The night was chilly, but the damp cold of London did not hinder my walking around my most centrally based hotel in London. I was determined to eat South Indian food. My taste in South Indian food was cultivated in London during my university days here and nurtured in multiple visits to Seri Kembangan in KL (Maulana Resto) and now polished with the excellent food in Cochin in India.
The so called "Indian" restaurants are a curried version of Moghul and Persian cuisine which is not what people in INDIA eat but devised by British imagination and the necessity for jobs by Bangladeshis flooding into England. The majority of "Indian" restaurants in UK and perhaps the world are owned by Bangladeshis and particularly by those from two districts one of which is Sylhet.
Wanting to avoid Bangladeshi imagination of watered down Persian food, I sought out South Indian food and saw two restaurants within walking distance, Malabar Junction and Chettinad Restaurant. On my frequent visits to Cochin and KL, I can have Kerala food but Chettinad food is a luxury, especially sincemy recent visit to Rangoon/Yangon when I could not locate my favourite Chettinad resto there.
A brisk walk past the British Museum and I reached Percy street and the resto. A gaggle of dark skin Dravidian young men with thick hairs in the latest fashion welcomed me.
I sat a little away from the main dining room, now awash with a hundred conversations, almost all of them European/British.
A short very dravidian young man came over and was interested in the book I was reading, JERUSALEM by Simon Sebag Montefiore. He was intrigued by the 3 peso currency note from Cuba that I use as a bookmark. I told him of my connection with Cuba and like most Tamoul people he could not recognize the visage of CHE so prominently on the 3 peso note from Cuba.
I placed my order and began reading the book where I had left off.
A young man comes over.
Are you from Chettinad, I ask him politely.
No sir, I am from Kerala. which was welcome news to me.
I know a lot about Kerala and where are you from?
I am from Mallapuram, sir
I was vaguely aware of Mallapuram , I knew that it lay north of Cochin in the Muslim dominated Malabar rather than to the south, the christian dominated Cochin-Travancore.
I heard that you are from Cuba sir
My family are staunch communists and we know about Cuba in our family sir
I was very impressed, Keralites impress me because of their world awareness, through their historic connections with the middle east from the Babylonian times, as well as their high literacy rates, close to 95-98 per cent.
We had a pleasant chat and as he had been attracted by the visage of Che which any Malayalee of good educational standing would recognize.
I told him that I consider myself an unofficial ambassador from Cuba to Cochin and we talked about the good relationship Kerala enjoys with Cuba.
I handed the 3 peso note to him, he held it to his heart and said, I thank you so much sir.
He is an MBA student, here on a 2 year visa, hopes to stay an extra few months to garner experience.
I talked to him about Qatar and encouraged him to stay outside Kerala with its swollen behemoth of talented young men and women. I could feel his love for his land. Like most educated Muslims in Kerala he is not religious and moderate in his views.
A pleasant conversation and I was glad to have chosen this restaurant for this human contact with Kerala and its people.
I ordered a mildly spiced lamb dish with Appam (fermented rice, made into a soft bread) and a large glass of a spanish Red wine (a mix of tempranillo with merlot). Indian restaurants are not known for their wine menu and this was the only wine available, to order by glass.
I enjoyed my meal, reading the book on the history of Jerusalem (a misunderstood city of the Jews later conquered by Muslims, earlier destroyed by Romans before the Jewish dispersion).
I enjoyed my meal and before I left, I asked for Ansal from Mallapuram and bade farewell asking him to give my regards to his family in Mallapuram, where they seem to be friends with the local politicians.
( i copied the bill, for those interested in prices of things in London)
It was a nice experience for me on this cold night in London.
How quickly I feel at home in London, a city where I studied Medicine and returned to study Anthropology.. it is a good feeling to love this city.
The so called "Indian" restaurants are a curried version of Moghul and Persian cuisine which is not what people in INDIA eat but devised by British imagination and the necessity for jobs by Bangladeshis flooding into England. The majority of "Indian" restaurants in UK and perhaps the world are owned by Bangladeshis and particularly by those from two districts one of which is Sylhet.
Wanting to avoid Bangladeshi imagination of watered down Persian food, I sought out South Indian food and saw two restaurants within walking distance, Malabar Junction and Chettinad Restaurant. On my frequent visits to Cochin and KL, I can have Kerala food but Chettinad food is a luxury, especially sincemy recent visit to Rangoon/Yangon when I could not locate my favourite Chettinad resto there.
A brisk walk past the British Museum and I reached Percy street and the resto. A gaggle of dark skin Dravidian young men with thick hairs in the latest fashion welcomed me.
I sat a little away from the main dining room, now awash with a hundred conversations, almost all of them European/British.
A short very dravidian young man came over and was interested in the book I was reading, JERUSALEM by Simon Sebag Montefiore. He was intrigued by the 3 peso currency note from Cuba that I use as a bookmark. I told him of my connection with Cuba and like most Tamoul people he could not recognize the visage of CHE so prominently on the 3 peso note from Cuba.
I placed my order and began reading the book where I had left off.
A young man comes over.
Are you from Chettinad, I ask him politely.
No sir, I am from Kerala. which was welcome news to me.
I know a lot about Kerala and where are you from?
I am from Mallapuram, sir
I was vaguely aware of Mallapuram , I knew that it lay north of Cochin in the Muslim dominated Malabar rather than to the south, the christian dominated Cochin-Travancore.
I heard that you are from Cuba sir
My family are staunch communists and we know about Cuba in our family sir
I was very impressed, Keralites impress me because of their world awareness, through their historic connections with the middle east from the Babylonian times, as well as their high literacy rates, close to 95-98 per cent.
We had a pleasant chat and as he had been attracted by the visage of Che which any Malayalee of good educational standing would recognize.
I told him that I consider myself an unofficial ambassador from Cuba to Cochin and we talked about the good relationship Kerala enjoys with Cuba.
I handed the 3 peso note to him, he held it to his heart and said, I thank you so much sir.
He is an MBA student, here on a 2 year visa, hopes to stay an extra few months to garner experience.
I talked to him about Qatar and encouraged him to stay outside Kerala with its swollen behemoth of talented young men and women. I could feel his love for his land. Like most educated Muslims in Kerala he is not religious and moderate in his views.
A pleasant conversation and I was glad to have chosen this restaurant for this human contact with Kerala and its people.
I ordered a mildly spiced lamb dish with Appam (fermented rice, made into a soft bread) and a large glass of a spanish Red wine (a mix of tempranillo with merlot). Indian restaurants are not known for their wine menu and this was the only wine available, to order by glass.
I enjoyed my meal, reading the book on the history of Jerusalem (a misunderstood city of the Jews later conquered by Muslims, earlier destroyed by Romans before the Jewish dispersion).
I enjoyed my meal and before I left, I asked for Ansal from Mallapuram and bade farewell asking him to give my regards to his family in Mallapuram, where they seem to be friends with the local politicians.
It was a nice experience for me on this cold night in London.
How quickly I feel at home in London, a city where I studied Medicine and returned to study Anthropology.. it is a good feeling to love this city.
