There is no shortage of biryani restaurants in Toronto. The dominant style is Hyderabadi, cooked with a panoply of spices and sealed with dough to lock in flavours. Finding other regional styles is slightly more challenging. I haven’t come across a good Sri Lankan one until I stumbled upon Bhai Biryani.
Along Markham Road near the northeastern border of Toronto lies one of the Little Indias of the city. The section between McNicoll and Steeles Avenue is the geographical centre of the largest Tamil population in Canada. It may not seem like it because of the industrial location but it sprawls out north into the residential areas of Markham and south to the more populated areas of Scarborough.
Tamils are an ethnic group from Tamil Nadu state in India and northern Sri Lanka. Large numbers migrated from Sri Lanka to Toronto during the civil war period from the 1980s to the early 21st century. As a result, Sri Lankan cuisine in Toronto has become synonymous with Tamil cuisine, even though Tamils are a minority group in Sri Lanka. The majority group, the Sinhalese, use slightly different spices in their cooking. By the way, it is surprisingly difficult to find a Sinhalese restaurant in Toronto. Check out Banana Leaf Catering and Take Out if you are interested.
On the other hand, Tamil restaurants are thriving in Toronto. For the most part, they have remained traditional and cheap takeout businesses. But enough time has passed since the 1980s to allow for deviations with classic recipes. Toronto is one of the few cities in the world that have the right conditions for fusion cuisine to emerge: a large Tamil population, a multicultural food landscape, and a sophisticated audience eager for new things and not adverse to paying more. The scene is still burgeoning, but here are some of the places I’ve come across in Scarborough.
