Spices of India

Kebab draws customers to an old colonial bungalow in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. But TAN BEE HONG finds there is so much more to Kabab & Qaurma than just skewered meat

THE chic Indian restaurant in an old colonial bungalow in Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, Kuala Lumpur, is named Kabab & Qaurma for a very precise reason. “We want to be the first name that pops to mind when people think of kebabs,” says its head chef Kaneez Narjis Raza.

Obviously, skewered meat is Narjis’ forte but the Pakistan-born mother of three is equally adept at biryanis, qaurma (curries), breads and vegetarian dishes.

Though she and her husband Shobair Husain from Lucknow, India, opened the restaurant only six months ago, it has quietly acquired a reputation for serving north Indian cuisine that has not been tweaked to suit Malaysian tastebuds.

Narjis was brought up surrounded by food. As a child, Kaneez Narjis Raza watched her grandmother and mother in the kitchen. As she grew older, she was encouraged to get learn from the chefs in the family hotel.

Both her grandfather and father ran a hotel in Pakistan and she and her three brothers became involved in the business. With her interest instilled at such a young age, it’s not surprising that cooking filled her world. And when she married Shobair, she quickly picked up the finer points of Lucknow cuisine.

Kabab & Qaurma is brightly lit by natural sunlight falling in through the tall glass windows. There is none of that dim lighting Indian restaurateurs seem innately fond of, nor is there heavy carpeting on the floor and the smell of incense in the air. Instead, the wooden floors are bare and clean and the furnishings simple yet comfortable.

There is nothing minimalist about the food, though. Narjis has good instincts about spices.

The mother of three boys aged five to 10 is very particular about what goes into the cooking and keeps as close to the original recipes as possible.

“We didn’t realise that people in Kuala Lumpur like Indian food so much. They are really appreciative of what we offer,” she says. But she admits to increasing the pedas (chili hot) factor for some dishes and says Malaysians like curry gravy to be thicker. Apart from these small concessions, she won’t budge on the taste and flavour.

“We also use less oil. In India and Pakistan, people don’t mind more oily food. But here, customers are health conscious,” says Narjis who has got it down to such a fine art that one customer mistook her fried fish for grilled. “Frying with little oil is a lot more work but it’s definitely worth it,” she adds.

Narjis offers various types of meat and seafood kebabs as well as vegetarian kebabs like paneer tikka (cottage cheese), tandoori tarkari (mushrooms, capsicum, tomatoes, onion and pineapple).

The paneer tikka (RM15) comes in both red and yellow spices. I love the yellow. The cheese is firm and well marinated.

Most customers come for the meat and jhinga (prawn) kebabs. Kebabs are healthy as there is no oil is used in the cooking and goes very well with the various types of bread like naan, paratha, sheer mal and kulcha.

Mutton is the meat of choice and Narjis uses local goat meat instead of lamb. “As it gets cold, lamb has a strong smell and unpleasant aftertaste,” says Shobair.

“There is no such problem with local mutton.”

Galawat (RM20) are round patties of extremely fine minced mutton. Bite into them and instantly you get the subtle flavours of cardamom, nutmeg and the scent of roses.

Shaami kebab (RM20) has better texture as the meat is not so finely minced. The meat is mixed with chopped onions and coriander.

Looking like a sausage roll with a hole in the centre is murgh seekh kebab (RM30). The minced chicken is mixed with chopped coriander and onions. Extremely well flavoured and spicy.

The murgh tikka (RM25) with red spices is what we know as tandoori chicken. Big chunks of boneless meat are marinated and cooked in the tandoor. The meat is surprisingly very soft.

According to Shobair, this is because the meat is only cooked when ordered. Pre-cooked chicken that is reheated, he says, becomes hard.

Kabab & Qaurma offers biryani and pulao. You can have meat biryani as well as vegetarian biryani with lots of whole almonds, cashew nuts, raisins and chili padi.

“Biryani is spicy and many customers prefer pulao,” says Narjis. But really, I think simply steamed basmati rice is best with the various qaurma (meat curry).

These include Murgh makhani (RM30), with boneless tandoori chicken cooked in a creamy tomato-based sauce lightly flavoured with fenugreek. Achaar Gosht (RM35) is delicious. The meat is tender, with just a slight hint of pedas (hot).

I’m not so fond of the haleem (RM30), finding the combination of crushed wheat and lentils used to cook the mutton a little too heavy to digest. It comes with a side platter of chopped ginger, chili padi, lime wedges and sliced coriander.

I add these by mistake to khata meetha dal (RM10) and to my surprise, it brings out the full flavours of the lentils cooked in tamarind sauce.

Another favourite is gobi kush bahaar (RM15). This dry dish of cauliflower is stunning, with lots of appetising aroma coming from nions, tomato, ginger and fenugreek.

Do keep space for dessert. There’s mango and saffron kulfi (RM10). The mango is deliciously scented. I also enjoy khubani ka meetha (RM15), a dried apricot puree topped with slivers of apricot and a dash of cream.

Kabab & Qaurma has a full bar upstairs. But, says Sobhair, utensils used for the bar section are kept separate from that used in the kitchen and in the main dining area. The restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner.

Set lunch is available from Mondays to Fridays. The menu is changed daily but includes kebabs, vegetarian and non-vegetarian sets. On Sundays, there are substantial set menus for brunch priced from RM35.

KABAB & QAURMA
15A Jalan Yap Kwan Seng,
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2163 7644