dumbiryani

Top Food Writer Favorites at Banana Leafla!

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(Gerry Furth-Sides) A tandoor oven makes many northern Indian favorite dishes at Banana Leaf DTLA. Here are the favorites of top food writer diners. Yelp Elite, Keong said, “It is easily the best Indian restaurant in the USA. Most Indian restaurants here are North Indian and they have more or less the same dishes. Your saags, biriyanis, marsala, and Tandooris.”

LA’s top food writers choose their favorites at BananaLeaf LA

Special ingredients and a special cooking techniques make Goat (Halal) Thalappakatti Dum Biryani so labor intensive it is only served on week-ends at Banana Leaf. The dish is prepared bone-in for added flavor. The halal meat is so tender it falls right off the small shards. 

Week-end special Goat (Halal) Thalappakatti Dum Biryani at Banana Leaf DTLA

And the rice! Former Bon Appetit Recipe tester, Roberta Deen also tried it for the first time and was delighted. “It’s shorter and thinner around than any other rice!” she said, examining it closely. That’s because authentic rice is used. It’s a unique short grain seeraga samba rice.  This rice, unlike basmati, has no taste of its own. So it completely absorbs the flavors of the marvelous blend of spices. 

For our articles on biryani, both dum and mandi versions, please //localfoodeater.com/tag/biryani/For the menu at all the locations, please visit : //BananaleafLA.

Long-time favorite the paratha is buttery, flaky and light at the same time. “The paratha, a layered butter pancake similar in taste to a croissant. It is slightly crispy, and you can eat it all day long. This is prepared fresh on the premises,” wrote Keong. “It is refreshing to finally have good South Indian cuisine without having to go to South East Asia or Southern India to taste it. I will definitely be back to find more of my favorites!”

Diner favorite paratha made in-house at BananaLeafla

Saag Aloo (spinach and potato), a traditional north-Indian Punjabi curry, is made with dark, leafy greens and potatoes. It’s warm, comforting, and packed with nutrients. 

“Saag” means “dark leafy greens”that could include mustard, spinach, fenugreek, and collard greens, in much the same way salad “greens” can include different types of lettuce and herbs. Potatoes or “aloo”are usually russet.

For our story of Saag and the northern v the southern version, please //localfoodeater.com/sag-paneer-indias-answer-to-popeye/

Saag Aloo (spinach and potatoes) at Banana Leafla
Butter + Chicken made from scratch at BananaLeafla make Butter Chicken an all time favorite

Beautiful actor Ayla Rose’s pick of Northern Indian cuisine is Samosa Chaat at BananaLeafla. Spicy whole (chickpeas) are served with samosa and dollops of yogurt and chutney to make up this tangy, spicy favorite. 

One of the most popular northern Indian street, this fun surprisingly crunchy mashup of ingredients is one of the most popular items in northern India.

Samosa Chaat at BananaLeafla
Ayla celebrating a birthday at BananaLeafLa

“I’m no expert on Indian food, but after reading several times about Banana Leaf from the late, much loved food writer and traveler Barbara Hansen, I wanted to go,” said Flo Selfman,Immediate Past President, Independent Writers of SoCalif. “Every dish and drink was flavorful and delicious. And now, I’ll be back. Care to join me?”

Bonnie Tseng loves the cheese naan. Another favorite was the fruit and nut kulcha.
The map showing all the regions of dishes served at BananaLeafla in downtown LA

For the menu at all the locations, please visit : //BananaleafLA.com



New Van Nuys Banana Leaf’s Opening Dish Surprise!

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(Gerry Furth-Sides, Van Nuys photos by Sri Sambangi) Dosas and Chicken Dum Biryani define Southern Indian food. New Van Nuys Banana Leaf combines them into one spectacular dish! The newest Banana Leaf Outpost is at 6159 Van Nuys Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91401,  (310) 735-3242. It’s new surprise dish combines two of the most authentic, popular and opposite Indian favorites!

Dosas filled with dum biryani at Banana Leaf in Van Nuys

The chef starts with a dosa, a form of firm crepe prepared on top of the stove and usually filled can be other worldly long.

Dosas at Banana Leaf are filled with authentic dum biryani!
The dosas are shaped when cooling

Dum biryani is so tricky to prepare that when it is done properly, fans are fierce about them. Each region in Indian believes it makes the best although Hyderabad has the strongest reputation. Marinated ingredients are layered with rice. The pot is sealed and the ingredients simmer on the stove, often overnight, unseen until the minute it is finished. “dum biryani.”

Rice cooking for the perfect dum biryani at BananaleafLA

The Hyderabad style means unbroken long grain basmati rice with seasoned, marinated chicken or Halal goat or egg and slow-cooked for hours. Only a talented, experienced chef knows when it is perfectly done.

Banana Leaf’s dum biryani, cooked inside a sealed pot

These dishes are fit for royalty — just ask the RRR oscar-winning crew who ate them during their stay in LA! Other new dishes on the menu are pizza samosas; tikka masala French fries; egg bonda and Southern style egg omelettes. Check out the menu at //bananaleafexpressvunnuys.clorder.com/ordermenu.aspx

We start with a beautiful, paper-thin sheets of crisp, lightly browned dosa and the fermented long-grain rice batter. The creamy white “dough” for the three dosa taught was made from urad dal (green lentils  and long-grain white rice in equal parts , soaked in water and finely ground in an enormous stainless steer grinder with more water to make a heavy cream like batter. Sweet onions are sprinkled on top.

A beautiful, sizzling dosa at Banana Leafla

How are these wonderful dosas made? First one cup of dough is placed on the heated griddle, gently and quickly spread into a huge oval. The shaping and smoothing continues until the Paper Dosa is dry on top and golden on the bottom. Pure heaven.

Banana Leaf’s authentic Southern Indian regional dishes are exclusive to LA.  All meat is halal.  All protein is organic. All dishes are prepared from scratch with fresh ingredients and seasonal home-grown herbs. 

Sri and flagship Banana Leaf are already an integral part of the close-knit “Little India” community on this stretch of Venice Boulevard, known for serving the finest Southern regional Indian food in LA.  Following the charitable Hindu philosophy of adithi, five full meals are offered daily in Culver City to customers unable to pay.  

Sri’s innate cooking skills and high-tech expertise are augmented by his experience with close to 1000 chefs and restaurant owners Southern California in the past ten years.   As the founder-owner of Clorder, Inc, he designed a white label ethnic restaurant branding platform that also acted as restaurant liaison with wholesale delivery systems

Banana Leaf Restaurant’s full-service and drop-off catering division has expanded the menus of authentic Southern Indian regional dishes throughout Los Angeles County and Orange County. 

Banana Leaf can cater parties, ranging from informal rehearsal breakfast boxes to formal Sweet Sixteen Birthday Parties.  From 10 to 1000 guests have been served, sit-down or buffet style sit-down. It can also provide American and Indian tableware, decorations, informal or classic entertainment, location sites, plus still and video photography  (www.bananaleafla.com/menu). 

Multiple Kitchens Units in Culver City, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Pasadena and Alhambra prepare entire orders or contribute their own specialties.  There, experienced chefs can create menus of authentic homey or ceremonial dishes for religious and national holidays and special occasion parties, such as birthdays and weddings.

The flagship Culver City store kitchen always creates its signature biryanis.  These are offered in 12 varieties plus the recently added Mandi Biryani platters.  These generous sharing platters for four people are also available daily ($44 for food.) 

Over 20 authentic dum biryanis at BananaLeafLA!

Banana Leaf celebrates five locations all over the Los Angeles area. Look for the logo at:

Flagship Banana Leaf,, Culver City 10408 Venice Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232, (310) 838-2130

Banana Leaf, DTLA, 701 W Cesar E Chavez Ave, Suite 107, Los Angeles, CA 90012,(213) 372 5590

Banana Leaf Outpost, 2302 Artesia Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA 90278, (424) 247-9710

Banana Leaf Express, 2309 Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405, (310) 310-2258

Coming soon: the Torrance location!

New Wildly Popular Hyderabadi Mandi at Banana Leaf, Culver City

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(Gerry Furth-Sides) New chicken or fish mandi biryani, at Banana Leaf in Culver City come complete with the platter. Wildly popular in Hyderabad in South India. Biryani lover and Banana Leaf owner/executive chef Sri Sambangi was introduced to it, and loved it so much he bought the dishes and put it on the menu almost as soon as he returned. 

Fish mandi biryani at Banana LeafLA

“ Mandi” in Arabic means “dewy” and refers to the moist meat that is traditionally cook in a tandoor oven.  The traditional dish that originated from Hadhramaut, Yemen, consisted mainly of meat and rice with a special blend of spices, cooked in a pit underground. 

Dum Biryani ingredients are marinated and cooked for hours in layers in one pot that is covered. Mandi Biryani’s ingredients are cooked separately and not necessarily in a covered pot. This works so much better with proteins like fish.


Goat mandi biryani at Banana LeafLA

The dish, with its bold flavors, array of spices and fun was of shared eating became extremely popular and prevalent in most areas of the Arabian Peninsula, and even considered a staple dish in many regions.

OrganicChicken lollipop mandi biryani at Banana LeafLA

This communal rice dish of mandi is usually made with meat, and has many of the same ingredients as biriyani. But it is different in the way it’s cooked and served. The meat is cooked separately and then piled on top of the rice before it’s served.

Fish can also be used. It it marinated with yogurt and spices, as in the Fish Fry dish, is deep fried as usual, and then placed on a layer of biryani rice laced with saffron.

While the traditional mandi is made with meat, cloves, cinnamon, saffron and cardamom, the Hyderabadi version is slightly different.   One bowl holds creamy raita, the other the unusual nutty, spicy sauce,   mirchi ka salan that is traditional with biryani. 

Sri holding the mandi biryani platter he brought from India

Classic, sunny hard boiled eggs on the plate are soft enough to contrast with crispy red onion rings add taste and texture, all brightened and pulled together with a wedge of lime.

Mandi has most of the same characteristics and flavors as biryani. But it is different in the way it is cooked and served.  Goat, chicken or fish layered with rice in classic biryani fish are layered and cooked together in a sealed pot.

Traditional dum biryani at Banana LeafLA

In Mandi, the meat and the rice are first cooked separately. Then the meat is placed on top of the rice before it’s served. All the ingredients are clearly visible when a guest sees the dish on a table.

Adding to the communal sharing element of the dish, Indian diners, and hard core or adventurous LA diners eat it with their hands.  The Banana Leaf staff is also happy to offer flatware.

Banana Leaf LA, Owner-chef Sri Sambangi enjoys Mandi biryani the traditional way

One observer wrote that the craze is so widespread it seems that “mandi outlets are setting up in every nook and corner of Hyderabad, especially in the Old City. The nerve centre of this dish is the Barkas area, where people of Arabic lineage have settled. Their forefathers arrived in Hyderabad in search of livelihood in the era of the Nizam of erstwhile Hyderabad state.”

Even the Hyderabad restaurants have gotten into the picture. Many have opened up a separate section just for mandi, complete with new seating arrangements. Instead of traditional chairs and tables, this communal Arab dish is served on short-legged tables, called ‘chowkis’, . They are just big enough for four people must sit on the floor around it and eat.

10408 Venice Blvd Suite: B, Culver City, CA 90232 (650) 872-9304. Hours: 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, 5 PM to 9:30 PM.  Closed Wednesday. (www.bananaleafla.com)

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