“It’s like a canape,” Chef Bala said helpfully. “Dahi means yoghurt.”
“Yeah, this is one of our best sellers and people love it because of the yoghurt texture,” Viren agreed. “This is a very popular chaat item in India, usually sold by the street vendors. On the exterior, it’s crisp and inside, it’s soft.”
Mini puri (deep-fried hollow dough puffs) were stuffed with mashed potato then topped with sev (crunchy chickpea flour noodles), dahi and three variations of chutney: Mint, tamarind and spicy. Such an abundance of flavour and texture was packed into the bite-sized snack that it was impossible to stop at one.
Hors d’oeuvres devoured, Chef Bala gained us access into the kitchen to watch our next course being prepared by Chef Satasivam, who has been with the restaurant for 23 years. Set thosai, or aptly named “sponge” thosai, had a thicker, cake-like texture and looked quite different from the thin and crispy version I knew.
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