The flavours of Burma

Talk about Burmese cuisine in Chennai and it's atho and khow suey that come to mind. But I've just learnt that there's much more to this cuisine than just these 2 dishes.

Chef Nay Myo Htet

Chef Nay Myo Htet from Burma is at Soy Soi to give Chennai diners the real taste of food from his homeland. He's also a licensed tour guide and apart from food, gave us an insight the country. There are 8 states and 135 ethnic groups in Burma, the most dominant being the Barmar. Where food is concerned, there are many similarities with Indian food. The staple crop is rice, very little wheat is grown; chillies, tamarind and coriander are used in their curries. Split chickpeas are a common ingredient, used not just to thicken curries but also as a main ingredient. People in coastal regions eat a lot of seafood while further inland, pork and chicken are preferred. Also, the Burmese make awesome salads. 

A group of us were invited to experience a degustation menu. Chef Peter was also on hand to explain the salient points of the food we were going to taste that evening.

Htamin lone gyaw

Nga sope

Balachang phat htoke baung

Samusa thoke with lentil sauce

We started with Htamin lone gyaw - fried rice cakes with a spicy tamarind sauce. The rice had been pounded into a paste, mixed with fried garlic and other aromatics, shaped into cakes and fried. The sauce was delicious but not that hot. Yummy!

Fried fish cakes - nga sope were a little too strong on the fish flavour.

The Burmese too have dumplings and balachaung phat htoke baung looked and tasted like a fully enclosed siu mai. The squid dip it was served with was shmeared along the side of the plate and tasted unusual. If you like squid, go for it!

There's something familiar about samusa thoke, yes, they do look like our potato-stuffed samosas all cut up. It was topped with a dhal curry doppelganger and tasted like one too as it had been made with split chickpeas.

The salad platter: Lahpet thoke; khwai ywat thoke; thayat thee thoke

And then there were the salads - lahpet thoke, made of tea leaves, topped with fried shallots. Did you know pennywort (vallarai) can be used to make a salad? Well, that's the main ingredient in myin khwai ywat thoke, shallot oil giving it a gorgeous flavour. Thayat thee thoke is the Burmese mango salad, different from the Thai version. The dressing of all three delicious salads had shallot oil and roasted gram flour which acted as a thickener. By now, it must be evident that thoke is the word for salad 😁

Mohinga

Mohinga is considered the national dish of Burma, a one-dish meal, a hot and sour soup and this one is like nothing I've had before. It starts with the dominant flavour of fish but soon enough, other aromatic flavours take over. It has a boiled egg, rice noodles, a raft of crunchy bits and a slice of banana stem and tastes delicious. Do squeeze the lime over for it brightens up the flavours instantly.  

Khayanthi hnat

The main courses were served with fragrant coconut milk rice. The vegetarians had khayanthi hnat, aubergines cooked in a thick onion and tomato gravy.

Nga hin

Gyat karlatha chat

For the others, there was nga hin, grilled sea bass with roesti and Burmese gravy. The fish was beautifully cooked and flaked effortlessly. 

The chef explained how gyat karlatha chat or bachelor chicken got its name - it's so easy to cook that even a bachelor could do it. Well, it might be a simple dish but it was so darn tasty. 

Shwe yin aye

Sanwin makin

Most Asian desserts have something made of coconut and shwe yin aye had sago cake and pandan noodles in sweetened coconut milk, the Burmese version of ice kachang. But the semolina cake, sanwin makin, served with caramelised orange, chocolate cream and honey ginger was what I preferred. Absolutely delicious.

The Burmese Food Festival is on till June 2nd and it does showcase food of the different regions of the country. The menu is à la carte and a meal for 2 would cost about 1500/-    

Soy Soi

2/10, Gandhi Mandapam Road, 

Kotturpuram.

Do call 9791555851 for reservations.

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Maharashtrian flavours at Ayna

If it's a homely Maharashtrian meal you've been longing to have, do head on over to the Hilton Chennai. Chef Nagarjun Kamble from the Conrad Pune is in town with a stock of spices and masalas to give us the true taste of the flavours from his home state.

Chef Kamble

As you enter Ayna, take a look at the photographs that hang at the entrance. There's nothing like a touch of nostalgia to accompany this kind of food.

Kokum sherbet; mattha

Two very welcome drinks, kokum sherbet and mattha with bondi, gave us respite from the searing summer temperatures. Both were served cold and were very refreshing.

Chutney platter

A typical meal begins with a platter of chutneys. The combination of coarsely pounded green chillies, garlic and groundnuts in the techa looked like it could burn our mouths but it was actually quite mild. Each of the dry chutneys, made of groundnut, sesame or dry coconut, tasted different, and were a wonderful accompaniment to the starters.
 

Sabudana wada

Kothimbir wadi

Mutton che sukke

The sabudana (sago) wadas were a riot  of textures with a crisp crust, chewy sago and bits of groundnuts flavoured with mild spices and served with a sweet yoghurt sauce. The little nuggets of Kothimbir wadi too were well made and had the lingering flavour of coriander leaves. Mutton che sukke, made with tender cubes of mutton, was coated with a thick masala. Tawa surmai was a large slice of king fish coated with masala and fried. It tasted different from the usual south Indian fish masala and the chef revealed that it was the variety of chilli that gave it that unique taste. 

Maharashtrian starters

This is poli, a flatbread layered with ghee. Don't ask me to pronounce it.

Main courses: Mutton kala rassa; bharlee wangi; shenga bhindi; kombdi cha rassa; Malwani zinga.
Indian breads include poli, puri and thalipeeth

The main courses were a good representation of regional Maharashtrian cooking. Mutton kala rassa, a speciality of the heartland, had been cooked into a rich, almost black coloured curry. The meat was tender and the gravy had a familiar flavour and a slight bitterness that is customary. A sprig of dill garnished the dish. One of the ingredients in the masala is the black stone flower (kalpasi). Brinjal is not one of my favourite vegetables but the bharlee wangi was so unusual that I did not mind trying it. The gravy had been thickened with coarse-ground peanut and it was delightful.  Groundnuts are a common ingredient in Maharashtrian food and the shenga bhindi too had coarsely pounded nuts and other spices in a very simple and homely dish, a nod to the chef's style of cooking. I've had several versions of the famous Kohlapuri chicken but the kombdi cha rassa with its wickedly red gravy, was super. It was spicy too, but not the type of heat that makes your eyes water and nose run. And of course, there was Malwani zinga from the coastal region. The prawns were large and succulent, the gravy, rich and coconut-ty. Both thalipeeth, made with multigrain flour, and the puri were great for mopping up the gravies but the poli was rather tough. 

Bharlee wangi; shenga bhindi

Masale bhat, similar to a veg biryani and very fragrant

Aamkhand; aamras; puran poli

The aamkhand on the dessert platter was rich and creamy. Aamras, on the other hand, needed to be made with a sweeter variety of mango. The puran poli, served hot, was perfect, especially when dipped into the aamkhand.

'Flavours of Maharashtra at Ayna' is on till May 24th and served at both lunch and dinner. The menu is à la carte.
Do call +9198401 02453 for reservations.

*This was an invited review 

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New menu at Stix, HRC

Stix at Hyatt Regency Chennai has pulled out all the stops to showcase their brand new menu. Resident Chef Sun Wenlin is from the Sichuan province and he has been delighting diners in Chennai with authentic flavours from the region for a while now. The new menu has a set of interesting dim sums and main courses.



There was quite a sizable crowd of guests who had been invited to the exclusive preview. We helped ourselves to the assortment of freshly steamed dim sums served with pairing sauces and dips. 

Dim sum baskets

Seafood dumplings

Lobster dumplings

Kung pao bao

Lamb pot stickers

Baked baos with wasabi vegetables

The clash of cymbals and drumbeats heralded the commencement of the dragon dance. Soon enough, the cutest little dragon came into view, its bobbing head keeping in step with its brightly lit pink body. The dancers weaved their way around the lobby and as everyone knows, the dragon is the symbol of good luck in Chinese culture.

Dim sum starters

Kung pao bao; seafood dumplings

Edamame dumplings. These green bundles are tiny but so addictive

Lobster, chicken and shrimp dumplings with chilli dip

All the dumplings were well made - thinly rolled skins, neatly pleated and stuffed with good amounts of filling. The stand outs were the pan-fried pot stickers and kung pao baos. The dough of the baos was fluffy and definitely the best I've had in town. On the vegetarian menu, the baked baos were the ones that kept disappearing the fastest. The combination of crisp pastry that enclosed the mild wasabi-coated diced vegetables was particularly nice.

Main courses

Lamb dry pot

Stir fried prawns in XO sauce

Barbeque fried chicken; kung pao chicken

Sichuanese food is spicy and pungent. Chillies and garlic are the most common ingredients, along with Sichuan peppers, and many of the dishes are made with the famous doubanjiang sauce. The lamb dry pot was deliciously spicy, the meat was tender and the onions provided the necessary crunch. The dish of stir fried prawns in XO sauce was delightful. It had king prawns that had been butterflied and cooked in XO sauce - succulent prawns that were coated in fabulous umami flavours.

Our bowl of barbeque chicken fried rice was so tasty. The rice was the sticky variety and that did add to its appeal. We paired it with kung pao chicken which had plenty of cashew nuts. Yum yum!

For the vegetarians, some of the items listed on the menu are fried eggplants in sweet-spicy sauce and Sichuan-style green veg in pickled chilli and cashew nut. There's much more of course!

Tender coconut ice cream; mango brûlée 

We had tender coconut ice cream and mango brûlée for dessert. Two great fruit-based desserts, a fitting end to a superb meal indeed.

Stix is open for both lunch and dinner, from 12 noon to 3.30 pm and from 6.30 to 11.30 pm. Choose from the à la carte menu, a meal for 2 without alcohol, could come to around 2200/-

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Blueberry and almond tart and 7 years on

My son's birthday is in October and every year, I try to come up with a new bake for that special day. Let's face it - I've been baking for a pretty long time and he's seen everything in my repertoire. No point asking him what he'd like either - the standard answer the past few years has been, "Anything Ma, whatever you want." Which sounds exactly as if he's indulging me!!

More than an year ago, the macaron baking bug had bitten me and in an attempt to making the perfect one, I had spent a small fortune on almond powder. This resulted in almost every shelf in my fridge (even the freezer) occupied by bags of almond powder... err...did I  say it was a "small" fortune?? I became a frequent visitor to the egg shop and the owner, seeing me buy dozens of eggs every week, once asked me if I was running a "hotel" ...duh!  My maid's eyes would light up with sheer happiness every time she saw me take out my macaron-baking paraphernalia  because she knew that she would be taking home plenty of egg yolks and "button biscuits" (she's seen and profits from my failures) for her kids the next day. Much angst, trial, error and pulling out of hair happened; the occasional batch turned out well but most of them didn't and "macaron" became a banned word in my house for some time.

So then, what to do with those packs of almond powder all over the fridge? Google assured me that there were fruit tarts I could make with it. Nothing could be simpler - a blueberry almond tart was going to be the birthday cake.

So you're wondering where I was going to get blueberries from in Chennai, right? Frozen
ones of course. Thaw them and they're just as good as fresh, maybe a little less messy on the bake. You need to make a sweet shortcrust pastry first and bake it blind. I add an egg to my pastry mix because I like how crisp the crust becomes but have done it without too. While the pastry is baking, make the filling and as soon as the pastry is ready, pour in the filling and pop it back into the oven. 45 minutes later, you can admire your beautiful tart. 

As I did. What we liked about it was that it was not too sweet but packed with flavour. The crust is buttery and the filling is little dense too, thanks to the almond flour which made slicing it a dream. Serve it with thick cream or a runny custard or ice cream. If you ask me, a sprinkle of icing sugar is all it actually needs. I kept mine unadorned because I had to write a message on it.

Also, I was given strict instructions not to place any of those *%*$#m******s on it (he's figured me out...sigh)!

Blueberry almond tart

Blueberry almond tart

Ingredients for pastry 

200 gm flour

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp icing sugar, sifted
1 egg, beaten

100 gm chilled butter, cut in cubes
Ice water to mix, as needed

Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl.
Rub in the butter till the mix resembles breadcrumbs,
Stir in the icing sugar.
Make a well in the centre, add the egg and just enough water and mix lightly to form a dough.
If you need a little more water, add it in drops till the dough comes together  and does not crack when pressed.
Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for at least half an hour.
*It's important not to add too much water or to knead the dough.

Preheat your oven to 190°C.
Dust your work space with flour and roll out the pastry into an even circle.
Line a 9" flan tin with the  pastry, trim off excess.
Bake the pastry blind for 15 minutes, remove paper and beans and bake again for another 10 minutes.
Lower the oven temperature to 170°C.
(To bake blind, place a large sheet of baking paper over the pastry. Place baking beans over the sheet and place it in the oven. This helps partially cook the pastry and prevents it from puffing up.)

Filling
300 gm frozen blueberries
90 gm butter, at room temperature
170 gm sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp grated lime rind
1 vanilla bean, halved and scraped
150 gm almond powder

Place berries in a colander to thaw and drain.
While the pastry is baking, make the filling.

Cream butter and sugar for a minute.
Add in eggs, rind and vanilla bean paste, cream till light and fluffy.
Fold in the almond powder and lightly mix in the drained berries.
Spoon the filling into the prepared crust.
Bake the tart for about 40 minutes or till the filling is firm and golden.
Remove from the heat, allow to cool for about 15 minutes before unmoulding.

It's another trip around the sun for my blog and we're 7 years today. Thank you for reading, for commenting and for being in our orbit! And this image is just to show how far my mac journey too has progressed. I'm off to the store now to pick up more almond flour!

Cheers!

I can say it now - macarons!

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Bessie gets a Wok Monk

At first glance, the red, white and black bowls stuck on the wall look like a random arrangement. Why would anyone hang bowls on a wall? Step back and look at it through your camera and then, there's no doubt you're at Wok Monk!

A branch of the restaurant has opened at Besantnagar. Which is a really good thing because that's what Besantnagar lacks - a pan-Asian restaurant. The kitchen is Chef Ilankumar's territory and it's quite a ladle that he wields here. Around 130 dishes on the menu - those are some mind-boggling numbers indeed! And they are vegetarian-friendly too!

Iced Milo Recovery Shake; Chendol Champion

Better than the Iced Milo Recovery Shake is the Chendol Champion. That drink is a champ indeed and closest in taste to chendol you get in the land of its birth!

In-house dips and sauces

Bhutanese soup with chicken

The Bhutanese chicken soup has sliced chicken, broccoli and bamboo shoots in a clear broth. Providing crunch are water chestnuts. Curry powder in my soup - no, not my preferred flavouring though my tablemates just slurped it up.

Prawn hargao; corn and water chestnut dumpling

Mixed veg dumpling; xiao long bao

Neat pleating

Wok Monk has quite an impressive list of dumplings. The prawn hargao and fish-shaped corn and water chestnut dumplings were the tastiest. Chennai restaurants have now caught onto the trend of making xiao long bao and for ease of handling,  the dumplings are steamed on spoons, which I think totally takes away from their charm.

Yakitori; satay gai

As for food on sticks, both chicken yakitori and satay gai were tasty. Slices of leek added texture to the yakitori while the satay had good char and flavour. The peanut sauce was spot on, a perfect balance of peanut paste, tang and spice.

Dry chilli basil chicken

WM chilli chicken

Dry chilli basil chicken could have done with more basil. The Wok Monk chilli chicken was the usual kind that is served in most pan Asian restaurants. Perhaps some smoked chilli oil might have given it more personality.

Teriyaki chicken pizza

The thin crust Teriyaki pizza is quite a dish. This one's just for those who don't mind a twist in the tale...err...pizza.  Cheesy and slightly sweet from the teriyaki sauce-infused meat, it was an unusual pairing.

Fire cracker lotus stem

Pad thai

WM vegetables even have cloud ear fungus. Delish! 

WM rice with chicken and comes wrapped in a lotus leaf

Veg mie goreng with the works - grilled tofu, cucumber and keropok

Steamed rice and Thai green curry prawns

A pad thai is a beautiful balance of Thai flavours. Wok Monk's version was a little too heavy on the tamarind sauce and the noodle was just that little bit overdone. We tried Mie goreng and lotus leaf wrapped Wok Monk rice with chicken, both main courses were very ordinary. What was impressive though was the Thai green curry prawns served with steamed rice. Wok Monk makes its own green curry paste and it's a perfect blend of aromatics, spice and aroma. And those prawns are large and absolutely fresh.

Kawaling pinoy

Chocolate tsunami; fried ice cream

It's nice when a restaurant makes the effort to create a list of desserts suited to their menu instead of passing on uninspiring copycat versions. Kawaling pinoy is one such delight where sweetened sago and mango do a tango. Then there's the oft-served fried ice cream, tiny but well made. The one that took us by surprise was definitely the chocolate tsunami. It looks like just another dimsum till you bite into one and a flood of chocolate ganache fills your mouth. The hint of sesame oil adds a savoury touch and that's what makes it moreish.

All Wok Monk needs is a few minor tweaks to the recipes. But that menu is going to draw me back because I spotted some of my favouite Asian dishes on it. And Chef IIan says that he knows exactly which ones I'm talking about!

Wok Monk is at 15, 17, 5th Avenue,
Urur Kuppam, Besantnagar.
044 4212 3399

*This was an invited review 

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