Petaling Jaya has no doubt some of the best pleasing Indian restaurants ever. And among those Masala Wheels is one that serves authentic Sri Lankan style banana leaf which would surely demand repetitive visits to the restaurant. And it is one of my favorite spots for banana leaf.
Initially, Masala Wheels started as a food truck offering south Indian and Sri Lankan spreads in and around the city but later in 2017, they started a full-fledged restaurant in PJ’s old residential neighborhood serving banana leaf meals on weekdays including Saturday and earthen pot biryani on Sundays. They have both indoor and outdoor sitting arrangements. I always prefer to sit outside under the giant shady tree. But be prepared to face a huge crowd if you are planning to visit the restaurant on weekends.
A basic banana leaf rice meal (RM 8) includes white rice, around four types of luscious veggie side dishes, three to four types of chutney, vadai, Kesari (sweet dish), papadam, rasam, dal, spicy savoury curries like mutton, crab and chicken. Just mix a little bit of all the spicy thick curries with the white rice to satiate your taste buds. The spices used in their food are all prepared by them which gives a particular aroma and flavor to their curries and non-veg items.
One of the specialties in their banana leaf is the chutney which goes so well with the other vegetable side dishes. The tangy mango chutney and the hot red chutney are to die for.
They have variety of options in non veg and veg side dishes like chicken and mutton curry, fish, crab, fried bitter gourd, fried cauliflower etc which will be offered separately to you and you may choose according to your choice.I asked for one mutton curry (RM 10) with the banana leaf. The mutton curry was mildly hot, thick and again very gratifying as I prefer my curry items to be. The mutton pieces were bit tiny and tender with pretty decent portions.
After the savory banana leaf, I went for their Chatti biryani which is served only on Sunday for lunch. Chatti biryani means earthen pot biryani which comes in different options like veg (RM 9), chicken (RM 10) and mutton (RM 14) pot biryani. The chicken and mutton biryani come with a hard-boiled egg.
We ordered a veg biryani and a mutton biryani. The food was served very fast to console our hungry tummy. The rice was very fluffy and fragrant as it is made up of homemade spices and it is served with raita (yogurt with some cucumber and onions). The rice itself is sufficient to satisfy your cravings as it had tons of flavors in it. Just scrap the biryani on your banana leaf with curry on top of it and you are good to go. It was not much spicy but adequate to my likings. Only the mutton in the mutton biryani was a little dry and chewy which I don’t like much. I always like mutton to be a bit soft and juicy to chew. The portions were quite generous, and two pots of biryani can easily be shared between three small eating adults.
Business hours:
Monday to Saturday
Lunch (12 pm to 3 pm)- Banana leaf meal
Dinner (6.30 pm to 9.30 pm)- Nasi lemak
Sunday
Lunch (12 pm to 3 pm)- chatti briyani
Dinner – closed.
Location: Masala Wheels, 2, Jalan 1/3, Seksyen 1, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
(Street parking available)