Showing posts with label Kosher Indian Food Israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kosher Indian Food Israel. Show all posts

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Indian Food in Israel

From a very young age, I have greatly enjoyed Indian food. No doubt influenced by the wonderful cooking of one of my best friend's mothers - who would often invite me to join the family for a wide range of vegetarian delights. With an ever growing Hindu community, Toronto is blessed with many fantastic Indian restaurants - many of which have a wide range of strictly vegetarian options.

Can you get authentic and worthwhile Indian food in Israel - that is suitable for a vegetarian or Kosher diet? I have recently tried to answer this question by sampling two different options - quite different experiences but both decent.

Billed as an "Authentic Indian Kitchen" - Sangam restaurant is located about 15 minutes north of Ra'anana off of Highway 4 in K'far Monash (a "moshav" - an agricultural settlement). In the middle of this farm like setting, (turn left after you pass the cows to get to the restaurant), one of the Moshav members has built a pine and oak cabin. The walls are adorned with Indian rugs. The seats are low mattresses. The plates are stainless steel - all intended to make the atmosphere as genuine as possible.

The menu is not extensive - about 10 or 11 dishes - all strictly vegetarian. Included on the list are pakoras (made much more like falafel balls), channa (chick peas), dal (lentils), aloo gobi (potatoes and cauliflower - one of my personal favourites), mixed curried vegetables and other dishes. The restaurant also serves chapatis (rotis) - which are the only bread item listed on the menu. The dishes were all flavourful - and well made - though not particularly hot (spicy). For added spice and flavour, we were provided with some cut up chile and jalepeno peppers - as well as yogurt and mint chutney.

The lentils and some of the other dishes were a bit mushy. The restaurant sorely lacks a tandoori oven - at least to make fresh buttery naans (soft pita like breads)But overall - the place was quite fun - particularly the atmosphere. We finished the meal with chai tea - and a very reasonable bill - just over 200 N.I.S. (less than $60) for 4 people. The restaurant is not under Rabbinical supervision - but it is closed Friday nights and Saturdays - and is vegetarian. Allow extra time to find it...and make sure to book in advance since it is a reasonably small place.

For a completely different experience - we also recently visited Kohinoor Restaurant - located in the Crown Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem. This is much more reminiscent of large commercial Indian restaurant that one might find in Toronto or London - though it is strictly Kosher, under Rabbinical supervision. Kohinoor- serves meat and vegetarian food - no dairy products of any sort.

Unlike Sangam, this is a much fancier place - with prices to match. The menus is much more extensive - featuring chicken, lamb, fish and many vegetarian dishes. The meat dishes can run around 70 N.I.S. each ($20) - and the vegetarian dishes around 50 N.I.S. ($14). You can start with authentic samosas, pakoras and other tasty appetizers. The wine and beverage list is extensive. The setting has more of dining room feel - with china and fine cutlery to match.

I was eager to try this restaurant since I had never eaten meat at an Indian restaurant (there are no kosher Indian restaurants in Toronto). We tried a range of dishes including tandoori chicken, chicken vindaloo, curried lamb and some others. The dishes were nicely spiced and some were quite hot. We also tried a range of vegetarian dishes. Here, due to strict Rabbinical supervision - the range of vegetables is limited (for fear of eating veggies infected by microscopic bugs). As result, you can't get Aloo Ghobi (with cauliflower) or some other very important veggies. I would say that the vegetarian dishes were quite lacking as a consequence of these relatively new restrictions (relatively new to the Kosher world - not to this particular restaurant - but this is all a topic for another time...). For this, you have to blame the Rabbis rather than the restaurant...

The Naans were tasty enough - though obviously drier than usual since you cannot use ghee (Indian butter) or yoghurt in a meat restaurant. There may be a non-dairy alternative that the restaurant has not yet tried. But some of the meat dishes were big hits (we were a large group), particularly the tandoori chicken. The range of available desserts and beverages was wide - and the menu even included some non-Indian childen's dishes - such as shnitzel - to ensure that the whole family can enjoy the experience.

Kohinoor is nice for a special occasion. It is also quite unique in that there are few Kosher Indian restaurants that serve meat - anywhere. For the most part - as tasty as it was to try the curried meats - I am happy to continue eating only vegetarian Indian food. Nevertheless - I would still say that visiting Kohinoor was a treat.

The real challenge for me is to try to learn to make some of these great dishes at home. Haven't been able to do that yet - but until I get there - it's nice to know that I have some real options here in Israel. I have heard of two or three other places - and I'll try to make it to those as well to complete the survey.