Chatti is a new Indian restaurant focused on the food of Kerala (known as God’s own country, and also the Spice Capital of the world) helmed by a well-known Bengaluru chef.
They just started lunch service, with a thali-type concept tweaked to incorporate the “touchings” they are highlighting. Touchings are like tapas, but served at toddy shops.
Each lunch platter came with 3 touchings and 2 mains, each served with a specific carb pairing.
Excellent food, varied flavors from dish to dish, and both dishes and accompaniments that cannot be found anywhere else in nyc.
A) Meat Menu
Touchings:
Malabar Mutton – Tender boneless goat, delicious sauce.
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Toddy Shop Beef Fry – Dry-fried, spice-crusted beef cubes. Very flavorful with a good hit of heat.
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Coriander Chicken Masala – Completely different sauce, less spicy, also delicious.
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Mains:
Steamed Hoppers with Duck Mappas – Duck was tender and the sauce was fantastic. Any side would have worked great, but the hoppers were unusual for nyc, and delicious on their own too.
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Kerala Porotta with Beef Curry – Lovely, flaky porotta, and flavorful curry, though the beef was cut into tiny pieces for some reason. .
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B) Seafood Menu
Touchings:
Calicut Mussels – Great spicing, but may not appeal to many as it’s not how mussels are cooked in the west: shelled and dry-fried with spices.
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Prawn Pouches – One of my favorite dishes, prawns nestled into a fresh coconut masala and steamed in banana leaf pouches. Very flavorful coconut mixture (that would have been fantastic with the hoppers).
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Fish Cutlet – Very good, I could have eaten another.
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Mains:
String hoppers with Mutton Potato Curry – Both hoppers and goat curry were delicious.
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(Red) Rice with Raw Mango Fish Curry – A lovely curry, very different than the goan curry everywhere else serves.
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Aviyal – Simple, vegetables with fresh coconut and spices, delicious.
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There was a choice for dessert from 2 puddings and 2 ice creams. We picked filter coffee pudding, purple yam ice cream, and ginger tamarind ice cream. I enjoyed the filter coffee pudding, but would have been as happy with a cup of filter coffee to finish!
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