Sethi siblings reveal more details on new Sri Lanka site Hoppers
Hoppers, the new London Soho Frith Street restaurant from siblings Karam, Jyotin and Sunaina Sethi, has been confirmed as opening on 28 October 2015.
The new 36-cover site will serve food inspired by the cuisines of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, with the hopper (made with ground white rice and coconut milk) and dosa (made with rice, black lentils and fenugreek seeds) taking a central role.
The menu will also feature smaller snack dishes such as a pig shank roti (flat bread), rasa crab omelette, and ash plantain fry; plus a selection of ‘rice and roast' dishes such as the buffalo biryani with bone marrow and buffalo yoghurt; the Tamil spit chicken, with gotu kola sambol (a condiment with shallots, chilli and coconut, dried fish, tamarind, and lime juice); and the hogget kothu (minced) roti.
Each hopper will be cooked in a wok-type ‘appachatti' pan to form a pancake with a spongy centre and crispy edges, and served with a choice of meat, seafood or vegetable kari (curry), accompanied by three sambols (condiments): Pol with coconut; seeni with a caramelised onion base; and katta, made with red chilli, onion, and Maldive fish.
Dosas will be booked on an Indian-made dosa tawa (flat griddle), and again served with a meat, seafood or a vegetable kari option, plus a tomato and coconut chutney, a curry leaf chutney and a fresh coconut chutney.
Both hoppers and dosas will also be available with or without a black pepper podi, which is a powder made from red chilli, urad dal, chana (split baby chickpeas), dal, sesame seeds, asafoetida and curry leaf that is sprinkled on the inside of the dosa as it cooks.
Desserts will include watalapam (steamed custard with coconut milk and spices); and a falooda (cold dessert drink) of buffalo curd, salted cashew and candied ginger kulfi (frozen yoghurt), rambutan fruit, coconut water and pandan plant jelly.
The drinks menu will focus on cocktails made from fermented coconut sap named arrack, and genever, used to make drinks such as the ‘Citizen Burgher', which will come with genever, papaya, coconut water, and white port. There will also be the Lion Lager beer, wine from Piedmont in Italy, masala buttermilk, and black pepper cream soda.
Design-wise, the interiors, designed by Katy Manolescue of Article Design Studio, will feature terracotta tiles, a woven rattan ceiling and ochre brick wall finishes.
Sri Lankan-inspired ‘Raksha' masks will be on the walls, alongside Sri Lankan poster art and Tamil comic imagery.
The Sethi siblings' restaurant group JKS Restaurant is behind a host of successful London restaurants including the Michelin-starred Trishna and Gymkhana. It also includes the sites Bubbledogs, Fitzrovia; the Michelin-starred Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs, Fitzrovia, and Lyle's, Shoreditch; and Bao, Soho.
Sethi siblings to launch new Indian restaurant >>
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