Everything tastes better when it's served on a banana leaf.

By Sarah Efron / Spice City Toronto

A meal from Amma comes with a mutton roll, some buns stuffed with various curried meats, and vadai (chick pea fritters).

Tamil cuisine is some of the tastiest food in the world. Lucky for Toronto, we have a large Tamil population from Sri Lanka and South India, so this food is available if you know where to find it. Tamil food is notable for its high spice levels, and it has a different combination of flavours and spices than Indian food.

A shiny new strip mall—or rather, series of strip malls—in Markham is a great place to try authentic Tamil food. The Market East complex at the southeast corner of Steeles Avenue East and Markham Road, which opened up about two years ago, houses a grocery store, money transfer agency, dental office, jewellery shop, and a newspaper that cater to the nearby Tamil community.

There are two Sri Lankan takeout-only restaurants that offer a mind-blowing variety of food for super low prices. Amma Take Out & Catering is a busy place where customers line up to get their orders. And no wonder.

They serve kothu roti, a wonderful dish made of chopped up roti bread cooked with meat. Also on the menu is string hoppers, a rice noodle dish served with curry, and pittu (also known as puttu), a rolled cylinder of ground rice with coconut.

I’d recommend trying one of the rice and curry meals served on a banana leaf, which is the traditional way of eating Tamil food. The meat version is $7.50 while the vegetarian one is just $6.00 (on special for $5.00 on Fridays).

The vegetarian meal was made up of wonderful variety of tasty dishes: an okra and tomato stew, a spicy salad with tomatoes, a mixture of ground banana flowers, a curry made of long beans and potatoes, shredded beets, dahl, and a generous portion of rice. Plus, it came with pappadam, a cup of soup, and a dessert made of tapioca.

One banana leaf meal is easily enough food to share between two or even three people. The photo above is of the meal, along with a mutton roll, some buns stuffed with various curried meats, and vadai (chick pea fritters). Total bill: $12.

Similar fare is available at Poorani Vilaas take-out restaurant, in one of the other plazas in the complex.

The friendly owner, Saroginidevy Ratnavel, was keen to show off her tasty “short eats,” which are fried or baked street foods. Some are empanada-like pastries stuffed with tasty fish and potato curries, while others are timbitesque sweets you can enjoy after your meal—if you are not completely stuffed.

Thanks to Vicky Tam for the tip. Photo by Jennifer Hollett.

Amma Take Out & Catering (3351 Markham Road, Unit A126), 416-754-1211.

Poorani Vilaas (6055 Steeles Avenue East, Unit 104), 416-355-7775.

Spice City Toronto explores Toronto’s great hole-in-the-wall restaurants and strip-mall joints serving food from all corners of the world. Find more photos and details about Amma Take Out & Catering and Poorani Vilaas here.