South Indian in South Bay - finally!
Just noticed that Annapurna Garden has opened recently at 15651 Hawthorne Bl. (just north of Manhattan Beach Bl.). Yes, it is a branch of the other Annapurna restaurants. I talked to the manager who said that they are on a limited menu until the rest of their kitchen equipment is in place (October); no dosa or uthappam until then :-(.
While we're here, are there any other South Indian *intensive* restaurants in the area (not including India Sweets on Sepulveda)? I'm talking good selection, here. TIA, Mike
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That sounds wonderful, thank you for taking the time to write it all! I love tamarind and cumin, as well as vegetables prepared with roasted spices as you describe. I'll now have to go to a Southern Indian restaurant! (Edited to add I'm not far from Culver City - this may be Wednesday dinner.)
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re: Cinnamon
The Southern Indian cooking I grew up with and know about is vegetarian. A typical dinner will have three courses - sambar, a lentil-based thick soup that can be made a variety of different ways using different combinations of vegetables and spices. Rasam follows. This is a thinner soup also with lentils and most often with tomatoes. There's also a wonderful version called "jeera rasam" which leaves out the tomatoes, using cumin and tamarind instead. The final course is yogurt/buttermilk. All of the above will usually be mixed, by the fingers, into rice and eaten without utensils. On special occasions, the meal will be served on banana leaves. Each course will be accompanied by vegetable curries - string beans, carrots, potatoes, squashes, ... a staggering number of different kinds. The vegetable are chopped and sauteed with a small amount of oil and/or clarified butter into which spices have been roasting for a few minutes. It's also common to have a course just with rice and the curry. Lemon and mango pickles are typical condiments. Dosas are popular at lunch and quite often dinner. These resemble crepes and are made by ladling a thin batter over a hot griddle and then flipping the thing over to complete the cooking. Uthappam is a thicker version of this that can have vegetables and other ingredients mixed into the batter beforehand. Dosas and uthappams are gently torn, dipped in sambar or in a hot chili powder (whose Tamil name is hard to transliterate) and eaten. Masala dosas are very popular - a very thin dosa is folded over a potato mixture.
And that's just what I know from Tamil Nadu aka Madras. The cuisine from the nearby state of Andhra Pradesh is similar in many respects although I'm told it is even spicier than Madrasi cooking. There are also large communities in the south that eat meat and fish, I know very little about these. Goanese cooking from the southwestern portion of India, influenced heavily by the Portuguese, is different still.
Northern Indian cooking, especially the Tandoori style, is far better known. I've come up with some guesses of why this is the case but have no proof of any of them.
1) Northern Indians emigrated first and in larger numbers
2) The cuisine is non-vegetarian which makes it more appealing to a larger audience
3) It is more amenable to eating with western utensils
4) The spices and textures of Northern Indian food are a more natural mix with wines and spirits which are an integral part of western dining--- Ravi
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Apart from Annapurna in Culver City, I don't think there's been a sit-down South Indian restaurant in the Westside/South Bay after Dasaprakash on Santa Monica Blvd. left for Northern California a few years ago. I'd like to thank you for this post as I live a short distance away from this new location and can't wait to try it. Annapurna/CC is excellent and I hope this location is up to that high standard.
Ravi in Redondo
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re: Ravi
Joe Blowe
Sep 19, 2006 03:58 PM
I agree -- can't think of any South Indian sit-down restaurants in the area. This is a real find.
To the OP: There are two other places in Torrance, in addition to India Sweets, serving South Indian take out -- All Indian Sweets at 20916 Hawthorne, and India Spiceland at 23906 Crenshaw. I still like India Sweets the best, though...
Joe B.
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re: Joe Blowe
DiveFan
Sep 19, 2006 10:30 PM
I'm not super fussy about nor a proper judge of 'authentic' Indian cuisine, but I visited the restaurant in my OP about two weeks ago and was very disappointed.
The dishes were all prepared ahead and stored on the steam table, were mostly too soupy and bland. Even the samosas were unexciting.
I'll be trying the 'All Indian' next time I'm in the area.
Ravi: is sambar supposed to be real thin/soupy? When I make it the texture is more like American split pea soup.-
re: DiveFan
Dive,
"Ravi: is sambar supposed to be real thin/soupy? When I make it the texture is more like American split pea soup."
No, sambar should be thicker than you described the restaurant dish. Rasam is thinner and soupier . Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience - did you have a buffet lunch? I don't think South Indian cooking lends itself well to steam tables. Annapurna in Culver City isn't too far from the South Bay and would be a good crosscheck if you can make it there for dinner sometime.
--- Ravi
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re: Ravi
DiveFan
Sep 20, 2006 03:00 AM
FYI I've been to Annapurna/CC but only had the lunch special (pretty good); I'm not sure if I had a sambar due to missing labels. I think that steam tables can work for many Indian dishes but the preparation/timing has to be perfect in order to get the right texture. Come to think of it, excessive condensation may have caused the above soupiness (got to get there Earlier!).
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re: DiveFan
Joe Blowe
Sep 20, 2006 12:21 AM
Re. India Sweets, that's sad to hear. I haven't been in about a year or more, but before I moved from So. Torr. to North Torrance, I hit the place on a regular basis.
Will definitely try Annapurna, as it's only about 7 minute drive from my house!
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