A Day In The Kitchen: Curries, prata and more at Casuarina Curry in MacPherson Road

The two owners of Casuarina Curry in MacPherson Road come up with new dishes to complement its signature fish head curry and prata

Mr Keerthi Rajendran (far left) and Mr Karthigayan Venkatesan set up the offshoot of Casuarina Curry, a restaurant known for dishes such as fish head curry (above). — Mr Keerthi Rajendran and Mr Karthigayan Venkatesan set up the offshoot of Casuarina Curry, a restaurant known for dishes such as fish head curry (above). ST PHOTO: JAMIE KOH/PHILIP CHEONG/TK RAJU

Updated

Published

Oct 25, 2018, 05:00 AM

The business partners and owners of Indian restaurant Casuarina Curry in MacPherson Road strongly believe in leaving their disagreements about work at the eatery.

For Mr Keerthi Rajendran, 32, and Mr Karthigayan Venkatesan, 33, who try as much as possible not to discuss office matters after working hours, their friendship comes first.

In addition to its signature roti prata, fish head curry and nasi briyani, Indian restaurant Casuarina Curry in MacPherson Road also serves innovative items such as a Super Long Jumbo Thosai and an ondeh ondeh-inspired prata.

The friends, who met in primary school and count each other as "best friend", opened Indian restaurant Casuarina Curry in MacPherson Road in 2011.

The outlet is an offshoot of the Casuarina Curry in Casuarina Road in the Upper Thomson area, which is run and owned by Mr Keerthi's uncles, Ramanan and Elango Subramaniam. The business was originally started by the Subramaniam brothers' father, who is also Mr Keerthi's maternal grandfather, some time in the late 1960s to 1970s in the Maxwell Road area.

In the 1980s, the eatery relocated to Jalan Kayu and moved to several other places before settling in Casuarina Road in the 1990s.

Signature dishes at the restaurant include its crispy, rectangular-shaped egg prata, fish head curry and nasi biryani. Other popular offerings include mee goreng, chicken masala and thosai.

At the MacPherson outlet, in addition to its wide array of Indian fare, Mr Keerthi and Mr Karthigayan also have more innovative items.

For instance, they recently introduced a Super Long Jumbo Thosai, which is an eye-catching metre long; and an ondeh ondeh prata - thin, crisp prata in the shape of a bowl served with a scoop of coconut ice cream, desiccated coconut, green jelly and gula melaka syrup.

Catering, which includes packed meals, buffet spreads and live stations where prata is cooked-to-order, makes up about 40 per cent of Mr Keerthi and Mr Karthigayan's business. They cater to small groups as well as large parties of 2,500 people.

Watch chefs cook biryani from scratch, flip prata and make teh tarik in a behind-the-scenes video filmed at Casuarina Curry in MacPherson Road. Find out what it takes to cook and pack meals for 400 people in time for lunch.

The video is the fifth in the six-part A Day In The Kitchen video series by The Straits Times in partnership with the Infocomm Media Development Authority.

• Follow Rebecca Lynne Tan on Twitter @STrebeccatan

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