Allaudin's Briyani: Briyani Nice

Shown here with fried chicken instead of the usual curry chicken

There were 3 rows of Indian/Malay Muslim stalls, and each row having at least 3 stalls selling Briyani. Yet only this stall had a long queue. Ohhh, I am excited, the Briyani must be as good many people claimed it to be.

But alas, is was not as awesome as I expected.

Unlike the popular version of Briyani, this one was monochrome. Not that one can differentiate different tastes from the different colours. I always thought the different colours of the briyani rice was more for presentation only, but I could be wrong. The rice here was a little overcooked such that some of the grains were mushy and broken. I expect a first class briyani to have beautifully long and slender Basmati rice with each grain individually spiced and firm to the bite. Otherwise the taste of the Briyani was excellent and the Dhalchat and Chicken Curry really complemented the rice well. The Dhalchat was a little on the sweet side which agrees very well with me.



Conclusion

Their fame is undisputed, having been in business for over 40 years. Many who have grown up eating it would fiercely defend it. It was delicious tastewise but I feel the texture could be better. $3.50 4/5

Allauddin's Briyani
665 Buffalo Road
#01-297 Tekka Centre
Open 8am - 3pm (Sometimes till 6pm depending on supply)
Dum Briyani is served in the mornings

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Rare Teochew Kueh - Ever heard of Chi Kak Kueh?

With ieatMaMa and iwatch_ueat



Ever heard of Chi Kak Kueh? Neither have I, and I dare to pride myself as Teochew Ah Bah! (Half past six one only) I was just walking around Tekka Market Food Centre looking for stalls with Adrian Pang's or Seethoh's face on them. Amazingly, for such an established Food Centre, there were very few with newspaper cuttings. It was then that I chanced upon this stall and spied this unusually coloured Poong Tor (Rice Dumpling - or so I thought).

Mom screamed with delight as if she just found her long lost son and got really excited. I found out later that the excitement was over this rare Teochew dessert whose colour is attributed to the Chi Kak leaves which you hardly buy in Singapore anymore.



The stall owners explained that the kuehs here are made by their 85 year old mother who does an annual pilgrimage to Swatow Province in China to buy back a year's supply of Chi Kak leaves to make the Kueh. She wasn't at the stall because she is at home busy making Kuehs for the next day. The Chi Kak gives the skin a distinctive flavour which is hard to describe except that it tastes a bit like Kee Chang (a type of Rice Dumpling). The filling is made from sweetened mashed green beans. Tastes a bit like Ang Ku Kweh, but we certainly did not strike lottery the next day (Hokkien Poem that says when you eat Hot Ang Ku Kweh, you will strike the lottery) I can't honestly rate this because I have never tasted anything like it before so it is hard to make a fair judgement. Mom gave it a 4/5 cos she had tasted better ones before.



Aside from all the traditional Teochew Kuehs like Poong Tor (Rice Dumpling), Soon Kueh (Turnip filling) and Orh Kueh (Yam cake), they also steam their own Chai Tau Kuey (erronously known as Carrot Cake, it is made from Radish). Most stores nowadays buy theirs from a factory.



Tada! Plate of black carrot cake, everything made in this small little stall. You can taste the difference in the texture as well as the taste of the carrot cake itself. Otherwise, fried egg and black sauce tastes much the same everywhere. 4/5

Conclusion

Happy to have found yet another stall where our culinary heritage is still preserved. Worth a try if only to experience what a Chi Kak Kueh tastes like.


Yan Seng Cooked Food
Stall 01-389, Tekka Market Food Centre
Open 6am till evening

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Sri Kamala Vilas

After my last blog on Sri Vijaya's Thosai, the MakanGurus at the forum suggested that I also try Sri Kamala Vilas which served, in their opinion, even better Thosais plus they also served a pretty mean Chicken Masala.

Phwa, with a recommendation like that, I rushed down to Sri Kamala's Vilas faster than a guy needing to pee after being stuck in a really cold lecture theatre for 3 hours!



So, how does it compare? Well, the thosai masala is a little different. The curry and the white and red coconut sides are definitely better then Sri Vijayas. I never really appreciated the two coconut side dishes until now. Here it just tastes really fresh and has that extra kick in it. The curry here is also more shiok.



BUT, I prefer the pototo filling and the thosai over the other side. Don't get me wrong, the Thosai Masala here is fantastic and mom loved it. She, like the other makangurus preferred this version. For me, I liked the crispiness of the Thosai as well as the less mushy potato filling over at Sri Vijayas. 4/5



However, the Chicken Masala here is a die-die-must-try! It is as famous as it is shiok. Though it looks fiery, it is maybe 7/10 only the spicy scale, so I can still handle it. Tastewise, everyone loved it and you can see this dish on almost every table there.

Conclusion

Curry wise, you will be able to get meat curries over here and the curries are really good. For just Thosai Masala, I still prefer Sri Vijaya's but that's just me. The Teh Tarik over the at Sri Vijaya is still better as it is done the traditional way. Over here, the tea has already been premixed and comes out of one of those dispensers. Both places have their own strengths and weaknesses, so I guess you have to try both places and decide for yourself!

8.25/10 (T3.5+V3+S1+E0.75)

Sri Kamala Vilas Resaurant (not to be mistaken with Komala's Vilas)
Block 662, Buffalo Road (Tekka Market)
#01-16
Opened daily till 9.30pm



PS: This place is reputed to be TianTianChi's (another MakanGuru) favourite curry place, as well as the Grand MakanGuru's (eslim) place for Thosai.

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