A table laden with winter special dishes by a window like that, looking out at life on a not-so-busy road.... Leisurely afternoon meals with friends are made of these. (Picture right) That one’s a table for three, and the cosiest corner at Chanda’s Khaukswey in Golpark.
For friends and friends of friends, Chanda Dutt is the khaukswey lady, one who made a smooth switch from teaching school students to running a restaurant last December. It’s been “an emotional year for us”, says her filmmaker and musician husband Anjan Dutt, because the 15-seater has survived “without serving biryani during the Pujas”.
So, here we are, to raise a toast with a zesty fresh lime soda to Winter Delights, the first birthday special menu. It has Fried Quail with Quail Eggs, Wetoochaung Htamin, Nga Htamin and Hin-Htoke. The names sure don’t roll off the tongue as easy as the food, but ask for Pankaj who will help you make the best choices.
Like the regular menu, the birthday dishes too are steeped in memories of Chanda’s growing up days in Myanmar (then Burma).
“You get these deep-fried chicken and quails at roadside shacks in Yangon. They make it on the spot. In some places, they grill them instead of frying and serve with grilled okra. It’s delicious,” says Chanda, who makes a couple of trips to Myanmar every year to reconnect with her roots and also to source ingredients for her kitchen. Sometimes, Anjan and their son Neel come along too.
What: Winter Delights
Where: Chanda’s Khaukswey, 23/32 Gariahat Road, Golpark (in the lane leading to South City College)
When: December 4 onwards, 12.30pm to 3.30pm and 6pm to 9.45pm (Tuesdays closed)
Meal for two: Rs 750 (plus taxes)
Chanda’s favourite of the four items is Nga Htamin, which is sticky rice tossed with mashed fish (bekti, surmai or rui) and fish sauce lending it some pungency. Not polishing off all of it is not easy.
A much milder sticky rice dish is Wetoochaung Htamin which has diced Chinese Sausage, available only in winter. “Because you need a very strong sun as well as a cool climate to make this pork sausage,” she adds.
Hin-Htokem, which she remembers eating with her classmates from a shack across a stream behind her school in Myanmar, is a gooey sticky rice dumpling of vegetables, steamed in banana leaves. A flavourful option for those who pester Chanda to make them khaukswey with “mushroom or Nutrela”.
“You just can’t have khaukswey without the fish sauce; then it’s not khaukswey anymore. So I refuse,” she says, as a bowl of the yummy-looking khaukswey arrives for Anjan. That’s his comfort food, and the most asked for dish at the restaurant. “I have had khaukswey in Thailand, Vietnam and Burma; the closest to Yangon’s is Chanda’s and I like it the best. I find the fish tone missing in many places, and in some places there’s an overload of coconut,” says Anjan, spooning mouthfuls.
Sampling done, Chanda asks if we want to try some pork curry. The table is cleared without much ado. Enter, a robust Red and Gold Pork Curry running riot across a bed of steamed white rice, blanched mustard greens and pak choi on the side.
Winter afternoons and adda are actually made of these.
Four key flavours in Burmese cuisine: Chilli garlic oil, coconut milk, shrimp paste and fish sauce.
