Tamarind, the South Indian restaurant on Sarat Bose Road opposite Deshapriya Park, has always served a fare that goes beyond idli, dosa and uttapam. From delicacies of the coastal regions of South India to mainstream South Indian cuisine, the 20-plus-year-old eatery serves it all.Recently, the restaurant has launched an all-new menu in which they have included Goan and Andhra cuisine along with some delicacies that they serve only during special days like Christmas. The new menu includes some mouthwatering dishes like Coorg Paneer, Kodi Sukka, Kerala Chilli Crab, Chicken Chettinad, Nellore Fish Curry and more. “We have decided to add our special delicacies which we make only during our winter food fest — Santa Meets Vasco, where we mainly focus on Goan cuisine. Our patrons come back and ask for the special dishes but we are unable to serve them that, apart from the food fest. So we decided to add those special delicacies to our daily menu so that our patrons can enjoy them whenever they dine in,” said Gautam Purkayastha, owner of Tamarind Restaurants. t2 checked out a few dishes from the new menu and here’s what we liked.
Curd Rice is the famous South Indian dish made with precooked mushy rice mixed with curd and tempered with the classic South India tadka, which includs chana dal, urad dal, red chillies, mustard oil and mustard seeds. Served with appalam (papad made from urad dal flour).
Mutton Stew with Appam is a delicacy from Kerala where soft chunks of the meat are cooked in a light stew made with coconut milk, and served with steaming, soft appams.
Malabar Fish Curry is a bright yellow curry made with coconut milk, spicy red chillies, coriander and mustard seeds. The dish is also served with appam (a thin bowl-shaped pancake made of rice flour and coconut milk).
The famous Goan delicacy, Prawn Balchao is also on the new menu. It has fresh fried prawns in a spicy and vinegary sauce.
Mutton Vindaloo is a Goan delicacy where tender mutton chunks are cooked in Vindaloo sauce made with lots of red chillies, vinegar, garlic and spices. It’s an authentic Portugese-influenced tangy and mildly sweet dish.
Ellaneer Payasam is a creamy rice pudding made with fresh coconut chunks, coconut milk and coconut water.