The Bengali delicacy ‘Shorshe Ilish’ on my plate was so mouthwateringly good you’d think I was in a restaurant in Kolkata instead of Singapore’s Little India. With each mouthful of this Hilsa fish cooked in mustard sauce, Kolkata beckoned.
I was in the Kolkata Beckons Restaurant, where the City of Joy connects with the South-east Asian megacity within its vibrant and colourful Little India quarter.
Welcoming around 14 million visitors annually, Singapore is one of the world’s most visited destinations. While many pass through solely for business or as a stopover, the high-energy metropolis is also an appealing destination for leisure travellers. It’s a city where urban sophistication overwhelms human imagination, where modern outlook, glittering landscape, sublime cuisine, and courteous people conjure a dreamland-type image to outsiders. But what intrigues me here, is its true Asian character that lies gracefully beneath the sleek veneer of Westernised modernity. It stems from the city’s large Chinese, Malay, and Indian populations, who have retained their cultural traits with such novelty in distinct enclaves like the Chinatown, Arab Quarter, and Little India, that they have become hotspots for tourists.
There are several tourist attractions to inspire visits to Singapore – one ranked towards the top of the long list is the Little India district. None of my visits to Singapore have been complete without browsing the domain.
‘Assault on all senses’ is the best expression to describe my experience in this neighbourhood.
It’s a buzzing historic area that shows off the best of Singapore’s time-honoured Indian community, from vibrant cultural goodies and incredible human scenes to endless shopping and spicy food adventures.
Located not far from the glamourous Orchard Road and Raffle City precinct, Little India stretches a couple of kilometres on both sides of Serangoon Road between Little India and Farrer Park MRT Stations.
This area began its journey in the early 19th century as a settlement ground for the Indian workers hired by the British. The area was then spread with huge grasslands edging the Singapore River, which provided abundant water. These natural resources lured the settlers to start farming, brick kilning, and raising cattle for dairy products. As the community grew, temples and mosques were built to meet their religious needs, while businesses supplying traditional Indian goods and services started flourishing. Over the years, it became a bustling venue for trade and commerce, with Indian heritage at the heart of everything.
While the rest of Singapore since independence in 1965 has evolved and raced towards ultra-modernism, time still stands locked in pockets of Little India. The best way to sample this is by wandering on foot along the main road, its narrow alleys, and by lanes. The two-story shophouses with their ornate plasterwork facades draw the first attention. They give the enclave its unique character. These shops sell everything that you can think of as “Indian” – rice, lentils, flour, spices, herbal medicines, cooking utensils, earthen lamps, costumes, jewellery, framed prints of Indian gods and goddesses, and stacks of publications to keep the diaspora in touch with politics, cinemas, and fashions in mother India.
India is a land of many religions. Keeping that in mind, Little India is dotted with Hindu and Buddhist temples, Islamic mosques, and Catholic churches. The Sri Veeramakalimann Temple, dedicated to Kali the Goddess of Power, is the oldest Hindu shrine, while the other, equally amiable, is the Sri Perumal Temple. The Abdul Gafoor Mosque boasts a unique blend of Moorish Islamic and South Indian style and demands a visit to appreciate its architectural splendour. As Little India goes to bed late, mornings are generally quiet, and it’s the best time to visit some of these holy places.
Like colourful saris and glittering gold ornaments, Indian cuisine is an important aspect of this neighbourhood. By virtue of its evolution with people from South Indian backgrounds, the menu has been traditionally influenced by South Indian style. Forerunners in this space are 1936-established Komala Vilas, a culinary cornerstone in Singapore renowned for its authentic dosa, idly, vada, and sambar, and 1969-born Mutthus Curry, famous for its items prepared with fish heads. There are some North Indian and Mughlai eateries as well, but I never discovered a place in Little India and beyond in Singapore to fulfil the craving of a Bengali with authentic Kolkata-style Bengali dishes.
That absence inspired entrepreneur Deepali Ray, a Chartered Accountant by profession who moved to Singapore in the nineties, to recently open the Kolkata Beckons eatery to accomplish the passion for lovers of Bengali cuisine from different parts of the world, including Australia. I am originally from Kolkata, so I was delighted to find many of my favourites in the long menu, from luchi, motor shutir kachori, mochar chop, kathi rolls and fish fry, to cholar dal with narkel, shukto, kanch kolar kofta and pabda fish, rui kalia, dab chingri, shorshe ilish, kasha mangsho, and Kolkata mutton biriyani with potatoes and boiled egg.
TRAVEL NOTEBOOK
Getting There Qantas flies direct from key Australian cities to Singapore with convenient arrival timings
Accommodation Conveniently located just minutes away from Little India, Village Hotel Albert Court offer complimentary breakfast, late checkout and currency vouchers as a part of their discovery package.
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