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49 Exploring Ku ala Lumpur, one restaura nt at a time A “mixed sauce" city, forged by cultures Story and Photos by Josh Foreman K uala Lumpur is a city of four cultures: Chinese, Ma- lay, Indian and capitalist. Capitalism is the dominant culture, but it’s possible to find vestiges of the other three. The best way to do that is through the city’s restau- rants. My wife and I spent two weeks in the city over winter break. We chose KL for a few reasons: 1. It’s hot. 2. It’s cheap and easy to get there (AirAsia flies direct for around 380,000 won round-trip). 3. Said restaurants. Our first day in KL, we set out for lunch at Betel Leaf, a highly regarded Indian restaurant in Little India. Walking there, we spotted a Coffee Bean and stopped in for morn- ing coffee. It was the day after Christmas, 32 degrees Celsius. “Let it Snow” was blasting inside. When we found the Coffee Bean we thought we were fortunate to find a place to get coffee; we didn’t know yet that they’re every- where, along with Starbucks and lots of other chains. In malls. So many malls. The girl working in the shop brought my black coffee in a tall glass goblet fit for a sultan. We continued walking toward the restaurant. The side- walks were mostly empty. Again, we were new to the city and had not yet learned that most people can be found in malls. We arrived in Little India and found our way to Betel Leaf, an unassuming second-floor restaurant on the de- caying Leboh Ampang Street. The neighborhood has an Indian vibe, but it’s not as distinct as other cities’ Little Indias. Indians have been immigrating to Malaysia since the late 1700s. They came to work in the British colonies of Pen- ang, Melaka and Singapore, and today they make up the third-largest ethnic group, behind the Chinese and Ma- lays. They’re pretty well integrated. There are a few stores in the neighborhood selling Indian movies and music and “puja oil” for rituals, but other than that it could be any other neighborhood. Betel Leaf is a little more upscale than the average restaurant in KL. It’s indoor and air-conditioned, with shiny paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses on the walls. It was busy both times we ate there. Many of Malaysia’s ethnic Indians came originally from Tamil Nadu, and Betel Leaf specializes in food from that state. They tout locally grown rabbit and mutton on their menu; I’ve never had rabbit curry and wanted to try it, but we opted for more familiar choices, “mutton chukka” and a chicken curry. The mutton came “dry,” which means without a lot of sauce. The dish consisted of chunks of boneless mutton covered in spices. The presence of whole, pungent spices in your curry is one of the nicest things about eating in the tropics. The mutton was flavored with visible chunks of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, garlic and delicate strings of curry leaves. It had a nice heat, which was alleviated by glasses of thick, white lassi. The chicken curry came with a thin “gravy,” nicer for moistening the white rice that came with the meal. We ordered naan as well. It was thicker and chewier than what I’m used to, but just as good as any I’ve ever had. A case of Indian sweets — gulab jamun, jalebi and others — sat near the front of the restaurant, a sign that they really were all about the Indian food. The presence of whole, pungent spices in your curry is one of the nicest things about eating in the tropics. The mutton was favored with visible chunks of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, garlic and delicate strings of curry leaves.