Banana Leaf Rice @ Krishna Curry House, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

 

It has been a while since I have been reacquainted with my old friend, or nemesis on the odd occasion. Being a law student based in brickfields, I had tried almost every Indian banana leaf spot there is. They can be very satisfying, the carb crash after that however, always make me doubt my life decisions. Well, luckily for this round I did not regret taking up on my friend Alex's suggestion to have this rice bomb lunch out in PJ. 

Not where I will normally go but why not. 

Located in the Sunway PJ area, Krishna is not the usual spot where you tend to find great Indian food. Most of them are centralized within Brickfields and the city center area of the surrounding suburbs. But you should try everything once right? Like most places you start things off with your starter set which consists of rice, a few sides and curry grave. And from there the customization is up to you for the choosing. As it has been a hot minute since I had fried fish from an Indian place, I thought it would be a great idea to have some. After all, no matter how tasty fried chicken is, it has been overplayed. 

Volume!

What I get in the end was a monstrous lunch with refillable portions. Things became more obvious when all the components were laid on the banana leaf and being on full display. The sides consist of a cucumber raita, 2 types of vegetable curries, a papadum and a shot of rasam soup. Those are standard issues in any decent Indian spot, which made up the starter set, standing at a modest RM 9. That is an absolutely incredible bargain. The fish came at RM10 a piece which does sound like a serious issue. But when you put everything together, everything is justified. 

Another angle to just show how much food there is

Firstly, I need to talk about the fish. It was very fresh and flaky to the touch. The spices that marinated this bad boy would probably be a mix of curry powder, garam masala and a bit of salt. Despite that, it had a deep and complex flavour which I like. The fish was also not very oily, making it very easy to eat. Mixing it with the rice really helps since the outer crust of this delicious morsel is tempered somewhat with the carbs. But of course, a banana leaf meal is not made out of rice and fish alone. The side dishes were also done perfectly. They are the usual suspects in any Indian place, but they were done well. I particularly like the curry with daikon, which is a bit unconventional since daikon is not normally used in Indian cuisine. That combination still worked nonetheless, as the sweet and earthy daikon mix well with the curry sauce. In fact, it had a "beefy" quality to it despite being a vegetarian side dish.

So tasty

 Speaking of curries, you are also allowed to slather various curry sauces on your rice. The typical option is meat curry, fish curry or vegetarian dhal curry sauces. I like to add a bit of everything but not too wet, as it may overpower the other flavours of the overall meal and makes eating a bit difficult. My father likes to flood the whole thing but that is a preference that is based up to the individual. And if you want to push your flavour profile to another level, there are a few chutneys and smoked chillies for you to add. I really like putting the green chutney on my fish as it provided a more vibrant kick. 

More condiments! I strongly recommend the green chutney. 

The papadum was a great snack alongside everything and the sour and salty rasam help clean out the palate and washing it down. And in terms of washing it down, I got myself an iced lime tea, which stood at RM 2.30. It is my usual order for stuff like this as it helps cool everything down, especially in a climate like midafternoon Malaysia. A pretty good lunch if you ask me. 

Thanks bro. Will catch you again when I am in town.

Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the overall meal. I have to thank Alex to get me out of my comfort zone and trying something like this in a place where you normally do not get (and also for paying for it, but lets not go deep into the details shall we). So if you want to try some good Indian that is out of Brickfields, this is a serious candidate. And if this has caught your attention, why not give this a go? The address is as follows:

D - G & E - G, Sunway PJ@51A, Jalan SS9A/19, Seri Setia, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia