Royal India: Indian Food – Round 2

Ali vs. Frazier, Foreman vs. Ali, Tyson vs. Hollyfield, Balboa vs. Creed. Like the great and epic heavyweight fights of history (both real and fake) so is my battle with Indian food.

Lim vs. India.

This rematch saw me visiting Utah’s so-called best indian restaurant, the Himalayan. I left the restaurant still somewhat battle wounded from my attempts to open my palate to this bilious cuisine. To the over 1 billion Indians in the world and the thousands of granola vegetarians in Salt Lake City, I mean no offense, just defense, from this unpalatable food. Yet, I was still able to find some hope that a second try could change my mind. Enter Royal India. Now I must preface that there is a conflict of interest here. My friends’ family owns this restaurant. But before you think that this conflict of interest disqualifies me from giving an honest opinion, I’ve been here before and must say that the food didn’t impress. I made the mistake of “venturing” out, unknowing and ignorant of the food. I tend to order things in Indian food that most people seem to like; Chicken Tandoori, Tikka Masala, etc. But I know very well that I won’t like it. So my goal since Himalayan was to just try everything and hope that my shot gun technique would find me a solid target. That being said.

Here’s the start of the fight:

Tear drops, Footballs, whatever they look like, they tasted good.

Round 1: Keema Somosa – Deep fried pastry dough stuffed with ground lamb.

I had to start off the fight with something unassuming. It had to still taste Indian but not be a punch in the face with Tumeric and Cumin. It also had to be fried. Traveling around Asia and eating weird local delicacies, I’ve found that if you deep fry something, it’s easier to palate it. Deep fried is just so comforting, so tasty, and in this case, so helpful. The tear dropped or football shaped (I’ll let your imagination run wild) pastries weren’t much different than the Somosas I had at Himalayan. They had a much bolder flavor and you could taste the lamb. This was not the case with Himalayan where the meat tasted like taco meat.

Naan

Round 2: Garlic Naan – Traditional Indian bread baked in Tandoor with garlic

Naan has to be my fall back when I eat Indian food. I already love fry breads like Scones, Navajo Tacos  (Inside Joke) and any type of leavened flat bread so Naan is a natural fit for my palate. Perhaps it stems back to eating stove-top roasted flour tortillas or scones after school but a snack of flat bread just fills me up both in my stomach and in my heart. I usually get butter Naan or plain Naan but my friend and my guest at this sitting recommended the Garlic Naan. I was not disappointed.  Think Garlic bread without all the greasiness. The Naan was huge so portions weren’t a problem. It’s the perfect complement to later rounds of protein meals.

Sorta looks like a horseshoe crab or a butt

Round 3:  Batura -Deep fried soft white bread

This was a little bit of a let down. It was probably because I had the garlic Naan before and this tasted just plain. Nothing bad, it’s still great flat bread but going from flavorful bursts of garlic to just fried bread – Meh.

I love this shot. Props to Funcannon Photography for this shot of Lassi

Round 4: Mango Lassi – Homemade yogurt blended with indian mangoes

I took sips of this amazing concoction to cleanse my palate. Remember, for me, Indian food is like a concentration of flavors that I’m only used to in small amounts and usually separate. I figured a yogurt and fruit-infused drink would break up any overwhelming flavors. It did just that but was amazing by itself. I love Mango Lassi. It has a thickness between milk and a shake. Not too thick where you spoon the drink, and not too runny where you feel thirsty for another glass. If you finished your Lassi, it’s more than filling.

Round 5: Chicken Tikka -Boneless chicken breast meat marinated in spices and cooked in Tandoor

These colors seem to blend. There is a certain orange hue about this picture

This dish was recommended for my friend Pag, who never had tried much, if any Indian food.  It’s what I would typically call a non-threatening food. It has proteins, vegetables and enough spice to provide flavor robust but not overreaching. It tasted like Tandoori Chicken but unlike previous times here, the spices weren’t grainy.  Solid dish. Not my first choice.

Round 6: Lamb Boti Masala – Boneless lamb pieces cooked with bell peppers, cream, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and spices

A nice little booty

Okay, let’s get this straight: I’ve had lamb, goat, and other cute farm animals while in Asia and here in the US. There, you have to know how to cook the dish right or you’ll taste the farm and all that the animal has eaten (which in poverty stricken Cambodia, can be just about ANYTHING). You need to find a balance between gamey and processed. The meat we have here, especially our chicken, pales in comparison to freshly butchered (sorry Estee) poultry and meat. The US as we know is chock full of big breasted chicken (weird image) roaming around for our finger lickin’ experiences. Yet when you have free roam, cruelty free, fresh, untreated livestock – you can taste the difference. Ever have a trout you bought at Dan’s supermarket, straight from the farm and then have trout caught wild in a lake in Northern Wyoming in the middle of nowhere? You notice how good it is. Lamb is the same.  Do it right, it’s flavorful, concentrated with a natural salt and sweetness that only nature can marinade.  Lamb Boti Masala – superb. There was something in the spice when I had this dish that screamed bueno. What was it? It was Pica Limon. Yes, the mexican candy that comes in little packages that, ahem, look like something else.  Now the Boti (or booty as I call it) isn’t made from Pica Limon or even Lucas for that matter but it sure tasted like it. And while that may sound strange to all the ethnic children who are reading this blog, it wasn’t weird at all.  This Pica flavor gave the lamb a spicy yet tangy flavor that separated it from any Indian food I’ve had. The lamb wasn’t overcooked or braised to fork tenderness which is how I prefer it. I was reading another review that said they prefer their meat to fall apart, somewhat like a long beef stew. I like it otherwise. The lamb was cooked where you could chew the meat a bit. I love that. Now that can just be called undercooking or overcooking meat but if you’ve ever had Korean spare ribs or any beef rib cooked in the style of Tongan, Mexica, or Asian, you’ll find that you gotta gnaw for your meat. It’s the good stuff to make nature’s bubble gum last (chewy meat).  Great dish.

Round 7: Fish Curry -Boneless Halibut cooked with curry spices, ginger, garlic, and coconut milk (Mahi Mahi on this occasion)

Hard to tell which curry is which

Okay – so a long time ago, I went out to get Indian food with my friend and her family. We went to a spot on 3300 South, whose name I can’t remember for the life of me.  It was a cautious experience as I was the guest of her family and quite honestly was even more spatful towards Indian food.  But something magical happened for that one moment, that one night; I enjoyed my Indian food. We had an awesome waiter who I later found out to be a great salesman. The man had served a mission here for the LDS church decades ago. He moved back here and was actually a professor or grad student (my memory is hazy) at the U and was simply helping out his friends on the weekend at their restaurant. My friend’s uncle, asked this man for his recommendations and to order as he saw fit. Well, some 200 plus dollars later, I found my dish du jour: Fish Curry.

So here I am here, some 5 years later and faced with a similar Fish curry. Would that night of food happenstance occur once more? In the immortal words of Britton Howell, “You betcha!” The curry was great, it was a dish that I could connect with and taste which offered me some sense of palate familiarity. The fish, I believe was actually Mahi Mahi, held a better flavor together and the Mahi squared was a meatier fish than the Halibut would have been. It was a confluence of the right moments happening that culimnated in me finally saying, Indian food ain’t that bad. Don’t get me wrong, I could never survive on the food. There is just too much spice, too much monotony and in a way too much trendiness in eating Indian.  I need my beef, I need my grease and most of all I need some dilution. But on this occasion, I saw and tasted why Indian food is so beloved. I can understand and accept it. And maybe someday again if I’m put into the situation where that food is my only choice, I’ll gladly accept it and feel like I had a choice and I chose to eat the food rather than have it as a last resort.

Something is out of place here?

Extra rounds:  Mint Chutney and Mango Chutney

Chutney just sounds nasty as a word. Don’t know why but it does. However, I love mint and mango chutney. It’s a sauce that fits any of these dishes but particularly the Naan and chicken

So there you go. I guess you can say the fight ended in a no-decision but closely towards Indian food winning. Now if they could only make a good tasting dessert and not balls of Galubness, then I could say that this type of food has something going on.

Friend Meter:  You know who you are that would like this.  Oh and by the way, this is better than the Himalayans. But if you’re looking for momos, they don’t have any.

"Ooh that looks good!"