About
Located near Cedar-Riverside, Malabari Kitchen is a gem of a find.
The cuisine focuses on India’s rarely encountered southwestern coastal region of
Malabar,
a one-time center of the spice trade coveted for its black pepper.
There's a ton to appreciate about this spot, not the slightest of which is the new,
made-to-request, quality sustenance, and its sweet-smelling foam.
The chicken biryani was seemingly the best you've had in the Twin Cities. A pile of flawlessly cooked rice was enhanced and noticeably tinged with a plenitude of herbs and flavors; pieces of delicate marinated chicken were covered up inside the rice; and the readiness was presented with fixings of mango chutney, hot pepper glue, and new raita—something I hadn't already been offered with this dish.
Less engaging, , however in any case fascinating, was a curry of hard-bubbled egg agreed with idiyappam—a customary Malabar tangle of rice flour noodles that is by one means or another soundly crisped by steaming as opposed to singing.
Our request accompanied a rich, heavenly potato curry stew that we spooned onto the hotcake, rolled, and ate burrito style.
The palappam—a huge, somewhat sweet hotcake of aged bread produced using rice hitter invigorated with coconut milk, like the better known dosa—is very interesting.
Two intriguing items on the compact-by-Indian-standards menu are a pair of curries most notable for their accompaniments.
The modest bunch of Malabari curry courses are all skillfully made, yet somewhat light on the proteins. The most loved was the mean moiled—a dish of flawlessly coordinated shellfish swimming in a rich, thick yellow curry and coconut cream sauce. It was superlative.
For a fiery alternative, consider a tongue-shivering panfry of rib-eye strips, masala-style flavors, and bits of coconut.
We additionally altogether delighted in a curry of spiced, marinated solid shapes of chicken bosom stewed in a conventional red curry mix.
The main curry that didn't make our taste buds move was an unremarkable mushroom planning.
Anyways, if you feel the same way about Indian food in the Twin Cities as you do, you owe to yourself a visit to Malabari Kitchen.
First of all, that their dishes taste very different from other similarly-named dishes in other restaurants convinces me (a total illiterate when it comes to Indian cookery) that it really represents Indian regional cuisine.
Secondly, you start to enjoy your food way before it gets to your table as a few minutes after your order reaches the small, open kitchen, the smell of your food being prepared harbingers a tasty, flavorful dish. It, in addition to the relatively long time it takes for your food to get ready, also indicates that the food is being prepared right there right when you order it--not a day or two before in a hidden basement kitchen mass-producing curries, nans, rates, and pakoras!
Thirdly, the spices they use are other-worldly. It's either that they're different spices or the other places don't use cardamom, clove, and the like when they say they do! The rice in biryani also didn't look like the familiar basmati. It seemed to me shorter than basmati--so, either a different grain or a different preparation technique should have been used.
Fourthly, the unique food items, specifically their special appam, is another reason as to why you should give Malabari Kitchen a try.
