Saanjha Chulah – Changi Village [Permanently Closed]
Changi Coastal Walk is a beautiful place to go cycling or watch an unending sequence of planes on a landing approach. During one of my walks along this stretch, I noticed this new restaurant called Saanjha Chulah at Changi Village . Being an Indian myself, I understood the meaning of the restaurant name. It is a traditional oven over which rotis are cooked in the state of Punjab in India. From outside, the restaurant looked so casual and homely that I decided to give it a try. The ambient music consisted of nice Hindi melodies which immediately transported me back home. The restaurant serves North Indian, Mughlai, Kashmiri and Indian-Chinese delicacies. Before we placed our order we asked the owner, Amarjeet Kaur as to what she would recommend. She replied that we could order anything as all the items in the restaurant were good. I admired her confidence and I must say we were not disappointed at all.
The Orders
To begin with, we went for the ‘Vegetable Momos’. Momos are basically stuffed dumplings. The filling was well-cooked and had a sharp gingery undertone. We gobbled it up in no time. The accompanying sauce was spicy and gave a necessary punch to the dish.
We were craving for Indian-Chinese items and ordered the ‘Gobi Manchurian’ and I must say this is one of the best that I have tasted in my food hunts. The cauliflower was crisp, well-salted and the sauce coating was perfect. The quantity served was quite sizable at that price point and I had no qualms in placing a repeat order of this dish. Highly recommended.
For the mains, we ordered the ‘Veg Fried Rice’ and ‘Chili Garlic Noodles’. Both were well seasoned and not very oily. The vegetables were crisp in the fried rice and we enjoyed it.
I have a weakness for Punjabi cuisine and I knew that I wanted to try one of those items on the menu. I promptly placed an order for ‘Rajma Masala’ which is basically kidney beans cooked in gravy. The rajma was perfectly cooked and the gravy had authentic spices that I could connect with ‘dhaba’ cuisine back in India. It was not extremely creamy and tasted more of home-cooked rajma which definitely scores high on my liking. I had steamed rice as an accompaniment along with this dish.
We were quite parched and had also ordered ‘Fresh Lime Soda’ and a tea named ‘Kashmiri Kahwa’. This is a special tea infused with saffron strands, cinnamon, cardamom and almonds. I must say that I absolutely loved this preparation and it was ideal to drink it towards the end of the meal. Do try it if you like these flavours.
For desserts, we ordered ‘Rasmalai’ and ‘Gajar ka Halwa’ which were delicious. The thing that impressed us was that it was not extremely sweet or filled with ghee that makes every bite feel so rich that you struggle to finish the dish. It was a befitting end to the overall delicious dining experience.
($6) and gaajar/carrot halwa ($6.5)
For the feel of authentic Indian cuisine, for the relaxed ambiance, for a group gathering, for the price point, for quality service, Saanjha Chulah is definitely worth a visit. I am hoping that they sustain the food taste levels as they grow – wishing them all the best!
| In a Nutshell | Deelightful Rating |
| Cuisine Type: Indian Chinese | ★★★★ |
| Nearest MRT: Tampines/Simei | |
| Address: Block 4 Changi Village,#01-2078,Singapore 500004 | |
| Timings: Mon-Wed: 10 am – 10 pm; Fri-Sun: 10 am – 10 pm | |
| Website: http://saanjhachulah.com/ |
Wow what a lovely variety most of which I like on there now am craving it all xx
Thanks Chintal and yes, the variety was mindboggling!
Someone else recommended this restaurant too but after reading your reviews, now its a must-try!!
Do try it Vasanthi – you will enjoy the food! And do let me know how it was 🙂