salaam | namaste Food Festival 2012 - Namaaste Kitchen

Namaaste Kitchen & salaam salaam | | namaste
namaste
Finest Indian Restaurants in London
Food Festival 2012
Regional Food Year Began In Hyderabad
Salaam Namaste and Namaaste Kitchen amongst the Best Indian Restaurants in
London, are bringing the flavours and diversity of India’s many and varied regional
cuisines to London during a year-long food festival. Their 2012 Regional Food Fair
started its journey in February from Hyderabad, at the crossroads of north and south
India.
“The idea of our festival is to challenge perceptions of what ‘Indian food’ means. We
want to open our guests’ eyes to some of the truly thrilling taste sensations that can be
found across India, but are sometimes almost impossible to find on UK menus,”
comments the restaurants’ founder, Sabbir Karim. “We want to share these
discoveries with our diners.”
June 2012
South Indian Food Festival Menu
at Namaaste Kitchen and Salaam Salaam Namaste
Namaste
Paper-thin dosas, steaming, fragrant broths and heady sweet and sour aromas…these are just some
of the taste sensations ripe for discovery at Namaaste Kitchen and Salaam Namaste, two of
London’s leading Indian restaurants. This June, for the entire month, the two restaurants are
steering their year-long Regional Food Festival to the south of India, to Tamil Nadu and lush
green Kerala, two regions known for their light, flavourful and health-giving cuisine.
“British diners are already, as we know, enamoured of the robust, fiery tandoori cuisine from
India’s north, but we think the time is right to shine the spotlight on the south of India,” observes
Sabbir Karim, founder of Namaaste Kitchen and Salaam Namaste. “June, and the start of the
summer, feels like the perfect time to discover the regions’ famous vegetarian dishes and
wonderfully aromatic cooking.”
After independence from the British Raj, Southern India was divided on a linguistic basis into four
different states: Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Ayurveda, India’s ancient
holistic healing system and traditional medicine, has had a remarkable influence on the cooking
culture with its belief on food’s therapeutic value. The diversity of people settling in Kerala over
the centuries has brought a powerful mix of religions to the region which is reflected in the
cuisine. Vegetarian dishes predominate from rice pancakes (dosai) to rice and lentil cakes (idlis),
dal broths (sambhar) and tangy soups (rasam), though fish and meat dishes such as Travancore
chicken curry and Keralan kappayum meenum enjoy pride of place on menus.

Namaaste Kitchen and Salaam Namaste’s ‘Regional Food Festival’ is an exciting year-long
project to showcase the food and flavours of a different Indian region every month. By offering
dishes rarely seen on menus in the UK, it aims to challenge perceptions of what ‘Indian food’ can
mean.
South Indian Food Festival Menu
Starters
Rasam (soup) 3.95
The essence of Kerala - a peppery lentil broth laced with garlic, tomatoes, spices and tamarind.
Meen Porichathu (fish) 5.50
Kingfish marinated in a spicy paste made of ginger, green chillies and coriander, then shallowfried
in the traditional fashion.
Dosa (Chicken/Prawn) 5.50
A paper thin pancake made of rice and black gram, folded with a filling of chicken or prawns
cooked with onions and ginger and served with sambar and coconut chutney.
Cheese Onion Dosa 4.50
A paper thin pancake made of rice and black gram, folded with a filling of homemade cheese
cooked with onions and ginger and served with sambar and coconut chutney.
Kancheepuram Idli 3.95
Steamed urad dal (black lentils) cakes topped with the chef's special mixed vegetable masala.
Served with coconut chutney.
Mains
Kappayum Meenum (fish) 14.50
The most famous dish of “Kallu Shaap (toddy shops) all over Kerala. Kingfish
cooked in a sauce made from onions, fried chillies, turmeric and ginger served with a plate of
cassava steamed in turmeric water.
Travancore Chicken Curry 12.95
Cubes of boneless chicken cooked in a lovely pepper masala made from garlic, mustard seeds,
curry leaves, green chillies and ginger. A fantastic combination with paratha and lemon rice.
Adipoli Erachi Mulagu (Lamb)13.50
Boneless cubes of lamb and dry cooked in turmeric water, then stir-fried in an open kadai with an
abundance of black pepper, curry leaves, and finely sliced fresh coconut slices.
Konju Thenga Curry (King Prawn) 14.95
Taken from the famous 'Coconut Grove' menu, this is a delicious and mildly spiced prawn dish
cooked in the sauce of ground coconut, turmeric powder and green chillies tempered with
aromatic curry leaves and mustard seeds. It is a mouthwatering combination with tamarind rice or
appams.
Moru Kachiathu (V) 9.50
An unusual combination of sweet mango and green banana cooked in yoghurt with green chillies,
ginger and fresh curry leaves. A sweet and sour dish that is highly recommended.
Sambar (side) 4.50
Sambar is a vegetable stew based on a broth made with tamarind and pigeon peas, coked with
Vegetables, turmeric and a mixture of ground spices and is very popular in the cooking of
southern regions of India especially in Tamil Nadu, Kerala.

Tamarind Rice 3.75
Rice tossed gently with tamarind juice, cooked with cashew nuts, peanuts and dried red chillies.
Tomatoes Rice 3.75
Basmati rice cooked in coconut milk with fresh tomatoes, cashew nuts, onions and coriander.
Dessert
Banana Dosa with ice cream 4.50
This is the Palakkad Iyer (Brahmin) speciality with a difference. These tiny pancakes are made
from bananas, plain flour and cardamom.
For further information about Namaaste Kitchen please visit www.namaastekitchen.co.uk
For information about Salaam Namaste, please see www.salaam-namaste.co.uk
Salaam Namaste, 68 Millman Street, London, WC1N 3EF
020 7405 3697
Namaaste Kitchen, 64 Parkway, London, NW1 7AH
020 7485 5977