KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 — First, the chutney for the pappadams already bowled us over.  There were fine pieces of French beans, carrot and bittergourd, chilli, garlic, ginger and mustard seeds in the lightly tart and subtly hot chutney. “It’s made with a lot of love,” said chef Shinith Palolathil, with a hand over his heart. We went for seconds.

We were at Malabar Palace in the Hartamas Shopping Centre, after hearing a friend rave about it. It’s not about palatial décor here, but fine Indian food, and we were going to go for broke here.

We wanted the Spinach Papdi Chat next and were warned “a lot of Chinese don’t like this.” We decided our taste buds were not typically Chinese, and ordered it anyway. It came prettily in a sundae glass — white yoghurt and seasoned chick peas and potato, tamarind sauce, and with splashes of dark orange at the bottom. There are green (spinach), yellow and orange crackers sitting in the mixture. The dark orange bit is mango powder which is so unusual. We rather liked it, but it was definitely better eaten with pappadam.

The Paneer Fingers, of cottage cheese, were deep-fried. I tasted cumin and curry leaves, and a mild and tangy flavour. They were wonderful.

I had my eye on the Cauliflower Tandoori, but it was part of a Vegetarian Sizzler that also had Paneer Tikka and Bhara Potatoes, so we ordered that. I loved the cauliflower; it was whole mouthful of spiced flavour, at once sour, and mildly hot and the vegetable was still crunchy.

Bhara Potatoes are filled with dried fruit, nuts and grated cottage cheese and grilled. I would have liked it better if I had not been so stuffed by then. The paneer here is so light and I like it in any form — grilled or deepfried as we had earlier.

The Non Vegetarian Sizzler had Kerala Grilled Fish, Chicken Tikka and Lamb Kebabs, all of which were moist, flavourful and deliciously spiced.

The Malabari Kalan is a house speciality — with raw banana cooked with coconut and yoghurt. It looked creamy and rich but was actually light, sourish and tasted heavenly.

The Hot and Sour Kannoor Prawns were exactly that and were so good with the light and fluffy Bhatura we ordered, as well as the plain briyani rice.

The Okra Masala was generous with onions, whose sweetness got into the okra pieces which were smothered in a thick spicy gravy. I have never enjoyed vegetables so much in an Indian restaurant.

Only the Lamb Varatal didn’t come up to expectations. We had expected a pungent lamb, in tinier pieces, but the meat was too chunky and did not have enough kick in it.

We had mango and pistachio kulfi to wrap up a dinner of exceptional Indian food. I can still remember the taste and aroma of the smooth pistachio kulfi.

We had definitely over-ordered; but the food was so satisfying. And surprisingly I felt comfortable and not like I had eaten too much, as I often do in other Indian restaurants.

It was not an expensive meal at all. The two appetisers were RM6 each, Vegetarian Sizzler RM15, the Non-Vegetarian one RM24, Lamb Varatal RM15, Banana Curry RM7.50, Kannoor Prawn Curry RM15.

Malabar Palace is located on G-13A, Ground Floor, Hartamas Shopping Centre, 60 Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, 50480 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 012-264 5045. It’s best to reserve a table as there is limited seating.