Garlic and plain naan

After finding the most amazingly gorgeous saree (which I wore to my brother’s wedding last week) in Klang, mum agreed to take a break from her usual wantan mee/curry laksa preference to sample some authentic punjabi cuisine in Klang’s Little India.

Chapati

Aside from chapatis and naans, and despite growing up on a healthy dose of indian food, mum and I are pretty clueless about punjabi food.  It helps that we both don’t look Indian (thus preventing the potential barrage of questions ranging from “Aiyoh, what kind of Indian are you?” [insert look of disgust] to “Are you sure your name is Tangechi?”), so we happily asked them a million questions and even managed to taste some of their amazing masalas (spices) from their kitchen.  I must say that the proprietors were extremely accommodating, offering us a taste of some of their specialties like the mutton curry which was quite unlike the southern Indian version, carrying a certain richness that wasn’t overly…uhmmm….pedas? (spicy).

Yoghurt flavoured with masala and coriander leaves

The naan at Chaat Masala has a beautiful fluffy texture.  Mum loved her chapati too which was perfectly cooked, light and dry.  Incidentally, chapati, an unleavened flat bread, is only fattening if one eats it with ghee; otherwise, these thin breads eaten with dhal and vegetables are healthy options to our usual rice and noodle staples.

Pakora, samosa and other savoury tea-time goodies

We tried several different curries and vegetables, and the most obvious thing that struck us was the multitude of spices (garam masala and chaat masala) that made these dishes really special.  Chaat masala, a pungent and salty spice mix, is used in a number of the punjabi dishes.  The proprietors proudly told us they bring in the spices from India.  Incidentally, there seems to be a certain pride in getting ingredients from India.  I noticed that last Monday when we dined at our friends’ place, and they had cooked a yummy north Indian dish called Rogan Josh which contained spices from India.  Just curious, Malaysia don’t have meh?

Ladhoo

Despite their sweetness, I am always partial to Indian sweets.  After all, what better antidote to spicy curries than a dose of sugary milky sweetness?  All the sweets are made in-house by their secretly-stashed away Indian cook.   Also available is kulfi (indian ice-cream?) which I found a little too crystallised, unlike the usual creamy kulfi I am accustomed to.  The palkova (milk sweetmeats) are lovely, though.

Not to be confused with the vegetarian restaurant by the same name in Brickfields (sans an ‘a’), Chaat Masala serves both vegetarian and non-vegetarian and is in no way related to that restaurant in Brickfields.  The restaurant opens daily and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Restoran Chaat Masala
No. A35, Jalan Dato Hamzah (Off Jln Tengku Kelana),
41000 Klang, Selangor.

Tel: Mr Sarjit – 016 617 9613 / Mr Sonu – 016 350 2248