Our chapati and dosai lunch at Azmi Restaurant in Little India

Azmi Restaurant in Little India was once again the venue of choice for our chapati and dosai lunch. There are of course many places in Singapore for chapati, but we have always been fond of this little place at the junction of Serangoon Road and Norris Road. The Azmi signboard is quite inconspicuous and many refer to them as the Norris Road chapati. There is no air-conditioning so it is best to arrive at Azmi Restaurant in light attire and with a good appetite.

Thye Chong Restaurant

The main signboard that faces Serangoon Road reads “Thye Chong Restaurant”. We think that it is the name of the coffeeshop that collectively houses its three occupants – Azmi Chapati, Chennai Dosa and the drinks stall. Chennai Dosa serves the thin crepe-like Indian pancake. It is a new stall at Norris Road and replaced the previous dosai stall. It is our habit to order a few dosai to nibble on while we wait for the latecomers to arrive.

Azmi Restaurant Norris Road Little India Singapore — The drinks stall

Dosa Chennai – dosai stall at Norris Road

Azmi Chapati

Azmi Restauarant is known for their chapati. Each of these cost $1. They are made from unleavened flour and are quite heavy. Each of us usually consumes two of these. They are freshly cooked and served warm.

Chapati is eaten with a wide variety of dishes that can be ordered from the list or by pointing at the dishes available, nasi padang style. There is a wide variety of meat and vegetable dishes available. They cost from $1.50 to $6 each. The “must order” item is the mutton keema – a curry of minced mutton and peas, that is the perfect companion for chapati. It is possible to have a satisfying meal for $5.50 – 2 chapati and a keema dish.

Chennai Dosa

A friendly couple runs the Chennai Dosa stall. The very thin Indian pancake was delicately cooked, like popiah skin.

Other snacks are available such as the vadai (above pic) – similar to doughnut or ‘hum chim peng’ and the delightful appam (pic below). Appam is made from rice batter and milk. It is only toasted on one side leaving a delicate soft side and crispy brown on the other.

The paper dosai is large like a vinyl record but thin and almost weightless. Best eaten with the sauces and gravy provided.

We had a big selection of dishes at our chapati lunch at Little India, Singapore. On a hot day, the drink of choice was teh peng – iced tea. Our generous lunch cost us about $10 per head.