A taste of Summer

Thank you, Anne Stevens! KZN’s most dedicated and intrepid eater-out, author-editor of 26 (so far) guides to what’s cooking in restaurants and cafes round the province, made the introductions and took us through the menu at Indian Summer restaurant in Glenashley.

Her partner Dave McLennan, who grew up in Bombay long before it became Mumbai, made the chaat-choices – chaat (or chat) are the snacks sold on the Mumbai beachfront. How fabulous it would be if our seaside strip offered more of this sort of delicacy, reflecting Durban’s distinctive cultural heritage, and less of stuff that has little or no local connection.)  And now we are new members of the Indian Summer fan club…

This is a restaurant which scores on what really matters. You would be hard-pressed to give it even 1 out of 10 for interior decor. It is set in a small, suburban (very suburban) shopping centre; it looks out on to a parking area (mind you, the outlook from Rick Stein’s flagship restaurant in Padstow is also heavy on cars).

Tottery

But you know you’re on the right track when you check out the other clients: they are all Indian – ladies who lunch, big families ranging from the very old and tottery to babies in prams, businessmen and women, happy young couples. On our second visit it was the same, with the only exceptions us and Durban’s King of Hair, Terry Scott and his wife Sandra. (They live round the corner, and eat here “all the time; so delicious, so well-priced”.)

Even more crucially, once the food comes, you know this is the Real Deal. On your way out, peep into the tiny kitchen and confirm what you have already tasted: everything is being made freshly, from scratch, and cooked to order under the watchful eye of Anand Pancholy, with Bimal Kanakia presiding over the dining area.

Chicken, lamb, naan and other superb breads are grilled and baked and puffed and fired in a red-hot tandoor oven by Gulab Singh in one corner of the kitchen. In another, Atul Nalawade magics up individual curry orders in a battered saucepan, expertly negotiating spattering oil and shooting flames; at a third “station” is Satupuri Goswami, who is making the Bombay chaat and South Indian specialities. The dosa “flour” mixture, based on rice and split peas, is ground to a paste in a formidable machine in another part of the kitchen. Satupuri’s sleight of hand, as he “spins” a cupful of batter into a bigger, thinner, crisper “pancake” is a marvel; I am convinced he could probably outbowl Harbajhan…

Contrast

We sampled Anne’s favourites: masala dosa, sev puri, kima paratha, kachori – and are bowled over by each one. Most unusual are the pani puri, little puffy balls which you break open, to pour in iced mint juice. The contrast between hot and cold, crisp and soft, spicy and fresh, is a triumph.

We might easily have stopped, replete, right then and not ventured beyond the appetisers. But Anne insisted we try the lamb saagwala, cubed lamb braised with garlic, cumin seeds and bright green spinach – delicious. And the dal makhani – an irresistibly rich concoction of sugar beans and black lentils with cream.

The tandoori chicken, offered as a starter and a main, is excellent. There are 11 breads and 15 vegetable dishes for non-meat eaters. The roti are (of course) hot, home-made, airy, only very distantly related to the all-too-common frozen, microwaved commercial specimens.

Indian Summer is simple and unpretentious, its excellent and authentic dishes very reasonably priced. It absolutely fulfils what the best wine marketer in the Cape, Charles Back of Fairview, has always said is the secret of a successful wine: it should over-deliver on expectations.

And who could not love its approach to customers, as noted on the menu: “You are most treasurable to us…”

Indian Summer, Shop 17, Sunningdale Centre, corner Umhlanga Rocks Drive and Village Way, Sunningdale. (The same centre which once housed Gina’s.) Tel: 031 562 1234. Open daily, lunch and dinner.

– Erica Platter

Now read: “Lunch with John Smit”