Rasa Brighton

A taste of the real India is coming to the small restaurant district in Brighton’s Little East Street.

Rasa Brighton joins the eight-strong Rasa Restaurants chain, which was first established by Indian chef Das Sreedharan in London’s Stoke Newington back in 1994.

“In Brighton I don’t think there are many authentic Indian restaurants,” says Rasa Brighton’s manager Sreekanth Kothakapu.

“Most English Indian restaurants are managed by Bangladeshis, and serve balti dishes and tikka masala.”

You won’t find either of those on Rasa’s menus.

The Brighton restaurant, whose name means “taste” in Sanskrit, specialises in the cuisine of the south coastal Indian state of Kerala, specifically the Syrian Catholic dishes of the Travancore region.

Whereas most curry house dishes are built up from onion and tomato bases, the staple ingredients of Keralite dishes are onion and coconut.

“We use spices but they are not pumped up,” says Sreekanth.

“You can feel the flavours in your taste buds as you eat. We don’t use any artificial colours and everything is freshly made in the kitchen.”

The kitchen staff come from Kerala villages, and are trained by Rasa’s own chefs to guarantee the authenticity of the food.

Rasa Brighton first opened in November, having taken over the former site of Momma Cherri’s Big House.

Since then it has been building up its customer base, hosting an official launch event last month.

With its bright pink paintwork it is hard to miss from the outside.

The colour is common to all Rasa restaurants and has been chosen to reflect the love and energy of friendliness.

Inside, the pink walls give the restaurant a warm and cosy feel.

Spread over two floors, with a second floor function room due to open this summer, the restaurant can currently serve 94 covers, and is also available for private conferences and business meetings.

“We have been looking for a Brighton location for two-and-a-half years,” says Sreekanth.

“Here we are in the heart of the city, and near to the sea. Being in Brighton we don’t just get local people, we also get people from all over the UK, USA and Canada.”

According to Sreekanth some diners visit because they want to taste some of the dishes they experienced on holiday in Indian locations such as Goa, while others have happy memories of Rasa’s restaurants in Stoke Newington, Ashford, central London and even as far north as Newcastle.

Among Rasa’s famous customers nationwide are Jamie Oliver, who had Das catering for him as his wedding.

According to Sreekanth the best place to start for those used to their chicken kormas is the nadan kozhy curry – the most common curry made in Kerala.

For the more adventurous there is the award-winning moru kachiyathu, which combines mangoes and bananas in yoghurt, with green chillies, ginger and fresh curry leaves.

The restaurant’s waiting staff will always advise new diners, and encourage customers to try different dishes.

The menu includes plenty of meat, seafood and vegetarian curries.

Das, who has several Indian cookery books to his name, visits every restaurant in the chain once a week.

There are plenty of plans for the Brighton venue, including the introduction of lunchboxes (from £3.95) in the next couple of weeks aimed at the city centre’s workforce, and Sunday openings from next month.

Rasa also has a national scheme called Rasa Institutions, which visits schools, youth groups and elderly people, teaching traditional Indian vegetarian cooking.

Rasa Brighton will be holding cooking classes in the future, and is planning to welcome the chain’s own band of Indian musicians, Ragasudha Rasa, on the last Saturday of every month for a night of live music and food.

Sample the menu

Feasts start from £17.50 vegetarian, £20 non-vegetarian
Pre-meal snack trays £4
Pickles and chutneys £2.75
Starters
Soups from £4
Banana boli £3.50
Mysore bonda – potato balls £3.50
Chicken cutlets £4
Konju varuthathu – king prawns £4.95
Main dishes
Nadan kozhy curry – chicken curry, £5.50
Mutton muppas – lamb curry £6.50
Arachu varatha meen – fish cooked in a coconut sauce £7.25
Kappayum meenum vevichathu – fish curry £7.50
Crab varuthathu – fresh crabs cooked in tumeric and chilli water £8.50
Moru kachiyathu – mangoes and bananas cooked in yoghurt with chilli, ginger and curry leaves £5
Bagar baingan – aubergines cooked in a ground paste of roasted onions, coriander seeds, chillies and tamarind £5
Dosas – thin crispy pancakes served with various sauces from £4.50
Side dishes
Sides including beans and carrot thoran, spicy potatoes and channa masala £4
Rice dishes – coconut, lemon, boiled £2.50
Breads – Kerala speciality malabar paratha, chapatti or appam £2

Open Monday to Saturday, noon to 3pm and 6pm to 11pm