A lovely lassi, and a terrific Vegetarian Thali including cheering kheer dessert

We exit from Mustafa's multi-storey deparement store on the edge of Little India ready for a drink - and opposite is a vegetarian Indian restaurant offering mango lassi. Loocation, location, location, said Hilton. He was right. 

As soon as I know that they serve lassi I am ready to try the restaurant. We sit down. We order lassi, mango lassi. The lassi is in a tall waisted glass, orange-y yellow. Thick liquid. Not cold. Not over sugared. But satisfyingly thick. More of an appetizer than a drink.

My husband orders beer.

Decor

We sit in our banquette booth, admiring the decor. Truly Indian, Hindu, many Gods, many styles. Chandeliers hang above us. I recognize the gopi girls dancing in a picture on the wall opposite. Further along is modern art, colourful. 

The menu is also varied, offering many vegetarian dishes.

Bread and Thali

 We start with crispy bread like flattened balloons with hollow centres. (Poori.)

Then the Thali, a tray of food. Luckily my husband immediately recognizes what looks like rice pudding is a dessert for later. 

Something is spicy. But we have white rice and white yogurt, and glasses of water. They even have a box of paper tissues on the table.

Thali at Indian restaurant. Photo by Angela Lansbury. The nearest plate shows the squashed balloon shape poori underneath a flat cracker poppadum. The Thail (tray dinner) has white rice in the middle, white yogurt, rice dessert (kheer), and four vegetable curries. You can see the potato in the bowl nearest me, the photographer. 

Dosai

The dosai rolled pancake is too crispy for me. Dosai always is too crispy for me. I am a paratha person and like to chew my bread. However, I am easily pacified by potato filling in a masala dosai.

Kheer

The rice pudding dessert we soon identify as kheer. It is not quite rice pudding. It is cooked with ghee, clarified butter. Notable differences are the addition of nibs of nuts. That absolutely makes it for me.

You can make it with rice or tapioca. Add currants or sultanas and nuts (almonds or pistachios).

The final delight is the view of a box of Indian desserts. I don't know when we will return, but they deliver all over the island of Singapore.

Useful Websites

https://www.mustafa.com.sg/

www.Balajibbhawan.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kheer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kheer_(Bengali_sweets)

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Kheer

Ballaji Bhaawan

103 Syed Alwi Road

(opposite Mustafa Gate No. 2)

Singapore 207679

Tel:+65 6341 7797

Manish hp 9126 7797

Email Maanish200@gmail.com

About the Author Angela Lansbury

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time; 

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced  once a month, Tuesday;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club, Friday;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel (club closed); and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England. (Next event August 2022.)

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales. (Next event February 2023). 

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia (two Tuesday evenings each month, Indonesian time).

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

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Nalan Vegetarian Restaurant - for Masala Dosai, and Biriani and Mango Lassi

I had asked my Indian friend for a restaurant which served Masala Dosai. the restaurant chosen was vegetarian. I had not realised that masala disai is a south Indian specility and usually to be found in vegetarian restaurants. Ok, fine by me, but not by my spouse notr the spouse of the orgnaizing host.

Nalan, hower is a find. It feels spacious, not so crowded as all those restaurants in Little India, some of which feel like an Indian reailway station, cramped, crowded and rushed.  Sometimes they overwhelm you with turbans and sarees so you feel like an outsider if you are Asian Chinese or European or mixed race expat and not in your most ethnic clothes.

The atmosphere of Nalan is relaxed and just right.

Nalan restaurant in Singapore is easy to reach, at central City Hall MRT station. However, it is hard to find. Cross the road to the large semicircular theatre complex with the empy plaza in front.  Take the right hand entrance and go downstairs. You find jumping small foundtains illuminated in green lights. At the back of the Nalan restaurant is a request to go to the front. They don't explain that you go clockwise, past another restaurant alongside, to get to their front entrance.

Menu
Dosais are hug pancakes. Freshly cooked, they are often too crispy. Add the condiments and they turn into a thin pancake. Confusingly, local Singaoreans describe this difference as we, whilst I from the UK would call it moist.

The menu choices include thalis and a biriani thali if you can't make up your mind. The biriani thali which I had includes rice, potato and a puffed up hollow semi-crispy bread, a bit like a squashed balloon. It included one tiny portion of gulub jaman, my favourite dessert.

Avoid The Ginger Tea
It is just what I did not want, tea with added ginger, tasting of tea, no ginger. I though it would be lemon tea.

I complained, not once, but about five times. The manager conceded to add some ginger. I went to see them make it. The maker was adding something thugh a sieve. It made no difference to the taste.

I wanted tea made with water and ginger, not tea with added ginder. If I ordered lemon I would not want tea with the addiiton of grains of lemon flavour. I would want a piece of fresh lemon floating in tea.

The manager would not replace it or take off the price from the bill.

So, in my opinion, go for the food, and have drinks somewhere else.

Author
Angela Lansbury