Pudu Chinese Indian Rice @ Restoran Sin Hiap Kee

One of the places we love to visit in Pudu, for some carbo loading, is this place we call, the “Pudu Chinese Indian Rice”.

Run by a friendly Chinese lady, you would mistake this place for authentic indian rice, except that the cook is Chinese. Cumi, in his youth, before his intolerance to caffeine developed, would frequent this coffee shop for its local coffee.

Walking in, you will notice the lady owner towards the middle of the coffee shop with a nice selection of dishes served out economy rice style – Sunny side ups with a nice crispy bottom layer, Squid in Curry gravy, Petai Ikan Bilis, Potato cutlet, Deep Fried Fish eggs (cholesterol-fest!), Fried chicken, Curry Stingray, Lala clams, and Mutton curry are my favorites.

There is a mobile Chee Cheong Fun stall parked outside the shop that offers a lighter meal to patrons as well.

 potato cutlet – dense and bursting with flavour – not too moist nor dry!

 sunny side up

Love the lala here.. 

Of course the specialty here is the fish head, and the fish head curry – we see many old timers drenching their rice in the sauce and eating with their hands. I’m not always in the mood for curry fish head, though my father can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner! He is crazy about fish head curry, especially the sort where the curry, engulfing a giant fish head, is fragrant with nutty, lemon-lime curry leaves and sour tamarind juice. I myself prefer dishes such as the mutton rendang, which is cooked down until concentrated and clingy, suffused with fresh turmeric root, tart turmeric leaves, roasted grated coconut and dried asam keping which is so effectively delicious.

 Fish head… huge – should be shared by 2 to 3 persons ideally

sting ray curry

So we arrive in the early afternoon, at Restoran Sin Hiap Kee on Pudu and we are rewarded with no queue. The lady cook is out front serving the steaming hot rice – all the dishes are already prepared and laid out like a buffet line. She passes us a plate each of rice and tells us to help ourselves.

mutton curry… thick and rich sauce.. some say the thickest in town! 

As far as my taste buds are concerned, I think that mutton and curry are a match made in heaven. The deep flavors and lingering heat of the Mutton Curry here is  a testament to the lady chef’s skill at layering spices and introducing each one strategically to maximize flavors in each mouthful.

 go on.. be generous with yourselves! 

Wow, with so many dishes to choose from, you actually feel like eating everything, but in the end we gravitate towards our favorites. Also, we decided to pick the slightly less oily dishes. Since I like my food super spicy, I ladle a scoop of green chillies sambal onto my plate last of all. It’s incredibly spicy – painful almost when this lethal chili touches your lips, but I like it. Once you’ve selected your dishes, the lady puts some papadums on top of your rice with a flourish.

sotong

fried goodies – prawns, cutlets, fish eggs, kidney, liver etc..

the cathartic green sambal

gimme, gimme.. friend chicken!

petai ikan bilis.. a must have!

old timers love this place.. but so do we! 

 cholesterol overdrive.. deep-fried fish roe… 

The spices used by the cook here is lighter than other Indian restaurants. For us, it is a welcome change as we can taste the natural flavors of fresh meat and fresh vegetables often overwhelmed by Indian spices in many street side restaurants. This place comes highly recommended.