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p10
 Ruchi
42 Stoke Newington Church St., N16 Open: Lunch 12.00-2.30 pm 7 days
Evening Sun-Thur 6.00-11pm
Friday and Saturday 6.00-11.30 pm Tel: 020 7923 4564
No Service Charge Credit cards - all except Diners Card
Cooking in Indian restaurants has undergone the most dramatic changes of all the
established ethnic cuisines over the past few years. You can get North Indian, Nepalese,
Bengali and Gujerati throughout London. South Indian vegetarian restaurants are opening
all the time.
Despite this welcome move towards greater subtlety and sophistication, there are a few
glaring omissions. These include the lack of restaurants offering the wonderful variety of
fish dishes from the coastal states of Goa, Bengal and Kerala. This gap has happily been
filled by Ruchi, the new kid on the block in Stoke Newington Church Street.
'Ruchi' means taste and the restaurant offers regional specialities from Kerala in South
India. The owners and chefs come from Kerala, the spice capital of India, and take great
pride in producing authentic food, using freshly ground spices, herbs and unusual fish
dishes from the Malabar coast.
The atmosphere and service is very friendly and the staff is very  good
at explaining the more obscure dishes on the menu. We were so impressed we returned
several times.
The Ruchi special soup £3.35 is delicious fish soup, with a spicy stock, crammed with
prawns and seafood.
Deep fried plantains Pazharn Pori £2.75 with pineapple chutney were very enjoyable, as
were Sambar and the everpopular Dosas (crispy pancakes) with different fillings. Ruchi
offers a selection of subtly spiced curries using unusual vegetables such as breadfruit,
white pumpkin and eddoes.
Meen Masala £6.75, a whole fish cooked with onions and tomatoes in a rich masala sauce,
was terrific. Meen Ada £4.75, a rice pastry filled with fish, onions and green chillies,
steamed and served in banana leaves, is a Malabar speciality.
The wine list - not usually the high point in Indian restaurants - is well chosen and well
priced. The house wine - red and white - is a decent French Vin Ordinaire, a bargain at
£8.95 a bottle. A Spanish Ros~ £14.95 is dry and crisp and an excellent accompaniment to
the spicy dishes. Other wines worth trying are the Pinot Grigio £11.95 and Taltami, an
Australian Sauvignon at £15.95.
Ruchi serves Kingfisher lager on draught at £2.80 a pint. They also produce homemade
crispy snacks with very good pickles at £4.50 a tray. A vegetarian set menu is £13.50
and a seafood set menu is £17.50.
Until recently, fish has been under-used by Indian chefs. After lobster bhuna and prawn
biriani, most of them give up, so it is a refreshing change to visit an Indian restaurant
with such a large choice of excellent fish dishes.
Ruchi will undoubtedly be spotted by the national press, so book early.
Here is a recipe provided by Ruchi for Traditional Kerala Fish Curry
(Nadan Meen Curry)
Ingredients (serves four)
4 King Fish Steaks (or other meaty white fish with few bones), Vegetable oil, pinch Curry
leaves, pinch Meethi seeds, 4 cloves Garlic, 2 Onions, 3 Tomatoes, 1/4 tsp Chilli powder,
1 tbsp coriander powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 100 ral fresh coconut milk, Curry powder
(pinch) Shallot, 50 mI Tamarind juice, Fresh mango slices, Salt - to taste
1. Fry the onion until golden brown
2. Add the Meethi seeds, garlic and curry leaves
3. Add chopped tomatoes,chilli powder, coriander and turmeric
4. Mix thoroughly until paste like
5. Add tamarind juice and stir
6. Leave for a few minutes
7. Add coconut milk
8. Cook 5 to 10 minutes until the coconut milk thickens
9. Add fish - simmer until fish cooked (15 to 20 minutes), add salt to taste
10. Turn off heat
11. Add fresh mango slices
12. Season the dish by frying the chopped shallot and sprinkling over the dish
13. Enjoy!
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