Sydney Eat Street: Liverpool’s Starry Sari Night showcases South Asian food
Experience the sites, smells and flavours of South Asia at one of Sydney’s favourite cultural events — Liverpool’s Starry Sari Night festival.
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After a two-year absence, Liverpool City Council is back with Starry Sari Night, a celebration of South Asian culture with music, dancing, art, and food.
Held along George St, otherwise known as Sari St (named for the dozens of Sari shops and boutiques that line the road), festival-goers will enjoy the vibrant colours and gleeful energy from the many market stalls, entertainment, and cultural activities.
A highlight, though, is always the food — be it from a grill and skill set up on the road or from a Liverpool CBD restaurant, the vast array of flavours and smells reflective of the many countries that make up the South Asian region.
It runs from Friday, May 20 to Sunday, May 22.
For more details, go to liverpool.nsw.gov.au/events/starry-sari-night
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Chennai Kitchen
Every ingredient that goes into the dishes, snacks and even desserts at Chennai Kitchen is vital to its traditional South Indian fare.
“South Indian food is really unique. Every spice has its own specific use – both for flavour and general wellbeing – so even if you add just a pinch, there’ll be some need for it and a reason behind it,” owner Anagan Babu Ramia Janardhanan says.
“Coming from a family background that not only loves to cook but loves to eat, we started this to share the authentic flavours of South India.”
He and his wife Nagarani have owned Chennai Kitchen for the past three years — quite a career change considering he’d spent the previous 25 years working in IT at a corporate level.
But after a lifetime of working for someone else, they decided to venture out on their own.
“We wanted to do something different. Something for the community,” he says.
While they were looking for a venture that would hold their interest, word got to them about an Indian restaurant quietly on the market.
“The previous owner is known to me. He was moving and wanted to pass it on to someone that would keep it as an Indian restaurant as it’s been an Indian restaurant for over 40 years,” he says.
“So when we eventually took it, he stayed on as a mentor. I know that I can be strong in some fields, but not in all the fields, so when we decided to do something new, we needed a mentor to tell us what we’re doing right and what is wrong. You learn something new every day.
“Indians have been in Liverpool for about 50 years; when people first come to Australia, they know that there is a restaurant here for them. That’s a big plus.”
The menu is traditional South Indian, featuring Masala Dosa (Rice and lentil crepe filled with potato masala and fried into a crispy triangle larger than the tray it’s served on), Butter chicken (tandoori chicken in a buttery tomato and onion cream sauce), Lamb, chicken, seafood and vegetarian curries, mixed platters, and Mango Lassi, a chilled mango and yoghurt drink.
— 1/46 Elizabeth St, Liverpool; chennaikitchen.com.au
The Fijian
Karam Kumar’s goal is simple: “I want people to know what the Fijian food is all about. You have to taste it because we cook our meat on the bone.”
The Fijian’s signature dishes are Butter Chicken, Goat Curry, Chop suey, Fried rice, and cream buns.
“Goat Curry, that’s something obviously the Fijians get excited about as a main dish, and then we have Chop suey,” says Karama’s son, Daniel.
“My parents have been in this shop now for six years. It’s good to do something like this; it’s not just for Fijians, but for all. So, that’s our authentic side. It’s a bit time consuming, but customers really like it. We’re really well known in the Fijian community, not just in Liverpool but across Australia. Fijians can’t wait to try the cream buns. They get really excited about it.”
Contrary to the name, cream buns aren’t actually made with cream but rather a blend of salted butter and sugar mix, which gives a flavour quite subtly akin to salted caramel.
Another thing that rates highly on Fijian’s food list is a traditional lovo, though because it is time-consuming, the Kumar family mainly reserve it for special occasions.
“With a lovo, we cook under the soil,” Daniel says.
“You dig a hole and put stones in it, then light a fire so the stones really up. Then we put banana leaves on the top, and then we put the stones with the chicken and cover it with soil until you don’t see any smoke from the soil. Haven’t been able to do it for a while, though, as it’s quite labour intensive.”
So while you’ll probably have a bit before they can hit the dirt, you can get updates as to the next lovo every time you stop by and pick up one of those more-ish cream buns.
— Shop 28/165-191 Macquarie St, Liverpool
Hemani Mehmi Indian Restaurant & Sweet House
Rubina Badar and her husband Gumreet Ram have the joy of food in their hearts.
“I like to run a business that feeds people because, in my culture, best karma is to provide food to people,” Rubina says.
“Great Indian food, and everyone loves the set-up and environment – both customers and staff. All the recipes I learned from my mother. She is the one who loves cooking Indian food with different spices, so that is what she passes to me.
“Loving customer service and homemade style Indian food makes us different from others.”
The restaurant itself is quite a sight to behold with its metallic gold and black tabletops, ornate wooden chairs, painted murals, and a sweets cabinet upfront. The menu includes goat curry, butter chicken, Dal Makhani (lentil, tomato and cream), and Tandoori entree are signatures.
Also onsite is the Hemani Sweet House with traditional Indian sweets, including Badam burfi (a milky fudge of various flavours); Motichoor Laado (fried balls of gram flour, sugar and spices); gulab jamun (fried milk solids and semolina balls, soaked in a rose water and cardamom syrup); and jalebi (bright orange flattened spirals of deep-frying maida flour soaked in sugar syrup.
Have them after your meal, or better yet, buy a bunch to enjoy throughout the week.
— 265 George St, Liverpool; hemanirestaurant.com.au
Dosa Hut
Just like butter chicken in, which every culture, every region and every restaurant makes (and serves) differently, the same goes for dosa, a smooth batter of fermented lentil and rice fried on a griddle to a thin crepe-like consistency folded in half, rolled like a cylinder or moulded in the shape of a tall tin hat.
Sometimes it’s stuffed with ingredients; other times, those ingredients come on the side. So it goes without saying, this food is the firm focus of the Dosa Hut, and they’re more than happy to tell its tale to customers dropping in during the Starry Sari Night festival – or any other time.
“Liverpool is the melting pot of Indian food and fashion culture in Sydney. This event gives us an opportunity to celebrate our culture in its full splendour,” owner Sathish Reddy Jakka says.
“We love our food, and we love serving people. It is our value to treat every customer as a guest that walks into our home, and we serve them as we would to any family member.
“We are proud to bring the best recipes and food culture that India has to offer, right from the spicy South Indian to exotic North India and Indo-Chinese fusion. We serve with a deep passion for hospitality and are proud to be located where good food meets Indian fashion.”
Dosa is brought out on coffee table-sized platter with ramekins of curries, chutney, sauces, and such. Everything is big at Dosa Hut. There are more than 100 items on the menu, not just dosa but also one of their top sellers, Chicken 65 biryani. This dish is essentially a combination of two popular Indian subcontinent foods – Biryani, a rice and meat dish that is made with saffron, which not only adds flavour but also gives it a vibrant yellow colour; and Chicken 65, a South Indian snack or entree chicken pieces deep-fried in a chilli and flour-based batter.
The source of the name is up for debate which makes for good dinner conversation. Most agree that it was created at the Hotel Buhari, Chennai, but the meaning of 65 comes with a variety of legends: it was created in 1965, soldiers unfamiliar with the language pointed at #65 on the menu; or that in the original creation the chicken was cut up into 65 pieces, 65 different chillies were used in the batter, or that the chicken was marinated for 65 days.
Whatever the reason, Sathish simply says of the combination: “It’s a meat-lover’s dream.”
— Level 1/223 George St, Liverpool; dosahut.net.au
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