Malathi's Lunch Thursdays : Simple Indian Food With Rich Flavors

My wife and I usually spend our lunchtime at Malathi's almost every thursday. I have written before on Malathi's, but on breakfast , and lunch is such a treat compared to breakfast. Why Thursdays? On Thursdays, we have a choice, either normal rice or the Beriani. Malathi serves a simple, yet memorably mouth-watering Indian food for lunch.

I have stated before that there is not many Indian restaurants available in Alor Setar compared to Sungai Petani or Kulim, to me, one of the most powerful attraction to eat there is the closer-to-home taste. One might notice that the rice and dishes are not doled out in huge pots, instead they are prepared in medium and large ones. At times, if you drop by after 1:30pm, you might be disappointed to see that most of the dishes are already cleared. It is understandable as this is a family run business. The proprietors, Puspa and her husband, Maran prepares everything. The cooking is done by Puspa and her mother at their house, which is close-by. Supplies are sourced daily and cooked by Puspa and her mother. For me, the limited quantity is a plus: the taste of home-cooked is there, no mass-produced curries here. Another factor is that there are no leftovers by the time Malathi is closed, ensuring fresh start for the next day.

Some people might find that Beryani made from non-Basmathi rice can be a turn off, but for me and wife, what matters is the taste and flavor, and how well the curries and vegetables mix with the rice.

The Beryani at Malathi's might be a tad different from the usual affair, and looked much simpler. A set of Beryani has the rice, chicken in a rendang-smelling gravy, dhal and vegetables. I was made to understand that previously, the chicken was marinated and cooked with the rice, but on popular demand by customers, the chicken is cooked seperately. In a way, the chicken in its marinate gravy became a much-sought-after dish on its own. The chicken is marinated with spices and slow-cooked in a pot. It smells like rendang but has a very different taste and not spicy hot. This is the dish that usually runs out first before anything else. For me, to go there and find that the chicken dish is still available will be such a bonus. It tastes well with white rice as well.

The seperate preparations for the rice and chicken led to theorize that Malathi's Beryani is a variation of the Hyderabad Beryani, where the chicken is marinated seperately from the rice, but slow-cooked together. Then again, there are so many variations between continents, countries, regions and families. One thing for sure, this Beryani is good.

There are the basic vegetable dishes, usually 4 of them daily. The greens are usually chopped quite finely, root vegetables are usually in bite-sizes. Among my favorites are the curried or spiced pumpkin and the spiced-bitter gourd. On Thursdays, you will find combination of cucumber, onions and chilli in yoghurt, which is a sort of acar.

The curries served at Malathi's are extraordinarily good. According to Maran, his mother-in-law concocts her own curry powder. I have read that in India, you will not find curry powders in shops as each house blends their own. This makes the curries at Malathi's unique in a way as this seperates their curries from the old school Mamak shops in Alor Setar, despite both groups using no santan or coconut milk in their curries.

Basically, there are 3 types of curries: fish, mutton and chicken. The curries are not too thick, nor too watery, just perfect. The spices are well balanced, and memorable: the fish curry has that slight tangy taste of asam, the chicken curry is slightly hot and the mutton curry (actually thick sauce) is hot. The strong spices on the perfectly prepared mutton ensures a good spicy flavor without any smell from the mutton. I must say that the mutton goes perfectly with the Beryani. There's also fried fish and fried chicken. On Thursdays, there is also Ayam Masak Merah. I must admit that I have not tried it yet. I was told by my wife that the dish is good, but after kenduris where they serve Ayam Masak Merah in every one of them, my appetite for it has still not returned.

For some who loves a an additional kick to their eating experience, there is jar of fried dried chilli, available as a side dish to your rice. There is also a jar of mixed fruit acar on the table, which is a sour concoction to accompany the rice and dishes. As I have mentioned before, with the family busy preparing food on a daily basis, I find it understandable that Malathi's uses a commercially produced acar. There is always the freshly-made Rasam, the soup-like concoction made with tamarind and spices, either to have with your rice or drink it afterwards to settle the stomach.

On certain days, you will find a more Malaysian dish at Malathi's to go with your rice. At one time, I had Ayam Masak Kicap and at another, there was Sambal Tumis with Ikan Goreng. This is, after all, Malaysia.

The lunch crowd at Malathi's is a colorful mix of Indians, Malays and Chinese, usually coming in around 12:30 noon and earlier on Thursdays. At times, you'll find doctors, businessmen and even government officers enjoying the food at Malathi's.

I definitely cannot compare the ambience and the services that you might find at big restaurants and hotels, the taste and flavors Malathi offers can easily match up with them, even without the Basmathi.

Malathi is open everyday except Saturdays, with Breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Lunch from 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. and at 7p.m., Malathi opens again serving light food  like thosay and chapati. If you're going for lunch, try being there before 1:00 p.m.

Getting there:

Dosing Up With Dhosai in Alor Setar

How do we define thosai? It is not bread like naan or chapati; I guess the closest definition I can think of is a sort of crepe or pancake made from fermented rice batter, usually made on a gridle and hardly uses oil. It should be a healthy food.

Thosai, or Dhosai, dhosa or thoshay in Myanmar has been a staple dish in India for thousands of years. While nobody knows how many versions there are, in Malaysia, we have a few such as Ghee Thosai (thosai with ghee or clarified butter), Rava Thosai (different batter mixture with onions and chilli), Masala Thosai (thosai stuffed with vegetables such as potato), Egg Thosai, Oinion Thosai and a few more. A friend told me that, his mother used to soak rice with water and leave it overnight, before grinding them into batter the next morning. There are instant thosai batter available nowadays, but I have never tried them.

Over the years, Mamak shops in Kuala Lumpur introduced thosai into their menu, and today they made it in style. The thosai is made into a big, thin, crispy crepe which they roll into cylinder shapes before serving it in metal trays with a dallop of coconut chutney, dhal and fish curry. However, on a personal note, I find that thosai in that fashion simply refuses to absorb the chutney and breaks too easily. I still prefer the old school thosay, made in a round shape and then folded into a semi-circle, and the best accompaniment is always chutney. A few years back, I used to frequent an Indian shop in Penang where I really enjoyed the thosai with coconut chutney, tomato chutney and a green colored chutney, which I think was spinach and chilli.

One of the complaints I got from my friends in the past is the lack of Indian restaurants or food stalls in Alor Setar compared to Sungai Petani. I remembered frequenting one in Lorong Merpati (I can't remember the name) before it closed down years back. There was one Indian stall near the railway station, but many, including Indians, find the hygiene of the place questionable.

Don't get me wrong on this. There are loads of mamak restaurants and stalls in Alor Setar, but their chutney is always questionable. Their chutney is always way too watery, or diluted, and I can't stand the huge crispy thosai that either breaks up into pieces or refuses to absorb the gravy when you try to eat. We are talking about an actual Indian food stall or restaurant. There are talks that an Indian curry house will open at Kompleks Sultan Abdul Hamid, but this remains to be seen.

I was told by my uncle that he regularly eats thosai at stall down the road from his house. That surprised me as his house is located away from the road and the neighborhood is usually quiet and not much activity happens there. Anyway, I decided to try with my wife, and I guess we found our thosai place finally at Malathi's.

The location of Malathi is truly hidden away, and only those who knows visit the stall. It is located at Taman Sri Taman, inside the compound  of a house. The large area in front of the house was turned into a food stall. It is not a big place, simple yet homely. The morning menu is not luxurious:
1) Two types of thosai: plain or ghee
2) Chapati
3) Idli
4) Nasi Lemak bungkus (truly Malaysian)

We had ghee thosai, and of course, we had it with coconut chutney, which is very basic. The thosai is truly old school, with a crispy bottom and edges, while the rest is soft and fluffy. I could have sworn we were the only ones who were soaking away the chutney. The freshly made thosai, soaking the flavor of coconut, chilli and spices of the chutney, filling up hungry stomachs in the morning, simply delicious.

It was already close to 10 a.m. when we got there, so it is understandable that there were not that many people there. Most of the patrons there are Indians, a small number of Malays and even two Indian Muslims. Most of them were either enjoying thosai or chapati.

Like I mentioned earlier, the breakfast menu at Malathi's is simple and basic, but it is that simplicity and the exquisite flavors that keep bringing the patrons back for more, and that's just for breakfast, given its slightly hidden location. Next to the eating place is Modern Hair Saloon, famed for grooming the DYMM Sultanah of Kedah's hair.

Malathi's offer breakfast and lunch. Around 7 p.m., the stall is open again, serving chapati. Breakfast usually ends around 10:30 a.m. as they prepare for the lunch crowd.


To those who would like to try this simple yet delicious fare, here's how to get there:

I did go for lunch there days later, I'll expand on that in a later article.