Brighton South Indian restaurant

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Here's the review from the Argus:

Eating Out - Indian
Indian Summer
Victoria Terrace, Kingsway, Hove
Tel: 01273 773090

Reviewed: May 10th, 2002

If you're after ten pints of lager and a vindaloo - don't go to Indian Summer.

They don't serve Brit-friendly birianies, kormas or madras and, unless you've been to India, it's unlikely you'll recognise any dish on the menu.

The wallpaper isn't strokable, desserts aren't served in plastic coconut shells and you won't suffer The Best Sitar Hits In The World. . . Ever because Indian Summer is anything but your average curry house.

In fact, owners Minesh Agnihotri and Byron Swales purposely stop serving at 10.30pm to avoid the closing-time curry crowd. What the restaurant does offer is southern Indian food cooked to traditional recipes.

Dishes such as batada vada (deep-fried potato balls soaked in fresh spices with green and coconut chutney), chicken kalan (chicken, sweet mango and yam cooked with coconut, cumin, yoghurt and spices), sooki sabsi (fresh vegetables tossed in spices, coconut and mustard seeds with dal, plain rice and pooris) and paneer kala mirch (Indian soft cheese cooked with fried ground spices in a rich capsicum sauce with lemon rice).

Since opening, the restaurant has attracted a healthy crowd of Indian regulars. Delighted by their approval, Minesh explains: "Indian people don't eat the sort of food you find in curry houses. Dishes such as vindaloos have been created for the British palate.

"My parents moved to Brighton in the late Sixties from southern India and they refused to eat in the majority of Indian restaurants in this city. They used to go to London because there was nowhere serving authentic southern Indian food. That's what gave me the idea for this restaurant.

"Now we get lots of Indian people coming here to eat and a lot of people who have been to India and want to eat real Indian food, not baltis or bhunas.

"Our most popular dish is Masala Dosa, which is a rice and lentil pancake. People get very excited when they see it on the menu. Most haven't eaten it since they were in India and we're the only restaurant in Sussex that serves it."

Minesh says the majority of Indian restaurants don't cook southern Indian food because it's time consuming.

"We cook each dish individually, which, in the case of masala dosa, can take up to three days.

"We have to soak the rice and lentils overnight, grind them and then leave them to ferment. It's a lengthy process but it's worth it."

Visually, Indian Summer looks more like a stylish, global restaurant: Dried chillis and banana leaves hang from the walls, sugar cane is scattered round Rajhastani water pots and strips of embroidered saris function as beautiful decorations and tablecloths.

A colour scheme of fresh white, orange and purple, conjures a lively ambience and a chilled soundtrack gives the restaurant a contemporary twist.

In their attempt to escape the curryhouse stigma, Minesh and Byron have also taken to educating their customers.

Stuck in the window is a sign reading: "The word curry is not heard of in Indian cuisine. It is an anglicisation of the Tamil word Kari meaning black pepper.

"By the 17th Century, the gentlemen of the British Empire were using the word curry as an allencompassing term to describe any broth, stew or even dry preparation that included spices. Curry powder was invented purely for export to Britain."

With dozens of vegetarian and vegan dishes on the menu as well as chicken and seafood, Indian Summer caters for everyone.

But the ultimate taste sensation is the restaurant's famous Gujarati thalis. Every Sunday, the restaurant adopts a chaathouse mentally and serves this traditional snack.

Thalis consist of a starter, dal, rice, three different vegetable dishes (or two meat dishes), poppadom, chutneys and a sweet and are served between 12pm and 3pm and from 6pm until 10pm.

Indian Summer is open from 11am until 4pm on Friday and Saturday and 6pm until 10.30pm Tuesday to Saturday.

A lunchtime snack costs between £3.50 and £4.50 and evening main courses (which include rice and pooris) cost between £6.95 and £10.95.

Rich.

From [email removed] Wed May 28 20:35:03 EDT 2003
Article: 14040 of uk.food+drink.indian