OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: SEMMA, NEW YORK

 OUR DINING EXPERIENCE; SEMMA,  NEW YORK

For me, our recent visit to New York was a food blogger's dream come true! I had the opportunity to dine at Chef Vikas Khanna's Bungalow,  where we were fascinated by the personal charm of Chef Vikas Khanna, apart from the delicious food.

We then dined at Chef Raveesh Kapoor's IndianAccent. This was a unique experience in tasting Indian fusion food presented so very innovatively by Chef Raveesh  Kapoor. 

The third great "foodie" experience for me was dining at Semma, This Indian restaurant is located at 60, Greenwich Avenue in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan. It is presided over by Head Chef Vijay Kumar, who won the prestigious James Beard Award for the Best Chef in New York State in 2025. Foodies the world over often call this Award the "Oscars of the Culinary World". 

The byline for Semma is  Heritage Southern Indian Cuisine! You can make out the food traces its roots back to the earthy, rural foods of the South Indian State of Tamilnadu, India where Chef Vijay Kumar spent his early years. 

Recently Semma ( which I am told means "Fantastic" in Tamil) was named No 41 in North America's 50 Best Restaurants! This is such a huge honor as Semma became the first Indian restaurant to feature in this much coveted list. Moreover, it has been only 5 years since Semma was founded by Vijay Kumar and his friends and partners Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya. Their aim was to provide diners with food that was "unapologetically Indian." The Michelin Guide summed up this approach by describing Semma as "Indian cooking that does not pander to American expectations"! Semma has retained its Michelin Star for several years in a row.

We were naturally very excited to get a dinner reservation through Seven Rooms.com as at times it can take months to get one. It was all the more thrilling when Chef Vijay Kumar took time to chat with us. 

The decor - as one would expect- is traditionally Indian as seen in the pictures below. 

The drinks on offer had both exotic names and ingredients- all named after places in South India. We chose Konkan ( Tequila, Kokum, Coconut Oil, Chilli, Salt) and Chikmagalur ( Whiskey, Filter Coffee, Chicory, Cream). Both were totally delicious!! 

Since we love sea food, we knew what we wanted for appetizers! Our unanimous choice was Eral Thokku: tiger prawns cooked in a gravy of green chillies, fenugreek, and fresh curry leaves. I considered this by far the best dish of the evening.

We next had what is perhaps the most popular dish in Semma in terms of volume! The Gunpowder Dosa, which was our crisp Masala Dosa with a filling of potato masala, served with chutney powder affectionately called "gunpowder", sambar and two chutneys. . 

For the main course, we selected the Meen Pollichathu- a delicacy from Kerala. In this dish, the fish ( they used sea bass here) is well marinated in spices, wrapped tightly in wilted banana leaf and steam or pan cooked with  tomatoes, ginger and shallots. We were served this with hot steamed rice and an accompanying gravy. While it was enjoyable, we would have preferred it to have been more spicy.

We ended the meal with Elaneer Payasam, a dessert made with tender coconut, coconut milk, cashews, raisins and ghee. This was an excellent way to close the evening.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at Semma. We would like to thank Chef Vijay Kumar and his team for the wonderful dining experience. 

AVAREBELE MELA 2017

AVAREBELE MELA 2017

Locals in Bengaluru look forward to the winter months for that's the time of the year when their favourite Avarebele ( Hyacinth Beans or Flat Beans) is available in plenty. This vegetable is used in making an astonishing variety of dishes.

These are showcased in a food festival every year  thanks to the initiative of Sri Vasavi Condiments. This year too, for the 17th successive year the Avarebele Mela has been organized from January 5 to 15, 2017 at the famous Sajjan Rao Circle ( one of Bengaluru's few remaining iconic " traffic circles") in Visveshwara Puram, known simply as VV Puram.

Locals in Bengaluru will tell you that the city got it's name from, "Benda-kala-uru" or "Place of Cooked Beans". Legend has it that King Veera Ballala II of the Hoysala dynasty was hunting here in the 12 th century when in hunger he chanced upon a hut in the jungle. An old lady served him a dish of cooked beans "Benda Kalu" and the place he declared would be called  "Benda-kala-uru."

Crowds throng to VV Puram for the Avarebele Mela where for very reasonable prices one can feast on a wide variety of dishes all using avarebele or its variant the Hithakabele. In Hithakabele the avarebele is in effect de-skinned. The outer part is peeled off leaving the soft inner part which is used to make many delicacies.

You will be astonished at the number of dishes, supposedly 40 or more, available on sale. In keeping with modern trends in the cosmopolitan city, apart from the age old favourites like Avarebele Dosa served with Hithakabele Saru, Ragimudde with Avarebele Saru, and Avarebele Upittu, you now have Avarebele Manchurian and Avarebele Rumali Roti!!

 In the collage above, clockwise, crisp and crunchy Avarebele Nippat, fried to perfection the Hithakabele Masalavade, stuffed liberally with avarebele the famous Avarebele Dosa served with Hithakabele Saru, Hithakabele Akki Roti, and Avarebele Upittu.

There were sweets galore too which included Mysore Pak, Gulab Jamoons, Fudges of different types with dry fruits, and of course the traditional Hithakabele Payasaa and the Hithakabele Holige with a liberal sprinking of ghee.

This year for the first time, I guess, the Avarebele Mela is moving beyond VV Puram. From January 18 to 22, it will be held at the Govt School Ground near K C General Hospital in Malleshwaram and then from January 25 to 29 near Poornima Mahal in Nagarbhavi ( Chandra Layout Mian Road).

The Mela is from 11.00 a.m to 10.00 p.m. on the dates mentioned. So if for some reason you can't make it to the Avarebele Mela in VV Puram, you have a second and third chance to catch it!!