Satya South Indian Restaurant (Auckland CBD, New Zealand)

You want to make your Indian Cuisine experience more exciting than do it the way we did last time we had it. I know Indian cuisine is already as exciting as

You want to make your Indian Cuisine experience more exciting than do it the way we did last time we had it. I know Indian cuisine is already as exciting as it can but you can bump up that excitement even more, with the spices and complex flavours in this cuisine what more can you ask for? Well the last time I had lunch with my team in the office was in this restaurant in K’Road, since we all love our spicy food we decided to splurge on a Indian restaurant and try out all sorts of dishes the some of us haven’t tried. Their dishes vary in spiciness but one of us had this great idea of asking the waiter to make one of the dishes ultra-spicy so that our tongues would burn, they complied and the result was this fun experience.

I feel like it’s a Russian roulette of curries, get the wrong dish then you will scream like a child losing his favourite toy. We ordered quite a lot during this dinner, 7 dishes to be precise all with rice plus all the flavours of their Paratha. Though most of them were curries we grabbed a variety of different meats as well as vegetables and let the waiter handle the best suggestion he can.

Several minutes after our orders were taken, each one of them arrive one after the other served mostly in an aromatic gravy ranging from brown to orange in colour. First was this Lamb Vindaloo ($17.95) which is are tender lamb cubes cooked in South Indian Spices and vindaloo flavour

Then this 6 pieces of Dahi Puri ($9.95) which is a mix of yoghurt, boiled potato and chickpeas with tamarind chutney and fresh ground roasted spices topping, according to the waiter this is one of their must try.

Prawn Thakali ($18.95) came next which is basically prawns in a spice infused coconut gravy

Dinner will not be complete especially in Auckland where Butter Chicken ($16.95) is considered the most favourite Indian dish of Kiwis, it’s a mild creamy curry with hints of sweetness.

Then came the Rogan Josh ($15.95), which is a lamb curry cooked in browned onions, yogurt, garlic, ginger and aromatic spices.

Cheese came in next but served in a curry sauce, dish called Mutter Paneer ($15.95) which is basically Green peas and Cottage cheese with Mild Spices Gravy

Last of the curries was this Dal Makhni ($16.95) our vegetarian curry made out of black lentils cooked in creamy gravy served with ginger topping

While the curries are handed out, the waiter told us to try some paratha as it is good partner for them, confused on what to order we got all four different flavours.

The Basic Paratha ($3.50), Garlic Paratha Chopped ($3.95), Cheese Paratha ($3.95) and the Garlic Cheese Paratha ($4.50).

So you might be wondering what was the spiciest one they made? Well it was the Lamb Vindaloo, it was very very very spicy but still palatable, it’s burning but you can still taste the other flavour profiles of the dish, this was also the first dish we tried. We then moved on to the next dishes but we still don’t know the hottest was the first one so we proceed with all curries with care, thinking the next ones would be hotter. After trying everything we all led into conclusion that it was the Lamb Vindaloo as we were expecting something hotter but never came out, we then asked the waiter and he said yes. It was good he served it first because if it was last then I guess we will never had enjoyed it, putting it at first gave this excitement in trying carefully each curry.

The dishes were amazing, though the almost look nearly similar there are differences on the flavour, some are creamy some are spicy and some are a bit sweeter than the other. The Dahi Puri is a must try, it’s quite a unique taste where spicy, sour, sweet, savoury and cold creamy blend well in one bite. The paratha was great as well specially the Garlic Cheese, with that melting cheese on top I feel like eating a thin crust pizza with a chewy flaky dough.

We certainly had enjoyed this and ate tons of rice to soak those wonderful sauces on each curry, a different experience I wish I can share to those who does not like hot spicy food. Thanks for Malaysia teaching me on how to eat these types of dishes otherwise I am missing a lot not by trying them.

Satya South Indian Restaurant
Address: 17 Great North Road, Newton, Auckland 1021
Phone: +64 9-361 3612
Website: http://satya.co.nz