Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Sri Neelas serves a delicious mutton varuval (dry curry mutton); lip-smacking stuff.

It has been awhile since I wrote about banana leaf curry rice. Wondering what’s the big deal with eating rice + curry + dishes served on a piece of banana leaf?

Beats me. Supposedly, the leaf imparts a certain aroma to the rice. Or so we have always thought, or led into thinking. But seriously, with a variety of side dishes (usually vegetables and potatoes), delectably robust curries, crispy flavourful papadom crackers and chicken/fish/mutton of your choice, can you even taste the faint nuance of fragrance from the leaf?

My lurve for BLR runs deep.

That being said, I’m still a huge fan of banana leaf rice. Haha …. Goes to show how old gimmicks still work, and the novelty never runs out.

There are many good options in Klang Valley. There’s the one in Bangsar, the authentic ones in Brickfield (pardon the ignorance, as I have always wanted to pay Vishal a visit, yet this place escaped my radar more often than not), the commercialized ones, the poor imitators of the real deal, and of course … the in-betweens.

Like Sri Neelas in Taman Desa, a worthy choice in my opinion, yet with a niche crowd of their own ….. Read the rest of this entry »

An arranged chaos. You can literally dive in with manners out the windows (or in this case, the lack thereof), OR you can utilize the shiny cutlery and scoop mouthfuls of rice showered in the golden mahogany curries, with interesting clash of textures of being crispy (papadom crackers), crunchy (pickled cucumber) and chewy (mutton varuval – dry curry mutton)

Tell me about banana leaf curry rice, and I’ll sit up and pay attention. Not sure where the allure actually lies; maybe the fragrance from the leaf where your food is served? The sheer appeasing of your innermost glutton by topping up excessive portions of rice and vegetables (of course, the curry too)? Or the desire to dig in in your most barbaric manner; sans any fork or spoon, and create a mess out of the culinary experience?

Raju, off Jalan Gasing in PJ is probably legendary; a name renowned … almost synonymous with good (yet pricey) roti canai (Indian flatbread). But this was my FIRST visit after many trials and tribulations. Why? Read on for the revelation …. Read the rest of this entry »

The Giant Poori Face?

Pardon the lack of posts/passion/intensity/energy as of late. You would have realized that the writing’s not like my same witty self (hehe, self praise pulak) nor as punchy recently. Many things are happening in life now, and even during this moment when you’re pondering over this post sipping on a cup of teh tarik (Malaysian famous Indian-style pulled milk tea), Motormouth’s somewhere in the Klang Valley and adapting to situations. Or tribulations?

A complete set of ‘Banana Leaf’ Curry Rice @ Kalai Curry House in old town of Ipoh

Anyway, since tomorrow’s the Festival of Lights, or ‘Diwali/Deepavali’ as we know it, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the Indian readers (and those celebrating the occasion, no matter you’re representing what faction/background) a very HAPPY DEEPAVALI! I initially planned to share a post on Buntong kacang putih (conversely speaking, the nuts ain’t white per se) but did not plan that this KL excursion would have taken me more than 3 days. So no pictures of the snacks. Yet.

But here’s a long delayed post I wanted to do on Kalai Curry House. Yup, used to be my absolute favourite place for South Indian cuisine in Ipoh (read my rave back then), but things started spiralling down during the last two visits. Read on to find out why …. Read the rest of this entry »

Wait, what’s up with J2Kfm and his obsession with Banana Leaf Rice meals all of a sudden?!!!! Influences from his peers? Or the awakening of the Indian blood in him? (Sounds kind of wrong though, whoops. Twilight 3 in the making?).

First there was Sri Asoka Corner @ Ipoh Stadium and Samy’s @ Chemor. Then came along NS Curry House, and Old Andersonian Cafeteria near to Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun (that’s Ipoh General Hospital, for the uninitiated). Last month we even went down to Kuala Lumpur in search of good restaurants serving banana leaf curry rice, and ended up at Kanna’s Curry House in Section 17, Petaling Jaya.

Backtrack a little, and let me introduce one of my better banana leaf meals experience recently. Not in Ipoh, not around Perak, nor even in the Klang Valley. But on the good old, quaint and charming Penang island.

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I have a confession to make. I’m addicted, wait … obsessed would be a better term here, with the southern Indian specialty, banana leaf rice. Those fluffy white grains drenched with the reddish/orange-coloured elixir that promises a spicy, pungent yet most-revered kick, paired with unlimited supplies of pickles, curried vegetables, and crispy papadom crackers. Served on an over-sized cut of banana leaf which is believed to impart whiffs of fragrance to the overall ensemble, one is even required to adhere to the several customs/guidelines, ie : To fold the banana leaf towards oneself after the satisfactory meal (or fold it up away from you if the food’s darn horrendous), and to eat with your hands whenever possible, to fully savour the delicious combination of curries, meats, assortment of vegetables and rice.

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Banana Leaf Curry Rice – A luscious, complete meal. So is this Malaysian, Singaporean, or true-blue Indian? 🙂

Old Andersonian Club & Cafeteria serves authentic Moghul cuisine & Banana Leaf Rice, at the most unassuming location in Ipoh city. This cafeteria/canteen-like restaurant has been operating beside SMK Anderson (Anderson secondary school )on Jalan Hospital Ipoh for a good many years now. Facing the Sultan Iskandar roundabout connecting Jalan Hospital and Jalan Raja Musa Aziz, Old Andersonian Cafeteria is unlike your average spicier and robust South Indian eatery, but instead specializing on Moghul (North Indian) cuisine.

A classic of an outlet serving banana leaf curry rice. Notice the airy environment, with opened windows, shady trees at its own parking lot, and a spacious interior setting.

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