Tag Archives: modern Indian food

Where I’ve Been Getting Takeout of Late, Part 12

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Lamb shank with ginger and rose petals from Rooh Palo Alto.
Lamb shank with ginger and rose petals from Rooh Palo Alto.

Rooh, Palo Alto

With a 13-foot-long custom grill that dominates the kitchen, downtown Palo Alto’s Rooh serves up contemporary Indian cuisine licked by plenty of flames and smoke.

It also mixes in some very unconventional ingredients in its dishes, such as goat cheese, cheddar cheese, polenta, and Japanese togarashi. But executive chef Sujan Sarkar, who oversees this Palo Alto restaurant along with its sister San Francisco outpost, somehow makes it all work.

To get a feel for what this grill can do, order the roasted eggplant ($14). It’s as smoky tasting as the best baba ganoush, with an equally spoonable texture. The whole slender eggplant is covered in cumin-scented yogurt, pickled onion, cilantro and pomegranate seeds.

Pork belly (front), and roasted eggplant (back).
Pork belly (front), and roasted eggplant (back).

Garlic naan ($15) is the perfect vehicle to spread this creamy roasted eggplant on. Or smear it on the pao ($16), pull-apart, fluffy soft rolls that come with a sweet-tangy, chunky heirloom tomato kut.

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Savory French Toast — For Breakfast, Lunch Or Dinner

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French toast gets a savory makeover with Indian spices.

French toast gets a savory makeover with Indian spices.

 

If you’re under the impression that French toast has to be sweet and only be enjoyed at breakfast or brunch, you are in for a delicious eye-opening taste.

Because “Savory French Toast” done up with Indian spices and served with a fruity tomato chutney with a hit of heat will have your taste buds dancing.

The recipe is from the new “Gunpowder: Explosive Flavors from Modern India” (Kyle Books), of which I received a review copy.

The book is by husband-and-wife Harneet Baweja and Devina Seth, along with Nirmal Save, the head chef of their Gunpowder restaurant in London, where the home-style cooking is a modern take on favorites they all grew up with. That includes “Kale and Corn Cakes,” “Ginger Chicken Wings,” “Maa’s Kashmiri Lamb Chops,” and “Mint and Apple Lassi.”

gunpowder 2

Brioche is used for this French toast, its soft, buttery texture and indulgent flavor creating a subtle sweet base for the savory, spicy flavors it sops up.

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