Indian Economical Rice At Sri Kortumalai

We arrived at Little India, Bricksfield at around 11.25am in the morning, hungry!!! After we found a parking spot in a rather shady area, we decided to hunt for a restaurant nearby for breakfast. Heh...breakfast at 11.25am, more like lunch maybe.

Restoran Sri Kortumalai looks just like a garden variety Indian restaurant with their usual curry, rice and vegetables serving. Our perception changed immediately when we went in for a look.

I was surprised to find a large photo of Najib in this restaurant. Apparently, this Indian restaurant isn't the usual thing. For those who do not know, Najib is the Prime Minister of Malaysia. If the Prime Minister himself sat here to dine, there must be something special going on in Sri Kortumalai. Let's find out.

They even have a corner named after him.

Unlike the normal Indian restaurant that offers a measly amount of choices, Sri Kortumalai wins hands down when it comes to their Indian economical rice. The variety of vegetable and meat offered is just mind boggling. Choices are split between vegetarian and non vegetarian. Did I just hear a shout of joy from the vegans?

Boiled eggs, lamb meat, bitter gourd fried in egg, just a sample of the vast variety being offered here.

The vegetarian corner offers a unique punch to our vegan friends. Potatoes marinated in herbs and sauce simulate real meat. Pay attention to the brownish black looking chunks of potatoes at the bottom left hand corner. They look so very meat like, it would fool anyone. There are also flour like sticks pressed into curved edges to simulate real prawns.

This isn't just food we are talking about, but a union of art and food together. Ranging from potatoes, ladies fingers and diced cucumber, the vegetarian corner is a treasure trove. At the bottom is a thick yellowish like soup with hundreds of chili floating inside. As I am not into the spicy business, I will be giving that one a wide berth.

Our plates are layered with banana leaf at the bottom, giving off an aromatic scent that triggers the appetite.

Feeling a little vegan today, I decided to indulge in the vegetarian corner. I scooped quite a little bit of the simulated meat and prawn as well as a hand full of lady's fingers into my plate of rice.

The taste of the potato is indescribable. You can smell the fragrance escaping it when your teeth sink into the flesh. Quite chewy, it took me quite awhile to break it down into a swallowable pulp. The red colored simulated prawns was positively spicy, I couldn't finish it.

The same could not be said for the texture of the rice which was of the right moisture. My friend allowed me to sample a bit of his curry lamb and fried chicken. Unlike KFC, the fried chicken offered at Sri Kortumalai wasn't dry and dull on the inside. The skin was positively crispy with a yellow golden edge to it. The flesh was very juicy too. Grudgingly, I will add some points here. For the small amount of vegetables I took, the restaurant worker decided to charge me with a bill of RM 7. That is not very economical for an Indian economical rice......