Appu Uncle Curry House @ Section 19

“Kai Pavi Da!”  Says the huge garish sign featuring a popular Tamil actor, which means “Use Hand la!”

And the food here is so tasty, I really don’t mind if I do.

What I die a little each time for is the fish head curry here, as well as the prawn curry. The Putu Mayam (String hoppers) as well as the Appam (Apom) pancakes make great snacks as well. Appam are wok fried pancakes made of fermented rice flour and coconut milk batter hence it has a slight earthy sour taste. Sometimes I like my Appam with a fish or chicken curry, some dhal (dal or dhal – lentil beans) and spicy fresh chutney. Sometimes I like it with the salty-sweet coconut milk. And for dessert, when my sweet tooth kicks in I can’t resist them freshly steamed string hoppers with a generous sprinkling of sweetened toppings such as desiccated coconut, jaggery or white sugar.

putu mayam

appam

A local daily explains that Appu Uncle curry house is owned by brothers Arvin and Ravin. They had taken the name from their uncle who is apparently responsible for the recipes. It is famous around section 19 for its banana leaf rice.

Pick your curries and dhal

One of the other things I find irresistible here is the Thosai and Roti Canai. The Thosai is light, fluffy and slightly sour with a great flavour, which means it is not just all flour. It is not too oily either. The curry sauces are out of this world.

thosai

If you have a choice, ask for the chutney, the prawn curry and the fish head curry to go with your thosai. The fish curry here has, I believe, a coconut base and a thick strong aroma of fish without being too sour. I don’t enjoy fish curries that are just plain sour and over-spiced – those do nothing for me at all. According to some reviews of Appu, the fish head curry is made from the heads of kurau (threadfin), ikan merah (red snapper) or jenahah (golden snapper), and the gravy is fierce (like wife!) with a nice balance of heat, curry powder flavour as well as other spices. Maybe this is why we like it. There is just a trace of sourness imparted by tomatoes and all the rest is just one heavenly scope after another. The prawn curry is thick and slightly sweet – it has more tomatoes in it and has a thicker consistency than the fish head curry.

Having visited this shop several times, they are inconsistency in the salt usage in the curries. Sometimes perfect and sometimes just too salty to the point we needed to dilute it with some water.

fierce like wifey! 

 Love the Prawn curry

coconut chutney – a little salty this time but tasty enough

On Sundays, opt for banana leaf and their and Appu Uncle’s legendary Mutton Dalcha. And if you get bored of the company you are keeping, you can always turn your attention to the streaming of Bollywood /Tamil movies played on their flat screen TV. The service is prompt and the staff is friendly enough, unlike some places where they are rude and don’t give you the time of day.

endless entertainment and that bouncy music that makes you wanna run around and tease your lover, and hide behind a tree!

deep fried bitter gourd – a must with banana leaf 

dry mutton curry

chicken varuval

The best  thing about eating here is that it does not put a hole in your wallet – that is of course, if you stick with the vegetarian dishes. While some places are charging cut throat prices for their basic banana leaf rice, Appu Uncle curry house’s standard banana leaf set rice is priced at 5 plus ringgit, and this comes with rice, papadum and three vegetarian dishes together with garlic and ginger achar as well as a cup of spiced-filled rasam! What a steal! Dinner for two here normally sets us back by less than 10 ringgit, and with such tasty food on offer, it is no wonder this is one of our memorable joints for great South Indian food.