Review: At Nellai Banana Leaf, Chettinad cuisine gloriously expands WNY's Indian menu
South Indian cooking is worlds different from the 95 percent of WNY Indian places serving North Indian standards
If you’ve seen one Indian restaurant in Western New York, you’ve seen them all.
That’s the way it feels after 15 years of curry-hunting on the Niagara Frontier. Most customers at Indian restaurants can order without looking at the menu. Butter chicken, palak paneer, tandoori chicken, garlic naan, rogan josh, you know the drill. Northern Indian dishes are 95 percent of local Indian offerings.
That’s why I say “Nellai Banana Leaf” when asked for my favorite Indian restaurant. Its menu zigs where others zag, to South India, specifically Chettinad.
India has more than 40 distinct regional cuisines. Among them, Chettinad has a reputation as a real head-turner, due partly to ingredients brought back by wide-ranging Chettinad traders. “One is lucky to eat like a Chettiar” is a South Indian saying for a reason.
In American terms, discovering Chettinad after a lifetime of Northern Indian was like opening a 64-pack of Crayolas after a lifetime limited to the eight basic shades.
South Indian cuisine has its own iconic dishes.