Surati Farsan Mart (again!)

We have been to SFM now a couple more times since our initial visit. It has yet to disappoint. The second time we went, the service was just as friendly... they even remembered us! We still don't bother with the desserts but here are the new items we've tried:



Pav Bhaji ($3.99) - This was a spicy vegetable mixture served with hamburger buns. Very tasty, but the buns were a little much.



Pav Vada ($3.99) - These were spicy, deep-fried potato patties served with a garlic chutney in a bun. We had seen other customers order these and were intrigued. Tasty, but probably wouldn't get again.

BTW, they charge extra for those slices of cheese. So when they ask whether you'd like cheese on them, be aware!



Dahl Vada ($3.50) - Described as deep-fried lentil cakes covered with tamarind sauce and yogurt. This was the only item we didn't care for. It wasn't bad or inedible, just a little tasteless. The lentil cakes were bland but the yogurt tasted cool and fresh.



Petish ($3.50) - I loved these. These balls contained a combination of cilantro, coconut and garlic. Delicious. They were fried perfectly and the spices were a great mixture.



This is the inside of one of the balls.



Eggplant and Pigeon Pea curry - one of the curries of the day. It is served with either 4 puris (deep-fried bread) or 4 rotis (tortilla-like bread). It was good, but not a favorite. Heavy on the coriander, it was too oily for me.



Masala Cheese Dosa ($4.99) - This is the same as the masala dosa, but with cheese added to it. Strangely enough, I think it might have been American cheese. It's an interesting change, but I prefer the version without the cheese.

I also tried the lychee shake ($2.50) (sorry no picture - it's white) which was sweet and refreshing. If you like lychee, you'll like this.

Surati Farsan Mart is quickly becoming a favorite and I'm looking forward to going back!

Chana Masala

With our recent trips to different Indian restaurants recently, I decided to try to make Chana Masala. I found a recipe off of Route79.com which sounded pretty good. And then I did some more searching online and found a recipe off of Recipezaar.com to compare. Against my better judgment, I decided to use Recipezaar.com since there were reviews. I say against my better judgment because although I followed the recipe to a T, it was missing salt, which I had to add, some more water to cook the chickpeas (it definitely took longer than 10 minutes), and I think the potatoes that were used in the recipe at Route79.com would have complemented the dish nicely. I think it was a good starting point overall, but could use some more work.

Surati Farsan Mart

The J-Wongs + K were in town and we decided to check out one of the many restaurants on my "to-try" list, Surati Farsan Mart. It's located in a small shopping center off of Miramar and Black Mountain Road, surrounded by other Indian businesses. They serve Gujarathi food and the prices are very reasonable. We walked through the doors and quickly noticed we were the only non-Indian folks inside. Must be authentic! :)





The place is clean and the staff were very friendly, explaining what some of the items were and later asking if we enjoyed the food. It is casual and everything is served on disposable plates and bowls on plastic trays.

We had stopped in earlier in the week and grabbed a menu on the way out. Since we know very little about Indian food, Jon asked one of his Indian friends, who is from that region, to make some recommendations. We started with those:



Pani Puri ($3.50) - these were deep-fried pockets filled with a potato and bean mixture. Some kind of spicy mint syrup was served with it, which made the little puffs more delicious.



Bhel Puri ($3.50) - This tasted like puffed rice cereal mixed with cilantro, potatoes, onions, beans, and other spices. It was a tasty combination.



Masala Dosa ($3.99) - This is a thin rice crepe, wrapped around a spiced potato filling. It is served with a coconut chutney and a vegetable soup. I tried to eat some of the soup alone, but it was a bit too peppery for me. I was coughing.



Chole Samosa ($3.99) - This was my favorite, but I am a chickpea-lover. The bowl contained a spicy chickpea curry with 2 crispy vegetable samosas. I loved how the crispy samosas dissolved and softened into the warm curry.



K tried the Chai tea and enjoyed it. It tasted sweet but we were told there was no sugar added to it. There were some other interesting drinks on the menu, including one with lychee! Must try next time.

We were still game to try a couple more items so put in another order:



Khaman ($3.50) - This had an interesting flavor! Not at all what we expected it to taste like. I'm not sure what we expected but because of its plain appearance, I wasn't expecting something so flavorful. These are steamed squares made of chana flour and served with a green chutney.



Delhi Chaat ($3.99)- This was described as crushed fried whole wheat shells mixed with potatoes and beans. It had some kind of sweet and spicy sauce mixed into it and was topped with yogurt. It was good, but I liked the other dishes better.



With a spread like this, we had to try a few desserts! We had no idea what to order, but Jon and Kameran talked to an Indian woman in line who gave her recommendations. This is what we ended up with:





I'm not completely sure about the names of the things we had but my guess is that we tried a dried fruit barfi, bundi ladoo, mango barfi, sutar feni barfi, jalebi, and barfi.

Overall, we were not fans of the desserts. I think they are spiced too differently from what we're used to. The two must-haves that everyone seemed to be eating were the regular barfi and jalebi. Sadly, I probably liked these the least. The caradamom in the barfi overwhelmed me and tasted too strong. The jalabi, which was fried dough in a sugary syrup was far too sweet for me. My favorite was probably the dried fruit barfi... it was simple and not too sweet. The desserts weren't necessarily bad, just not for me.

Our overall experience at Surati Fusan Mart was positive. I'd definitely come back to eat and try more of the numerous items on the menu. I'll just skip the desserts next time.