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When an Indian restaurant gets the nod of approval from a local Indian resident, it's a must try. Today, Betty excitedly lets me know that Vasandha Bhavan is a restaurant her Indian friend would highly recommend. So we gave the restaurant a quick call to confirm they were open for lunch and off we went.

Vasandha Bhavan is opposite Homebush station. We arrived nice and early and were probably the first customers for the day, which turned out to be a wise decision as soon after our food was served, a few families were seated at the same time and we couldn't help but compare their extensive waiting time.

The decor was minimalistic and can be best compared to an extended old fashioned family dining room. I hoped it was a sign for good homestyle food.

We started with a mango lassi ($3.00) each which was double the serving size of most Indian joints. It's sweet, creamy and fruity nature was deliciously paired with our spicy curries.

Mango lassi

The samosas ($4.90 each) were served piping hot. The crispy buttery pastry was scrumptious and wrapped together, a potato and vegetable mixture which was fragrant with garam masala (a combination of spices including peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves, long pepper, black cumin, cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, star anise and coriander seeds).

Samosa

My vegetarian thali ($11.90) included a chef's selection of three vegetable curries, naan, rice and a papadum. My favourite of the three was the eggplant curry which was fried with spices, resulting in a rich but sweet flavour.

Vegetarian thali; chef's selection of three vegetable curries, naan bread and rice

Betty's kashmiri naan ($3.90) was a delightful discovery for me. I loved its savoury and sweet mix of nuts, raisins and coconut. On the other hand, her malai kofta ($9.90) was a vegetarian's blissful alternative to meatballs. The balls of cottage cheese and potato were served in a thick hot curry which went hand in hand with the naan bread.

Kashmiri naan (naan bread stuffed with coconut and dried nuts) and malai kofta -cottage cheese and potato dumplings in creamy sauce

My vegetarian thali also included dessert -a serving of the popular gulab jamun. It is essentially a fried ball of dough, coated in a caramelised sugar syrup.

Gulab jamun

Amongst my favourite Indian restaurants in Homebush, namely Janani‎ and Thousand Spices, I can now add Vasandha Bhavan.

Where do you go for a taste of India?

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Vasandha Bhavan
Shop 19, The Crescent, Homebush NSW
Phone: (02) 9746 5530

Kammadhenu has a menu which satisfies many Asian tastebuds. They have vast options available, categorically split by starters, curries, vegetarian, goat, egg, lamb, beef, chicken, seafood, rice/noodle, kothu roti, hoppers, breads, desserts and extras! Within the savoury dishes, they've even thoughtfully marked them up with chillis. There's one chilli for mild, two for medium, three for hot and four for good luck!

We started with the gobi pakoda which are cauliflower tips dipped in besan batter (made from chickpea flour), deep fried and served with green chilli sauce. I love the crumbly texture and the tumeric flavour which is enhanced with cumin seeds.

Gobi pakoda, cauliflower tips

Our basmathi rice is served on a thali (big round metal plate) which allows us to mix and match from our selection of dishes.

We have the eggplant curry, prawn sambol and butter chicken and of course a plain roti to mop up all the succulent sauces.

Butter chicken curry with mild, sweet and creamy sauce, hot and tangy eggplant curry and prawn sambol served in cute katori bowls

Plain roti

With such so many options for dessert, we find it hard sticking to one and end up ordering the sago with palm syrup and sweet dosai.

The sago swam in a pond of milky coconut and could have been sweetened with more palm syrup. And within my other hand, the dosai was drizzled with circles of condensed milk. The crisp baked aroma was heavenly.

Sago with palm syrup

Dessert of sweet dosai

A visit to Kammadhenu is like a trip through South Asia. It is cheap, cheerful and crowded.

Kammadhenu
171 King St Newtown
Phone: (02) 9550 2611

The Bengali wedding consists of a series of sophisticated celebrations, including the bride's holud ceremony (sort of like the bridal shower), which I had attended 2 weeks ago. The wedding reception of course was even bigger and better.

Over 200 guests, consisting mainly of the bride and groom's relatives and family friends, were invited to this cultural extravaganza at Conca D'oro, in Riverwood.

Following custom, Yaz and his mates had to bribe their way through a barricade of Nora's family and friends. I witnessed a hilarious episode of banter about different currency accepted for admission. Dressed in an amazing costume and headpiece and after some pushing and shoving, he eventually made his way in and sat alone on the swing, waiting for his bride to arrive.

The bride's entrance was more grande. Suspense was built up with clouds of heavenly mist and guests oohed and ahhed as she was hoisted in a classic sedan-chair down the red carpet. Her sari was a stunning red and green ensemble with gold trimmings. Beautiful gold ornaments were studded in her hair and her arms were patterned with henna. It was tradition for the groom's family to present the bridal sari on the day so lucky Nora didn't have to stress about finding the perfect wedding dress!

In between speeches, starters were served on a 3-tiered stand which had been decorated with luscious lilies and roses. The batter on the cauliflower pakhora was thick and absorbed the natural fresh flavours of the vegetable but the other items were delicious. There were fish cocktails, Indian potato scallops, and lamb seekh kebab which were cooked on a charcoal BBQ. I usually don't eat lamb but these were so tasty and surprisingly didn't have the stench I often dread.

The main meal was a feast of plain pulao, which is rice cooked with a mix of Indian spices. This was fragrant with its garnish of fried glazed onion. There was also lamb korma, garden salad, roast chicken, a vegetable curry of mushrooms, shami kebab (lamb with grounded chickpeas), really salty but delectable pickles (achar), raita and naan bread. We had enough leftovers to feed another table of 8!

Dessert consisted of traditional Indian sweets - gulab jamun (donuts in sweet syrup) and rasgolla (milk balls in sweet syrup), followed by espressos and dark chocolate and hazelnut truffles.

The evening ended with a bit of dancing and lots of queuing for personal portraits with the newlyweds.

A huge congratulations to my gorgeous friends Nora & Yaz. xoxo
And also special thanks to Chanderika for dressing me :))

Groom pushing through barricade of bride's family and friends

Bride hoisted on sedan chair

The very pretty swing

Nora's lovely family

The newlyweds

Performance of Thank God I Found You, with Nora's sister on the piano

Wedding cake

The menu

Chandelier

Me in a saree (sari)

Zen and Daniel (Eugenia's hubby)

Floral arrangement

Starters on 3 tiered stand

Entree of seekh kebab, Indian potato scallops and cauliflower pakhora and fish cocktails

Plain pulao, rice cooked with a mix of Indian spices and garnished with glazed onions

Naan bread

Garden salad, mushroom curry and shami kebab (lamb with grounded chickpeas)

Raita (yoghurt, cucumber, mints and mix of spices blended together in natural yoghurt

Achar (mixled pickles)

Lamb korma, diced lamb slow cooked in a marinade made of onions, tomatoes and mix of Indian spices

Roasted chicken quarters

My big feast

Indian sweets, gulab jamun (donuts in sweet syrup) and rasgolla

Espresso coffee

White and dark chocolate mud cake

Zen & I with the bride

Me and my (uni-classmates) girlfriends dressed in saris [L - R] Me, Sarah, Olivia, Laurachel, Rennae, Jenny, Eugenia, Jodie

Guests hit the dance floor

Zen & me smiling

Me growling :)

Click here to continue viewing photos from Nora & Yaz's wedding.

Nora's holud was held 2 weeks before the wedding ceremony (which was last night; watch this space!). It was my first sneak peak into the elaborate celebrations of the Bengali culture. I have put together this quick list of 4 things you could expect to experience at a holud so perhaps you could be better prepared than I was!

1. It starts late. I think this is an "Asian" thing because from memory, Chinese and Vietnamese weddings have always started several hours later than the specified time. I haven't been to many weddings, but this is what I've noticed so far. This holud commenced 3 hours late. Therefore, don't rock up with an empty stomach.


2. There's colour and lots of it. Don't be shy to join in the fun and wear a saree or at least dress in bright colours to fit in. You could pretty much get away with wearing any colour of the rainbow and expect to see lots of splashes of gold jewellery.


3. Break your diet for the amazing buffet dinner and dessert. I can't express how much food there was or how amazingly delicious it all was! Do it!


4. Don't be shocked the bride doesn't eat while you are. Towards the end of the holud, guests queue up to apply tumeric paste to her face which is meant to soften her skin. Guests also feed her after this. There were canape picks of fruits, vegetables and meatballs.

The gorgeous bride with stunning hand art

Gifts and food carried in my groom's family

Me with girlfriends wearing saree

Spreading out gifts

The bride with friends

Crowd seated

Jodie & I in saris

Starter of pan pooris (gol grappas) served with spicy chickpea curry

Gol grappas in the making

Peacock made from fruit and vegetables

Giant deconstructed garden salad

Eggplant curry

Crepes filled with coconut

Lots of food in the kitchen

Canape picks with watermelon, pineapple and meatballs, to be fed to the bride

Sweets!

Curry puff looking sweets

Buffet dinner table with chicken curry

My dinner plate with pilaf, raita, roast chicken, adana kebab, curries, roast tomatoes, garden salad and more

People seated in hall

Sweets buffet table

Our plate of assorted sweets

Putting tumeric on the bride

Me in a saree with the bride

Check out the rest of my photos from the holud here.