Currying flavor south

South India had a special place on the ancient maritime trade route, and its spices continue to be an international favorite, Belle Taylor reports.

On the night a friend and I visit Vedas, routinely cited as being among the best Indian restaurants in Shanghai with a clutch of awards to prove it, about half the clientele are Indian - always a good sign. The smiling Indian waiter greets us at the door and leads us to our seats. The restaurant is decorated with sophisticated Indian-style furniture. Soft, pink lighting illuminates the walls, and the whole effect whispers understated elegance.

It is, no doubt, a slightly different setting than what greeted the sailors aboard merchant ships that sailed the maritime Silk Route centuries ago. When they landed at southern Indian ports, they were probably not immediately poured lemon-scented water and handed a wine list. Sometimes things change for the better.

The food of India boasts many regional cuisines, though beyond India's shores they tend to get lumped together. It also, not surprisingly, gets bastardized depending on where it ends up.

Vedas, we are assured, can offer us the real deal. But unfortunately, they have only a few dishes that are specifically from the southern reaches of India.

We start with samosas (30 yuan, or $4.75), a dish that actually originated in or near Persia - another significant stop on the Silk Road - but quickly spread to India. They are now closely associated with the Indian subcontinent. The samosas served at Vedas have a crisp but perfectly moist shell that gives way to a slightly spiced potato-and-pea filling. For mains we ordered the chicken Madras (68 yuan) and lemon rice with cashews (58 yuan).

"Madras curry" is an English name to an Indian dish that was probably originally called something like "curry". The name is said to have come from the British sailors who landed in the city of Madras - now named Chennai-in 1640. They would have eaten something probably not too far removed from what is being served in Vedas today.

Both dishes we ordered featured ingredients that are characteristic of southern India, spices that have been used in the food of the region for hundreds of years, the most important of which is aromatic curry leaves (Murraya koenigii).

These, we are told, are one of the main ingredients that differentiate the foods of the north and the south of the country. Our waiter brings out a plate of the leaves for us to smell. They have a musky scent and quite a strong aroma.

Our waiter informs us that when Indian chefs move abroad and want to cook South Indian cuisine, the first thing they do is try to source curry leaves. If they cannot do this, they will struggle to recreate the dishes with anything resembling authenticity. Perhaps this is why so many Indian restaurants outside the country, including in China, focus on northern cuisine.

The lemon rice with cashews sounded pleasant enough on the menu, but on the plate it was a revelation: Perfectly fluffy yet moist rice with a sweet burst of lemon, a nice nuttiness thanks to the cashews in the dish and a musky depth of flavor from the curry leaves.

The chicken Madras is light and spicy, with a smoky tomato base. The flavors are distinctive, and the whole dish has an excellent texture. The chicken is moist and succulent. Again there is that distinctive flavor of the curry leaves.

The skilled chefs at Vedas don't drown their food in heavy sauces, but let each ingredient speak for itself.

If the dishes we sampled at Vedas are any indication of the cuisine eaten by travelers along the maritime Silk Route, it's not surprising that the spices of India were eagerly traded across the world.

Contact the writer at belletaylor@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/05/2015 page24)