Rasa Samudra

Tuesday September 18

Another day of discovery, this time in the basements of the British Museum, and we emerged dusty but enthusiastic. We picked up Andi at the Trade Union Congress and walked to an Indian restaurant we had discovered on a visit a couple of years ago, Rasa Samudra on Charlotte Street. It serves the cuisine of Kerala, which is on the coast and famous for its fish. So along with three enormous Cobra beers, we shared:

Starters (the only false touch was that they were all served with the same chopped-iceberg salad on the side):

Meen Porichathu: kingfish seasoned with ginger, chile, and coriander and pan-fried; a bit dry.

Crab thoran: a light, fluffy cake of ginger and mustard seed-seasoned crab with coconut on top.

Mysore Bonda: potato balls with ginger, curry leaves, coriander and cashews, rolled in chickpea flour and fried, served with a coconut chutney.

Main courses:

Konju Manga Curry: "king" prawns (well, actually, just normal-size shrimp) and green mangos with onions, green chiles, and turmeric. Very light and lemony sauce, so served with white rice.

Kappayum Meenumi: Kingfish (why is everything "king"-something?) with onions, chiles, ginger and turmeric on top of potato-y cassava steamed in turmeric water. Spicier than the other.

Beet Cheera Pachadi: beets and spinach with yogurt, roasted coconut, mustard seeds, and curry leaves, usually served at wedding feasts, probably because it's sweet and has an auspicious dark pink color. In fact, this restaurant is all painted in various shades of pink, a color so omnipresent that it's been called the navy blue of India.

And one dessert with three spoons:
Another auspicious sweet dish, hot rice cream with cashews and cardamum.