The Rake Magazine

Tag: Curry

  • Curry Up! and Kabobs

    I seem to have gotten on an Indian cuisine kick lately – not
    just Indian restaurants, but also grocery stores, where I can buy those
    colorful Indian sweets, made with condensed milk or lentil flour or sesame
    seeds, and flavored with pistachio, coconut and mango and all sorts of spices.
    Patel Brothers Groceries and Video, 1835 Central Ave. N.E., Minneapolis, has one of the best selections in town, but you can also find
    them across the street at Asia Imports, or at South Asian Foods in Fridley.

    My other Indian food habit is Indian vegetarian entrees,
    like paneer makhani (curried cheese in tomato sauce) and bhindi do piazza okra
    in a spicy onion sauce), packaged in shelf-stable foil retort pouches and sold
    under a whole variety of brand names, like Priya and Ashoka, for about $2 per
    10-ounce package. I gather they are the Indian Army’s equivalent of MRIs – some
    of them carry the label, “Technology Developed by Defence Food Research
    Laboratory, Ministry of Defence, Mysore, INDIA.” (Insert joke about gas warfare
    here.)

    The latest trend on the local Indian food scene seems to be grocery store-restaurant combos: Patel Brothers has the Hyderabad House right next door, Asia Imports has a little snack counter called the Bombay2Deli, and South Asian Foods has a little cafe hidden inside the grocery.

    My latest discovery on the Indian restaurant and
    grocery front is Curry Up! in Maple Grove, a big new grocery store offering
    fresh produce, lots of packaged goods, a little sweets and chaat (snack)
    counter, and a counter-service café in the back. The menu offers staple North
    Indian and South Indian dishes, vegetarian and with meat, plus some regional
    dishes that you don’t usually find in the US, like peppery Chettinad chicken
    from Tamil Nadu, or a famous Gujarati specialty called Undhiyu.

    I have only sampled a few dishes so far, but I have enjoyed
    everything I tried, including the massive masala dosas, crisp lentil flour
    pancakes stuffed with a spiced mixture of potatoes and peas; the spicy sambar
    soup, and the spicy Hyderabadi eggplant. The selection of dishes offered on the
    $6.95 lunch buffet is limited in variety, but above-average in quality. I am
    eager to go back sometime soon and try some of the other items on the menu,
    including the chaat, a bunch of different kinds of street food snacks made with
    crunchy lentil flour wafers and noodles, yogurt, chick peas, onions, cilantro
    and spices. When I was there, the owner mentioned that they can also cater
    chaat for parties – a couple of their employees bring all the ingredients, and
    make the snacks to order.

    I also had a chance to stop by last weekend at another old
    favorite – Kabobs, a little strip-mall storefront at 7814 Portland Ave. S. in
    Bloomington. The place is tiny, and nearly every table was taken, so I ordered
    take-out. I have had the kabobs before (beef, lamb and chicken, $7.99-$10.99),
    and they are terrific, but this time I decided to concentrate on the vegetarian
    side of the menu. The aloo baigan, a potato and eggplant curry, was extremely
    hot and spicy, but the bhindi masala, baby okra in a tomatoey sauce was
    pungently flavorful without being overwhelming. At $4.99 for a big serving,
    these dishes are an incredible bargain – and much tastier than the versions
    that come in retort pouches.

    Apparently, Chinese cuisine is in vogue in India –
    many of the grocery stores carry Indian versions of Chinese noodle dishes,
    packaged ramen-style, and Kabobs has a whole section of its menu devoted to
    Indo-Chinese dishes, including Szechuan beef and chicken ($6.99) , but I opted
    for the chili gobi, ($5.99) a dish of breaded deep-fried cauliflower florets in a spicy
    tomato sauce – delicious.

  • Callaloo and Churrasco: Adventures on 38th St.

    The Twin Cities’ gastronomic bio-diversity seems to be concentrated in three
    main hot zones: Eat Street (Nicollet Ave.), with its mix of Mexican, Chinese,
    Vietnamese and German eateries; Central Avenue in northeast Minneapolis, where
    the blend is Indian, Mexican, Ecuadorian, and Middle Eastern; and University
    Avenue in Saint Paul, where Vietnamese, Chinese, Cambodian, and Thai
    restaurants predominate.

    But another hot zone seems to be emerging — in recent
    months, several new ethic restaurants have opened up along East 38th
    St. in south Minneapolis and on nearby streets. The former Jamaica Jamaica at 3761 Bloomington Ave.
    S. is now home to Marla’s Caribbean Cuisine. It’s a sister restaurant to the
    original Marla’s at Lake and Emerson, but with a different menu — more
    Caribbean fare and fewer Indian dishes — except for those that have taken root
    in the East Indies. Marla Jadoonanan herself is now cooking at the new
    restaurant, and is keeping the Lake St. store open until she can find a buyer.

    Some of the new Caribbean dishes on the menu — like the
    Callaloo, and the salt fish and ackee — are carry-overs from another family
    restaurant. Marla happens to be the sister of Harry Singh, who has been dishing
    out Trinidad-style West Indian cuisine at Harry Singh’s
    Original Caribbean Restaurant     in various locations for the last three
    decades. Fans of New Orleans gumbo will love the callaloo, a savory and slimy
    stew of shrimp, spinach, okra, and spices. Many other favorites from Harry’s
    menu are also featured, including Caribbean curries, Jamaican jerk, Caribbean-style
    fried rice and chow mein, and a big selection of roti wraps and parathas,
    stuffed with jerk or curried meats, fish, or vegetarian fillings

    A few blocks down, the retro ’50s diner at 1024 E. 38th
    St. that cycled quickly through incarnations as Mary Eileen’s Café and
    Mazzitello’s Restaurant is now La Bahia Picanteria Restaurant. It’s got a few tables and a tiny counter. The menu
    promises Spanish & Italian food, but it’s really mostly Ecuadorian, with a
    little bit of everything else thrown in — a few spaghetti dishes, broasted
    chicken, buffalo chicken wings, a hamburger, and a burrito. Ecuadorian
    restaurants are popping up all over town — we now have Sabor Latino and
    Charly’s Polleria in Northeast, Guayaquil and Los Andes on Lake Street. Ecuadorians make up a big part of the local restaurant workforce, or so I am told. La Bahia is small and unassuming, but the waitress and cook were friendly — and maybe a little surprised to see a non-Ecuadorian customer.

    My churrasco ($10.50) was typical — a generous portion
    of thinly sliced grilled marinated top sirloin topped with a savory sauce of
    grilled onions, peppers, and carrots, accompanied by rice, seasoned French
    fries, two fried eggs, and half a ripe avocado. There is a lot more that I would
    like to try — the caldo de bolas — a stuffed plantain dumpling soup
    traditionally made with beef, that has an odd resemblance to matzo ball soup
    ($9.25); hornado (roast pork) served with mote (hominy) and llapingacho (fried
    mashed potatoes with cheese) ($9.25); and ceviche de camarones ($8.25) — a shrimp
    cocktail marinated with onions, tomatoes and lime. Weekend specials include
    cows foot soup, catfish soup, and morcilla a la brasa, a grilled homemade
    Ecuadorian sausage, stuffed with rice and veggies ($9.50).

    Not too far away, at 4157 Cedar Ave. S., the former Paradise Pastry Shop is now the Lucuma Bakery & Deli, offering a unique combination of Peruvian, Colombian, and Mexican cuisine. The selection of baked goods in the pastry case looked a bit forlorn, but there is lots to explore on the menu. Breakfast options include Mexican and Peruvian tamales, or chorizo sausage with arepas (Colombian corn cakes.) I haven’t tried any of the Mexican burritos, quesadillas, chimichangas, etc., but I can recommend the Peruvian seco de carne ($8.50), chunks of beef in a very savory cilantro and spinach sauce, served with steamed rice. There’s lots more that sounds interesting, including the carapulcra, sundried tomatoes in a Peruvian aji salsa ($9.50), and the cau cau, a beef tripe stew with hierba buena sauce ($9.50).

  • Namaste Cafe: A Cut Above

    It sounds like the Namaste Café might have an image problem.
    A couple of days ago, I emailed a friend and invited her to meet me for Happy
    Hour at the Nepalese/Indian restaurant and tea house at 2512 Hennepin Ave. S.

    "I have
    never even noticed Namaste," she replied. "They have wine?? It
    sounds so — vegan?"

    Okay, so
    Namaste does have a good selection of dishes that either are vegan, or can be
    prepared without meat or animal products — like their entrée of cauliflower,
    peas and potatoes ($10), or the Kathmandu curry, with a savory onion and
    tomato-based sauce, which you can order with either tofu ($11) chicken ($12),
    or fish or lamb ($14); or their special bean dishes, like the Raajma, seasoned
    with cumin, ginger, cayenne, paprika, cloves and cardamom ($9).

    But if you think vegan when you think of Namaste, you are missing a lot of what this very fine little cafe has to offer.

    There is
    a depressing sameness to a lot of the local south Asian restaurants. They look
    the same, they have the same menu – think rogan josh and chicken masala and
    dried-out tandoori lamb and shrimp biryani – they have crappy wine and beer
    lists, and the décor is too frumpy for a date or special occasion. (Legend has
    it that the reason the old-style Indian restaurants mostly taste the same is
    because of a very efficient "three-pot" system – everything on their menu is
    concocted from some combination of three basic sauces, plus some spices.)

    Namaste
    is different, and it’s not just the Nepalese dishes, like the momocha dumplings
    and the green soybean soup. It’s one of the few south Asian restaurants in town
    that actually looks stylish enough for a date or a special occasion, and offers
    a decent wine and beer list.

    One big
    difference is, everything tastes a lot fresher than at the usual south
    Asian restaurant. They use local and organic ingredients whenever possible, and most dishes seem to be prepared
    from scratch.

    But another big difference
    is that while the appetizer list at most Indian restaurants leans towards the
    deep-fried – think samosas and vegetable fritters – Namaste’s starters includes
    street-food snacks like paapri chaat, a pile of chick peas, spiced potatoes and
    chutneys topped with chopped raw onion, tomato and cilantro, or chana chatpat,
    a similar snack dish made with garbanzo beans, peanuts and rice crispies.

    There is
    a lot more on the menu that I would like to try, including the coconut curry
    with tofu, eggplant and mushrooms ($12), the squash curry with bison ($14; also
    available with tofu for $11), and the cashew yogurt curry, prepared with
    chicken, fish or tofu.

    The beer
    list includes Summit EPA, Pilsner Urquell, Fat Tire and Finnegan’s on tap ($5),
    and several more in bottles ($4). The wine selection includes about 30
    by the bottle ($16-$70, with most under $30) , and a dozen by the glass
    ($4.50-$8). Most of the labels were unfamiliar, but I can vouch for the Routas
    Wild Boar Cabernet ($7/$21) and the Cristalino Brut Cava ($6/$18), a very
    drinkable Spanish bubbly at a reasonable price.

    During happy hour (Tuesday through Sunday, 3-6 p.m.), all the beers and wines by the glass are
    two-for-one, and the appetizers (regularly $5-$9) are all priced at $5.

    Namaste Cafe Cafe, 2512 Hennepin Ave S, Minneapolis, 612-827-2496.

  • Heather Jansz: Still Spicy After All These Years

    photo by Tom McConnell

    It probably would have been quicker to just ask Heather
    Jansz what she hasn’t been doing lately.The woman who first brought really, really hot and spicy cuisine to Minnesota has her
    fingers in so many pies, chutneys and sambols that it’s hard to keep track
    without a website.

    You might remember her as Heather Balasuriya, from the days when she was chef and co-owner of the Sri Lanka Curry House. I first met Heather about 30 years ago, when she and her
    then-husband, Evan Balasuriya, were running a little café in northeast
    Minneapolis called Mulligan Stew House #1. An entrepreneur with dreams of
    franchise fortunes had hired them to run the first of what was envisioned as a
    national Mulligan Stew chain.

    The stew wasn’t a big hit, and there never was a
    Mulligan Stew House #2, but word got around about the terrific, spicy Sri
    Lankan curries that Heather offered as daily specials. Mulligan Stew House #1
    soon became the Sri Lanka Curry House, the first restaurant to introduce Minnesotans
    to really hot and spicy cooking. The café quickly outgrew its storefront, and moved
    to more spacious and stylish home in Uptown.

    Much later, after Heather and Evan split up, Heather opened
    up the short-lived Curry Leaf Deli. I had heard that she was working at Macy’s
    as a personal shopper, and doing a little catering on the side, but it turns
    out she’s been up to a lot more than that.

    When I caught up with her recently, Jansz brought me up to date on just a few of her current activities – these days, she’s a cooking teacher, caterer, singer,
    personal chef, restaurant consultant and personal shopper. You can find a lot
    of the details on her new whizbang website, www.heatherjansz.com, where you can
    also watch videos of Heather giving a cooking lesson, and singing, (with local
    guitar legend Dean Magraw.) Dinner parties catered by Heather come with an optional bonus: on request, she’ll bring along Magraw and perform a private concert after the meal.

    The cooking classes come in lots of different versions:
    large groups, small groups, one-on-one, as do her catering services. Her repertoire of dishes for dinner parties and classes ranges from simple Sri Lankan curries to an elaborate Indonesian rijstafel. Many of these are the same dishes she served at the Sri Lanka Curry
    House, and later at the Curry Leaf Deli in Saint Paul, but Heather says her cooking style has evolved since those days – she now incorporates the Ayurvedic philosophy of
    food and health into her dishes. She also offers her homemade spice blends, spicy sambols, savory salsas and chutneys for sale – check the website for details.

    Her cookbook, Fire & Spice: The Cuisine of Sri Lanka (co-authored
    with Karin Winegar), is out of print, but you can find used copies on the
    Internet selling for as much as $175.

  • Curry Up

    What’s a girl to do when she’s snacky for a quick samosa?

    Sure there’s the appeal of a buffet lunch at one of the all-stars … but then there’s the pre-schooler and his crankiness level and the crunch of time that doesn’t allow for full-service AND an on-time arrival at school.

    Thank goodness I was in Maple Grove. (NEVER thought I would write that.)

    Spying the modern logo for Curry Up, I turned into the strip mall parking lot. This little place has big intentions. Currently an extremly clean and cute grocery/take-out, they’re building out a restaurant in the back.

    The take-away counter is stocked with all sorts of goodies, including shake-shake bhel and batata vada. We had some lovely samosas with tangy chutney and the pre-schooler downed his mango drink in 2.2 seconds flat.

    Look for great things from these guys, more than a simple mom and pop, their website is all about education and lowering the barrier to Indian foods.

    If the close proximity to the new Hindu temple has anything to do with their success, Curry Up could see many new competitors, and Maple Grove could become a hotbed of samosa snacking. Please please please.