Awesome Indian: Canada puts a veg spin on Indian Cuisine at Madras Durbar

Vegetarian Times, March, 1998 by Madeleine Greey

Toronto s east end holds a microcosm of Indian life. Here you can pick out a silk sari, buy a carton of ripe Alphonso mangoes and feast on a scrumptious array of well-priced, vegetarian dishes at the Madras Durbar, which specializes in South Indian cuisine. While this humble eatery doesn't deliver much in the way of ambiance, the taste sensations will lure you back again and again.

Order the Thali, and a large, round stainless-steel platter arrives bearing a circle of small silver bowls, each filled with something divine: potato curry, spinach fried with onions and coconut, mixed vegetable korma, coriander soup or a lentil sambar stew. Add some balloon-like puri breads, a crispy pappadam, a steaming mound of basmati rice, a generous dollop of the relish-like lime pickle and some homemade yogurt on the side (to douse all those firey flavors) and you get a huge, inexpensive and delicious meal.

Or, try the Masala Dosai, another Madras Durbar specialty. Again, the delivery is dramatic. What arrives is a tangy, two-foot long, gossamer crepe filled with a silky potato curry flecked with mustard seeds and coriander. A meal in itself, the Dosai comes with coconut chutney and a bowl of lentil sambar. Other great finds include the chickpea fritters (called Masala Vadai) or the Baji, which look like small saucers of deep-fried vegetables (onion, potato or eggplant) in a chickpea batter.

Still not full? For dessert, try the Samiya Payasam--sweet noodles bathed in sugar, raisins and cashew nuts. There's also the Gulab Jamun, fried, cakelike milk balls soaked in a scented syrup, best enjoyed with the completely incongruous but absolutely delicious Madras cappuccino.

Chapatis

MAKES 12 VEGAN

Chapati is a flat, unleavened bread from India, usually made from a simple mixture of whole wheat flour and water.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 scant cup water