Breads of India & Gourmet Curries - Berkeley, CA

Deep fried vegetable fritters made chickpea flour, pomegranate, cumin, coriander seeds and fenugreek.

Two traditionally prepared, deep fried patties stuffed with spice tempered potatoes and green peas. Served with mint and tamarind chutneys.

Slow cooked red masoor daal is tempered with garlic, ginger, red onions, jalapeno chilies, cumin and asafetida spices.

Two crispy lentil wafers baked in the tandoori oven. Gluten free.

(Several fresh vegetables cooked with freshly sliced ginger, garlic, red onions and tomatoes. Specialty: Surat, India) The preparation of this dish is heavily influenced by Parsi or Zoroastrian style of cooking who made Gujarat their home after fleeing the Islamic persecution of Iran in fourteenth century. The offered dish is cooked in the base prepared with red onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, fenugreek seeds and Parsi spice mix dhansak garam masala. Once the base is well tempered the vegetables like cauliflowers, red creamer potatoes, plantains, red/green bell peppers, lotus roots, zucchini, blue lake beans and freshly sliced ginger are added to it and sautéed until well cooked and coated with all the spices. Served with superior quality Basmati rice and salad.

(Leg of California lamb cubes cooked in coconut flavored curry sauce. Specialty: Bombay, India) Sea has surrounded India like a garland. Starting from the lower parts of Gujarat to Bengal it makes a perfect V letter. And the use of coconut in this “V” belt coastal areas is so popular that coconut is used as raw fruits to eat or to sip its refreshing nariyal pani water, its milk to use in the cooking and the coconut oil as nourishment for hair and as the cooking medium for most of their delicacies. In the offered dish we have used boneless natural leg of lamb cubes, red onions, garlic, ginger, roasted masala spices, homemade paste of fresh coconut with olive oil as cooking medium. Served with Basmati rice and salad.

Soft and juicy, ginger flavored, tandoori kebabs of free-range chicken breasts. Specialty: Old Delhi, India) The tandoori specialty of this week is prepared from the lean breasts of free-range chicken marinated in the base prepared from yogurt, paste of fresh ginger ground spices like royal cumin seeds, mace flowers, all spice, ginger juice, paste of cashews, palm-vinegar and a blend of over two dozen spices. The breast pieces of naturally grown, free-range chickens are pricked and soaked in the marinade overnight and baked in the tandoori oven when ordered. Served with basmati rice and salad. Option: Tikka Masala Sauce $3.50. Add from the option.

(Boneless free-range chicken cooked in yoghurt and tomatoes based smooth and nutty sauce. Specialty: Lucknow, India) The city of Lucknow is famous for the sophisticated North Indian cuisine that rules the menus of celebrity chefs all over. The chopped red onions, hung yoghurt, paste of almonds & tomatoes, garlic, ginger and cumin are sautéed in a heavy bottom vessel. The boneless chunks of free-range chicken are added to the base sauce, simmered and finished with freshly ground blend of aromatic spices. Served with basmati rice and salad.

(Chicken cooked in spinach and mustard green purée tempered with garlic & ginger. Specialty: Amritsar, India) We prepare this dish in three stages. First, the spinach and mustard greens are steam cooked, mashed and kept aside for later use. Then, we prepare the base with red onions, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, several spices and a touch of asafetida. Finally, the boneless chunks of free range chicken are sautéed in the base along with spinach until oil separates from the mass. Served with prime quality, basmati rice and salad.

(Wild Rock cod fish cooked in Punjabi style medium spiced curry sauce. Specialty: North India) The locally caught Pacific Rock cod fish(6oz) kept dry marinated in freshly ground mixture of about a dozen spices and added to a curry prepared with garlic, ginger, red onions and the paste of fresh tomatoes. Served with Basmati rice and salad.

(Bengali style lamb meatball dish cooked with onions, garlic, ginger & aromatic spice. Specialty: Bengal, India) Popular among Bengali Muslims for their wedding and festive season feasts, this meatballs curry is prepared with ground leg of California lamb meat to simmer in a base prepared with red onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes, whole spices, homemade yoghurt and Kashmiri saffron with hints of famous five-spice Bengali masala paanchphora. Served with Basmati rice and salad.

This dish from the holy city of Amritsar in Punjab is well known for its simple but mouthwatering cuisine. There are several combinations, flavors and methods of cooking these delicious kofta dumplings. The vegetables like potatoes, cauliflowers, blue lake beans, carrots are steamed and tempered with cumin seeds, coriander seeds, asafetida and garam masala spice mix. The vegetables are then mashed and rolled into round dumplings and cooked in the curry base prepared from red onions, dry fenugreek herb, garlic paste, ginger paste and puree of fresh vine ripened tomatoes. Served with Basmati rice and salad.

The offered dish is prepared with hand-ground wet masala of coriander, cumin & poppy seeds, fresh coconut, cloves, cinnamon roasted garlic and red onions. The wet masala base is tempered with curry leaves, vinegar and fresh coconut paste. The mallet-soften cubes of prime pork are added to this base and simmered on a low heat until well done. Served with Basmati rice and salad.

Curries made by using paneer Indian cottage cheese are found almost all-over Northern India. The offered dish is prepared with homemade paneer cottage cheese cubes, diced carrots and green peas. The base gravy is made with red onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes flavored with tempered cumin seeds and freshly ground garam masala blend of eighteen spices. The main ingredients like green peas, diced carrots and paneer cheese cubes are added to the base masala and sautéed over a high heat. Served with Basmati rice and salad.

The farm raised chunks of catfish kept dry marinated in freshly ground mixture of over a dozen spices and added to a curry prepared with garlic, ginger, red onions, and the paste of fresh tomatoes. Served with Basmati rice and salad.

Punjabi style garbanzo beans & potatoes curry with Basmati rice.

It contains 3 great tastes of Anglo-Indian cuisine in 1 barbecue flavor from the clay oven roasting, smooth cashew paste for mildness and traditional Indian taste from fresh vine ripened tomatoes, purple onions and several aromatic spices. The breast pieces of naturally grown, free range napa valley chicken are marinated overnight in a spiceful saffron, yoghurt, garlic, gin- ger base marinade. The marinated chicken breast chunks are skewered and baked in the clay oven to impart a distinct smoky flavor finally, the roasted chicken cubes are added to a specially prepared masala gravy of cashew paste, tomatoes, red onions, garlic, ginger, saffron, cardamoms, white pepper and shah jeera cumin, cloves, cinnamon, star anise powder. Served with basmati rice, salad, baked lentil cracker papadum, daal, and mint chutney.

Pork chop and rib. The pork rack and spareribs are kept marinated for over twenty four hours in a mix prepared with seven roasted and ground spices, plain yogurt, paste of raw papaya, rock salt and black peppers. When ordered, we skewer one large piece of rack and ribs and slow cook in the clay oven in 3 steps to seal all the flavors. Served on a sizzler with spice tempered bowl of daal, Basmati rice, mint chutney and salad.

Fresh fillets of prime quality, Atlantic salmon fish were marinated overnight in the mix of fresh garlic paste, ginger paste, red onions paste, roasted cumin powder, paprika, lemon juice, malt vinegar, rockslat, homemade yoghurt and our own garam masala blend of over eighteen spices. Long metal skewers are passed through the fish cubes and baked in the tandoori oven when ordered. Served on a sizzler with spice tempered bowl of daal, Basmati rice, mint chutney and salad.

Saag is 1 of the most popular dishes from the North Western frontier state of India, Punjab. Base is prepared by boiling un-stemmed and thoroughly washed baby spinach & mustard greens, chopped red onions, garlic and ginger paste. The boiled greens are mashed into a coarse puree and then tempered with roasted and ground spices like coriander & cumin seeds, black pepper, whole red chilies, asafetida and a pinch of home-made garam masala spices.

The original Biryani recipe could have come from Persia via Afghanistan to North India along with Invaders in the thirteenth See other options for Biryani also. century. We know the history little better during 1800 to 1900. During Mughal empire, Lucknow in the North was known as Awadh, giving rise to Awadhi Biryani. In 1856, British deposed the Nawab or King of Lucknow in Calcutta giving rise to another version of Biryani called Calcutta Biryani with slightly different ingredients and spices. Needless to say it was a royal dish for the kings and Nawabs of that era. The secret of preparing this dish is in the technique called “dum” of cooked for long under pressure on low heat. We have adapted the cooking method of Lucknow style with the spice combination of Hyderabad in the South and the final finishing method of Delhi’s Mughals. The basmati rice is half boiled using whole spices and kept aside. The base is prepared with vine-ripened tomatoes, red onions, ginger, garlic, homemade yogurt, black peppers, raisins, saffron, cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, chopped mint and the essence of screw-pine flower called Kewara and a special blend of about 24 different roasted and ground spices. The chicken (or other meats/seafood) chunks are added to this base until tender and then the half boiled basmati rice are added to it. The cooking vessel is sealed with a heavy lid to provide ‘dum’ on a low heat to let cook under its own steam

Tandoori cooking, which has traditionally been only for breads, meats and poultry, is now being used for seafood all over India. Several years ago, Silversands, a coastal resort near the historic town of Mahabalipuram in South of India, your host was served with the sizzling platter of jumbo size prawns baked in the tandoori oven. That taste and presentation of the tandoori prawns are main inspiration to prepare this dish, for the gourmand patrons. Hard to find, colossal size prawns (Known as scampi also) were marinated overnight in the mix of fresh ginger & garlic paste, roasted cumin and coriander powder, Kashmiri red peppers, lemon juice, fresh mint paste, malt vinegar, rock salt, homemade yoghurt and garam masala blend of over eighteen roasted spices, Long metal skewers are passed through the prawns and baked in the tandoori oven when ordered. Served with Basmati rice, salad, baked lentil cracker papadum, daal and mint chutney.

Rajasthan - the vibrant desert state o Northwest India is world renowned for its palaces, mansions, fairs and colorful fabrics. In many cities of this state it’s hard to discriminate between the architecture and construction of the large palaces and most ordinary homes. At every step and corner you would find antiquity co-existing, carefree, among the Royals and poor. High tourist traffic and interest in this state has forced many former royal families to convert their forts into hotels and, with it came out the local cuisine! The rack-of-lamb ribs are marinated in the mix of pomegranate juice, hung yoghurt, paste of cashews, saffron, raw papaya paste, a specially prepared mix of over two dozen herbs and spices. Served with premium Basmati rice, curry sauce, salad and mint chutney.

Your chef/host’s interest in serving goat meat – a much sought after Indian delicacy –arose when a famed rancher, Bill Niman, returned from retirement to raise goats in Bolinas, Calif. It has been a taboo for long to serve goat meat in Indian restaurants because it was a common notion that the main stream would not like it! However, the recent trend of serving goat meat or chevon in up-scale restaurants has encouraged ethnic eateries to offer their traditional mutton dishes to their patrons. This new trend has not only driven the demand of goat meat but also doubled the price of it! The bone-in chunks of goat meat are first marinated with little yogurt, black salt, black peppers, ground cumin and coriander seeds and kept aside for a couple of hours. The base masala is prepared with chopped red onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and a freshly ground blend of garam masala spices. Once the base curry is well tempered and golden dark in color, chunks of marinated mutton is added to it and sautéed over low heat for about one hour. Once the meat is fork-tender we add some hot water to it and simmer until the desired color and taste is achieved. This simple, tasty and nutritious dish is served with your choice of bread or basmati rice.

Goa differs from other coastal areas of India because of a strong Portuguese influence on its culture, cuisine and architecture. Vasco da Gama’s ship arrived here in the late fifteenth century with an aim to control the spice route to the West. However, the Portuguese captured Goa by the turn of the century and became the chief spice traders. Vindaloo curry is considered the “national” dish of this region and can be prepared using pork, lamb, chicken, fish or prawns. The marinade is prepared by grinding garlic, ginger,red peppers, cardamoms, mustard & cumin seeds, cloves and malt vinegar. The selected choice of seafood, poultry, lamb, pork or paneer cheese is sauteeed on order with the marinade base and paste of red onions, freshly pureeed tomatoes. This popular and much sought after Goan curry is cooked very authentically to satisfy the connoisseur in you. Served with Basmati rice

Tandoori white flour bread prepared by using yeast, milk, yogurt, salt and stuffed with spiced green peas.

Tandoor baked white flour bread garnished with freshly minced garlic.

Specialty Bread : Gluten-Free, chickpea flour bread flavored with fenugreek herb and onions. Shallow cooked on iron grill. Gluten Free.

Tandoor baked white flour bread. Traditional. No flavors or spice added.

Whole wheat, griddle cooked bread flavored with freshly chopped spinach.

White flour, tandoor baked bread garnished with fenugreek herb.

White flour tandoori bread, prepared by using yeast, milk, yoghurt, salt and garnished with chopped red onions, mint, jalapeno and tangy spices.

A griddle cooked whole wheat bread flavored with freshly chopped green & red onions.

White flour, tandoor baked bread garnished with chopped ginger and jalapeno chilies.

Tandoori bread garnished with freshly grated and pickled turmeric and mint.

Tandoori bread flavored with mozzarella and oregano herb.

Tandoor baked, whole-wheat bread stuffed with mashed and spiced potatoes.

Gulab Jamun probably is the most popular Indian dessert for all happy occasions in India. It is prepared by rolling saffron and cardamom flavored milk concentrate ‘Khoya’ into deep fried little balls. The Gulab Jamuns are kept “pickled” in separately prepared syrup for several hours. Two pieces of Gulab Jamun are served garnished with edible silver leaf.

The long process of preparing this rice pudding dessert from the south Indian city of Hyderabad starts with grinding milk-soaked basmati rice into a coarse paste and then slow cooked with milk, saffron, cardamom powder, rose water, sugar and pistachios nuts. Served chilled.

Cumin tempered Basmati rice as side.

Famous tomato chutney from the southern city of Hyderabad that can be enjoyed with, rice, breads or Biryanis. Ingredients are, tomatoes, red onions, garlic, ginger tempered with whole South Indian spices.

Homemade Dahi yogurt, stirred and flavored with mint and spices like ground cumin, crushed black peppers and rock salt. Boiled cubes of russet potatoes and added to make this traditionally popular side dish.

2 oz. of home made fresh turmeric pickle in traditional spices.

Smoothed homemade plain yogurt with grated cucumbers lightly spiced with roasted cumin powder.

Smoothed homemade plain yogurt with boiled, diced and lightly spiced with roasted masala powder.

Prepared from home-set yogurt, sugar, milk and natural screwpine flower kewara essence and premium quality mango juice.

Indian tea. Chai is the most commonly enjoyed and offered drink of India. Prepared with cardamom, other spices and fresh milk. Available ice chilled also.