Nov 27 2013.
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With the number of restaurants serving Indian cuisine in Colombo, there are some factors that will make a restaurant stand out, in my books. One of the main things I look for is that authentic Indian flavour which isn’t overpowered with tons of oil as well as cleanliness. And it looks like I might have stumbled upon just the place down W A De Silva Mawatha, in Wellawatte – Chana’s.
Chana’s which opened its doors on November 10 this year, is a family owned restaurant run by Vally Mohamed and his sister Mrs Aadil. Food seems to play a big part in Vally’s family which is evident in the dishes that are created by his sister who overlooks all the affairs of the kitchen.
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All the scrumptious Indian desserts ranging from Makta Kulfi, which is essentially Kulfi served in tiny clay pots (Makta), as well as Pineapple and Carrot Halva, Watalappam and even Chocolate Biscuit Pudding.
The latter was extremely chocolaty while the Watalappam was not overly sweet and cooked just right with the perfect amount of spices. These are all made by Mrs Aadil who also runs her own catering endeavour, Delicious Delights.
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Vally also spoke very highly of their family recipe for Fizzy Lemonade which is a special homemade lime concentrate. It was so refreshing and tasty of course – so it wasn’t hard to understand, why the drink is considered special!
He and his family are part of the Memon community living in Sri Lanka while he and his sister are part of the third generation of Memons living here. They have kept this in mind when creating their menu therefore adding specialised Memon dishes which they will be serving as ‘specials’ on certain days of the week.
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The Chaats (Indian street food which originated from Mumbai), on their menu are all fabulous and range from Punjabi Samosas, Pani Puri, Dahi Puri, Bhel Puri, Pav Bhaji, Vada Pav and Samosa Chaat. They were so crunchy and packed with flavour while the tamarind sauce was delightful. A few portions of these, I feel would be ideal for a meal, while my pick would be the Dahi Puri.
“We realised that chaats were not easily available in Colombo and we’ve also been wanting to do this for a while,” Vally explains, as to why they chose to have a chaat based fast food type restaurant. Everything on their menu is available for take away as well while they don’t take more than 10 minutes to serve up your meal.
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Their breads and rottis are also very well done. Chana’s Naans are so soft and go well with their juicy Tandoori Chicken or Beef Nihari – it was the first time I had tried this dish and I must say it was really delicious while the beef was extremely soft and spiced to perfection.
They also do delicious Romali Rotti and Memon Chapati which can be accompanied with any one of their curries ranging from Chicken Kurma, Keema Curry or Dhal Tadka.
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Chana’s has a list of Tandoori fair and the chicken aside their Seekh Kebab was really delicious while their Chicken Biryani is also well worth the price you pay for it, in terms of flavour, accompaniments and of course the serving.
All their food comes in disposable packaging and for now they only do take away but will be taking on delivery orders soon. All in all, Chana’s is well worth a visit so make your way there between 4 and 11pm (Weekdays) and 4pm to midnight (Friday to Sunday).
For their daily specials and other details log on to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/chanas.lk?fref=ts
By Natasha Fernandopulle
Pics by Kanishke Ganewatte
0 Comments
ihsan says:
Nov 28, 2013 at 12:00 am. thanduri chiken is awsome :D