vermicelli and tapioca pearls cooked in milk). With the very sweet stuffing perfectly balanced out by the chewy encasing, Kajjaya won our hearts. But if you are a fan of exploring multiple textures in one dish, we highly recommend the Payasam. The sticky boiled tapioca pearls and smooth vermicelli cooked in mildly sweetened milk sent us to food heaven and we could not have asked for a better end to the meal.
INR 1,599 onwards. At Sarjapur Road.
Email: prattusa@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @MallikPrattusa