Evening at Little India

Indian temple along Little India (Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple) 

It was meant to be a dinner for the double bassists from the double bass section, anyway, in the end, only myself and QH were present for the dinner.

I met QH nearby the bus-stop opposite the new Tekka Mall and we had Indian food for dinner together. We actually spent our evening in an area that was fondly referred to by fellow Singaporeans as "Little India". According to one website that I had visited, the introduction of cattle rearing on the fertile land near Rochor River and the building of the Race Course for the Europeans nearby in 1843 have attracted many immigrants from Calcutta, Madras and Malaya to the area. Soon enough, the area became a flourishing commercial centre for the Indian community.

We had dinner at an eatery that serves North Indian food. I have forgotten its name, but it starts with "Komala". I know it isn't very helpful, but this is the best I could provide. We ordered poori, masala thosai and some Indian desserts. The poori tasted nice with the chickpeas and sauce. QH told me that poori was made into ball-shapes and then deep-fried. In a way, it means that the thosai should be healthier food compared to poori. Afterall, thosai isn't deep-fried.

The Indian desserts were sweet. One of the desserts that we had was called Gulab Jamun. Gulab Jamum, I understand, are Indian milk balls deep fried and soaked in honey syrup. It is sweet, a treat for those with a sweet-tooth. I am not one, but I could sample it for the novelty of it.


Poori: with dough made from whole-wheat flour, made into balls and deep-fried. 


Masala Thosai, with its sauces. 

Dinner was affordable and satisfying. QH told me that because the eatery was not a restaurant, customers are expected to leave once they have finished eating their meals. The staff of the eatery had been prompt. They cleared our tables the moment that we finished eating and were ready to leave.

Hence we left the eatery. QH said there is a restaurant along Race Course Road that sells nice Naan. We headed there. Along the way, we could see the area crowded with people. I don't like crowds, mind you. But I guess today's crowd was not the worst that I had encountered.


Little India, full of people. 

The restaurant that QH had wanted to go to try the Naan was not opened, so we headed for yet another. I cannot remember the name of the restaurant that we went to, for I did not make any effort to look at its name in the first place. The place was air-conditioned.

We ordered Garlic Naan, Chaphati and a mutton dish. QH ordered Masala tea too. Prior to serving the Naan, we were being served an appetiser consisting of onions topped with some peppermint-tasting sauce. The sauce had the taste of Indian yogurt, and QH agreed. QH said that just like Chinese may eat peanuts before a meal as a form of appetiser, the Indians eat this dish prior to eating Naan. I don't have more details about the appetiser other than what you read here, but please feel free to contribute.


The appetiser, before eating the Naan. 

Naan, as I got to find out, is dough made from refined flour. The process of making naan goes like this: The dough is slapped at the side of the tandoor, then hooked with an iron skewer and taken out. The garlic naan is sprinkled with garlic. The garlic naan at that restaurant did not taste fantastic. It was below expectations. However, I like the Chapati. I like its texture. It sure beats the naan from the same restaurant. The mutton dish was alright though average. After all the two meals, you bet I was very full.


The Garlic Naan on the left, and the Chapati on the right. 


Mutton masala? Anyway, it's mutton in thick spicy sauce alright. 

I learnt one thing today that Masala actually refers to an assortment of herbs and spices. If I could remember correctly, the Masala Tea contains spices such as cloves, cinnamon, fennel and so forth. The aroma of the tea is rather strong.


Masala tea. 

After the second round of dinner, QH and I walked to the Mustafa Centre, a well-known shopping centre that is located in the area. We walked about within the Mustafa Centre's compound. It was relatively large and sells almost everything. Just for chocolates alone, there were at least five rows of shelves on which various brands of chocolates were being displayed. This is considered quite a lot in Singapore's context. I was told that this Mustafa Centre opens 24-hours. I personally would think that shopping in Mustafa Centre would not really give me a positive shopping experience for I do not like the crowd there, yet it does sell quite a variety of Indian food which we would seldom find in other supermarkets in Singapore.

It was quite an enriching evening. I thank QH for bringing me around.

By the way, if you would like more information about touring Little India, you could check out this URL: http://www.littleindia.com.sg/stb/stb_index.htm