Subcontinent Breakfast
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday July 14, 1998
Sushil Kumar starts the day with a traditional feast. Ask him what his favourite breakfast is and he answers: "Masala dosai, Malpoa cardamom crepes, parathas and puris." All in one sitting. The Indians know how to eat better than most.
The trouble is, until recently, such early morning delights remained his little secret (albeit one shared by his 936 million compatriots, but still kept relatively quiet in Sydney).
We can thank restaurateur Doug Moxon for finally unleashing this exotic fare locally, despite initial resistance.
The idea hit Moxon at his former restaurant, Abhi's, in North Strathfield, where he would be seduced daily by the tastes and aromas of his chefs eating breakfast before work. But when he suggested the dishes go on the menu, the chefs scoffed. "This is not restaurant food!" they said. It's the five-star training, you see.
One of those chefs was Amitava Guha who, with Kumar, worked for eight years at India's prestigious Taj group of hotels before emigrating to Australia. To Guha the prospect of dishing up village food to the well-heeled was inconceivable. It took some persuasion, and the establishment of a cafe in the heart of Balmain's breakfast belt, to persuade the pair to have a go.
The result is Canteen All India, a happy fusion of Indian fare with the indulgence of a Sydney brunch. Take your papers and appetite, order an espresso or fresh-brewed masala tea to kick-start the experience, then tuck into a subcontinental sensation that can stretch well into the afternoon.
Cholai bhature proves to be a great dish to combat the winter doldrums. It's a simple combination of chick peas and masala served with a fluffy bhature (a fried bread like the puri, but made from plain rather than wholemeal flour). Rip a bit off, fold it around the chick peas, and savour the dancing flavours as it warms your innards. Bacon and eggs on toast (also on the menu) just can't compete.
The shrikhand - a Gujarati name given to the Canteen's fruit salad - is a perfumed plate of sliced winter fruits draped in a cardamom and saffron-infused yogurt. It brings gasps of delight from a companion more used to eating fruit salad for the diet than for enjoyment.
We venture to India's south next for uttapam, a hearty rice flour and lentil pancake studded with diced tomato, onion and chilli, then finish with a sweet paratha, pan-grilled bread drizzled with palm-sugar syrup. Not quite enough syrup to counter the dryness but we ask for more and get it.
Parathas are also served savoury (with minced lamb and spices, spiced potato with herbs, or egg and turmeric). And while there is no room left to try the masala dosai (the king of crepes, wrapped around a potato and onion masala and served with lentil sambhar and chutney), the man at the next table polishes one off before he's even finished the sport pages.
This is not a fancy place. It is clean and comfortable and nestled underneath that characterless Bijou building opposite the Town Hall. But on a mild morning you can sit at the veranda, glimpse the city skyline and feed the soul.
Place Canteen All India, 2a Rowntree Street, Balmain.
Phone 9555 8844.
Open Breakfast Saturday 8.30 am-3 pm, Sunday 9 am-3 pm, lunch and dinner daily.
Takeaway available.
BYO.
Tried Cholai bhature ($7.80), shrikhand fruit salad ($6.80), uttapam ($7.80), sweet paratha with palm-sugar syrup ($3.40).
Bottom line: $25.80.
© 1998 Sydney Morning Herald