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"Frontier cuisine" features big and varied flavors.
At Tadka, from bottom, hare masaley ka raita, chilgoza kurkuri and daal tadka.
Michael A. Foley/Rycus Assoc.
Since it would take years of eating to begin to comprehend the richness and variety of India’s many culinary offerings, perhaps we are better off visiting Tadka to try what the restaurant describes as the “frontier cuisine” of the northwestern portion of the country. It’s well worth doing. I was impressed with the freshness and quality of the ingredients, and particularly with the fascinating variations in spices and flavors across the menu. This last feature makes it hard to generalize about Tadka’s food, but interesting to sample.
Tadka, with locations in Atlanta, Chicago and Cleveland, has an elegant, easy feel, and the folks who run it give you a warm welcome. When we ate there, their liquor license had not yet arrived, and they were gracious in serving the wine and beer we had brought with us. Those of you who are average or taller in height may do well to ask for a booth rather than a table, because the chairs at the beautifully appointed tables are a good bit lower than you’re used to. Think grade school.
Among starters, the samosa—crisp pastry pyramids filled with spiced potatoes and peas—was good. The tasty pakora featured bits of vegetables battered and deep fried. Paneer pakora used cheese as the filling and seemed a bit lacking in substance by comparison.
The unusual starters were even more satisfying. Machchi amritsari provided little fillets of fresh fish that were fried and wonderfully flavored with a marinade in which hot chilies and lemon stood out. And the delicious chilgoza kurkuri was a concoction of sun-dried tomatoes, cheese and pine nuts that were spiced, wrapped in pastry and fried.
I noticed that Tadka offered a good many vegetarian choices as well as seafood, chicken, lamb and goat (but no pork or beef). For instance, the Emperor’s Platter featured savory rolls of grilled minced vegetables (vegetable seekh kebab), potatoes and cauliflower (tandoori aloo gobhi) and seeds with vegetables (paneer tikka). The platter was pretty as well as tasty.
I couldn’t resist sampling two eggplant dishes. The superb Baigan bharta was baked, mashed and fried with herbs, onions and tomatoes. Mirch baigan ka saalan was, if anything, even better; the eggplant was simmered with long hot chilies in a peanut and sesame curry, and the flavors really worked. There was a gesture to Ohio corn in a dish I’d not seen before, palak aur bhutte ki subzi. The smooth creamy spinach was admirably set off by the bright corn kernels.
Curries were pretty much excellent and varied. We asked for the murgh (chicken) vindaloo to be made very spicy, and while it was tasty, the heat was not overpowering. Perhaps they made allowances? Rogan josh, bone-in chunks of goat simmered in yogurt with Kashmiri spices, was fragrant, tender and delicious.
Much as I liked, well, just about everything, the daal tadka (with black lentils) might have been my favorite dish. The tiny grains were simmered overnight with tomatoes, ginger and garlic and then enriched with cream. It was subtle and highly tasty. Even good for you.
An excellent steamed basmati rice came with most dishes, but do not ignore the breads, which were uniformly top-flight and appeared freshly baked. And by all means get a side order of hare masaley ka raita, one of the tastiest I’ve had. The yogurt was mixed with cucumber, tomatoes and onions and flavored with ingredients I couldn’t identify that yielded a pinkish cast and wonderful taste.
Mango lassi (iced yogurt with mango) was its usual delicious self. There also was thandai—a sort of cooler of almonds, rose petals, poppy and melon seeds, flavoring what I think was iced yogurt. Very satisfying.
Tadka Indian Cuisine
3535 W. Dublin-Granville Rd.
791-3800
Atmosphere: Elegant, relaxed and welcoming.
Recommended dishes: Machchi amritsari, chilgoza kurkuri, Emperor’s Platter (vegetable), rogan josh, palak aur bhutte ki subzi, daal tadka, hare masaley ka raita.
Price range: Soups $3; starters $4-$7; tandoor $10-$18; rice and rotis $2-$14; curries $10-$18; raitas and pappadum $2-$3; desserts $4.
Hours: Tuesday through Thursday 11:30 am to 3 pm and 5 to 10:30 pm; Friday 11:30 am to 3 pm and 5 to 11 pm; Saturday noon to 3 pm and 5 to 11 pm; Sunday noon to 3 pm and 5 to 10:30 pm; closed Monday.
Service: Friendly, prompt and helpful.
Reservations: Accepted.
Rating: ***1/2
