At 4am, from Tuesday to Sunday, the first staff members arrive at New Shakthi in Homebush to begin the labour-intensive process of making curries from scratch. Spices are roasted, pounded and mixed; vegetables and meat are sliced and portioned. Then everything is slow-cooked and distributed to bain-maries, ready for the morning rush.
“Every day we start from zero,” owner Kanthasamy “Samy” Vallipuram tells Broadsheet. “Sri Lankan and Indian curries need one hour minimum to cook, and the chicken biryani takes time. That’s why we start so early.”
On the weekend, by 8am, a long queue snakes out the door and down the street, but even during the week, the stream of customers is steady. Vallipuram smiles widely behind the till, greeting regulars and introducing himself to new customers. Energetic Tamil music plays from speakers, matching the busy energy of the room.
Redeem a double pass to the MCA Artbar. Starting at $12 a month, join Broadsheet Access.
SIGN UPFor newcomers, the extensive menu can be overwhelming. Between golden round dosas and string hoppers, curries with rice or roti, and an assortment of fried items, it’s easy to panic. Choosing a single dish means missing out on a universe of possibilities.
When I visit, some items – like the fish curry – aren’t available, but the labelled hot display offers plenty. There are goat, chicken and lamb curries and heaps of vegetarian choices, like sambar, a tamarind and lentil stew; matter paneer, an onion-and-tomato-based curry with peas and fresh Indian cheese; or a golden dal. The man in front of me has the easy confidence of a regular, so I ask him what to order.
“Get the lunch special with four curries,” he says. It seems like a good way to sample a variety of dishes, so I follow his advice.
To say the portion is generous doesn’t do it justice. First, a mountain of basmati rice is heaped into one section of a styrofoam box. Given the options of lamb or chicken, I choose chicken and then turn my attention to the vegetable curries and ask the server to select his favourites. He spoons curries made of chickpeas; mushrooms and peas; and a long green vegetable that I mistake for okra on top of the rice. I take my box to a table outside and sit between two strangers. If I was judging by weight, the food in my hands would be enough for four filling meals.
The curries are exquisite. Saucy, balanced, perfectly spiced. The compartments in the container fail at keeping them apart, but even when melded into a sea of sauce, somehow the flavours stand their ground. The mushrooms and peas are delicately sweet; the chickpeas are creamy with a tangy edge; the pieces of chicken are juicy in their complex sauce.
Fried items in the front display are an unmarked, pick-what-looks-delicious adventure. I choose one shaped like a doughnut, laced with greens. Vallipuram tells me it’s a spinach vadai made from lentil flour.
We’re sitting next door having drinks in the dine-in space – masala chai with one sugar for me, Coke Zero for Vallipuram. He talks about running restaurants in Sydney, the first of which he opened in 2001 in Auburn. It was tough going, so he closed, made note of why it didn’t succeed and started saving money to try again.
“I thought about the mistakes I made back then and worked to improve,” he says. “In 2007 I opened a new restaurant in Toongabbie called Shakthi. In 2013, I moved the business to Homebush. The name Shakthi has two meanings: it’s the short name of my eldest daughter, and it’s the name of a Hindu god everybody knows. I thought it would be easy for Sri Lankan and Indian customers to remember.”
As we finish our chat and go back outside, the long lunchtime queue and packed tables are the obvious indications that his strategy was spot-on.
New Shakthi
42 Burlington Road, Homebush
(02) 9746 5283
Hours:
Tue to Sun 8am–10pm