Featured Cocktail: Drinks and Snacks at Tabla

Maryse Chevrière — April 08, 2010

The Kumquat Mojito at Tabla.

The outdoor patio area at Tabla might just be one of the best places to grab an après-work drink and snack in the Flatiron District. View of Madison Square Park? Check. Potent, creative cocktails? Check. Savory snacks? Check. A recent visit inspired a cocktail and Indian bread pairing featuring three highlights from each menu.

The Kumquat Mojito ($13.00) is one of Tabla’s more eye-catching drinks— and it’s undoubtedly among the most popular too. It features Cruzan Light Rum, fresh mint, kumquats, and lime. It’s light, tart, and wonderfully refreshing. For those who normally steer clear of the leafy Mojito because of the inevitability of those damned mint shreds getting stuck in the straw, Tabla has mastered a rendition that packs all the cool, herb flavor with minimal foliage. With it, try the doughy, bacon crumble-stuffed naan ($12.00) for that hard-to-get-sick-of, salty-sweet combination.

More Cocktail and Bread Pairings at Tabla >>

Featured Dish: Dumpakht

Katie Reisert — July 20, 2009

Banjara’s Lamb Dumpakht

The white tableclothes and the comparatively large size of Banjara (restaurant page) make this Indian restaurant on the corner of 6th Street in the East Village stand out among the tiny curry houses of Curry Row. But it is Dumpakht (pronounced, Dumb-Paht), Banjara’s signature dish, which makes it stand out not just among Indian restaurants in New York City, but as one among a handful of establishments serving it across the country. According to the menu, Dumpakht is “a method of cooking by which the cooking vessel is sealed with pastry, resulting in a deliciously moist flavorful dish.”

“Dum” is said to mean steam and “dum pukht” has been translated to mean “to choke off the steam.” The dish’s origins are somewhat murky. According to one story, this style of cooking in India can be traced back to the 18th century when supposedly, a benevolent ruler ordered sealed containers of food to be kept on hand for laborers working on an epic project, thus spawning a style of cooking.

Some compare Dumpakht to chicken pot pie, but at Banjara, the presentation is much more impressive. A shallow copper pot is filled with meat braised in a cream-based, buttery stew that is sealed closed with naan that rises to form a dome two to three-inches in height. Banjara’s Dumpakht is available with lamb, chicken, shrimp or vegetables ($13.95-$19.95).

Steam rises from the colorful stew as you tear open the bread. The sauce contains bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cashews, almonds and a subtle hint of curry— but the taste is more sweet and creamy than intensely spicy. The cooking method results in perfectly tender meat, which has been cooking in its own juices. The highlight of the dish is that it’s self-contained —there’s no need to order extra naan to wipe up the excess delicious sauce as you finish.

FirstLook: Aamchi Pao

Arthur Bovino — June 17, 2009

“There’s always a right time to reinvent yourself,” Chef Surbhi Sahni, told us recently at Aamchi Pao.

No, Chef Sahni isn’t leaving her post as Devi’s pastry chef. But she has joined Nandini Mukherjee as co-owner at the reincarnation of Mukherjee’s West Village restaurant of almost six years, the Indian Bread Co. As previously reported, the Stuffed Parathas and Naanwhichs (grilled Indian “panini”) are gone. There are still Kathi Rolls, but the Naan sandwiches have been replaced by “Pao,” renditions of Pav Bhaji, a Mumbai street food that is essentially an Indian Slider. The word “Pav,” in Marathi (the language of southwestern India), is said to come from Pão, the Portuguese word for bread.

Click here to read more about Aamchi Pao's Mumbai Sliders >>

AlwaysHungryNY: All About Doubles

Arthur Bovino — March 25, 2009

Picture a Caribbean setting. It’s dawn. Hungry Trinidadians en route to work, stop money in hand to surround a street-side food vendor. He furiously spoons curried channa into two pieces of bara, dresses them with sauces and condiments, wraps, flips and exchanges it for cash then begins the hypnotic rhythm again. Customers are so eager to eat, they’re practically still on line, untwisting wax paper ends and eating something so hot, steam rises into the warm air.

The clamored-for snacks above are called ‘Doubles,’ a vegetarian street food from Trinidad. A Doubles consists of two pieces of fried, usually golden, flat, palm-sized pieces of quick bread, served with chickpea curry, called channa. The bara, as the bread is called, resembles a fried version of Indian naan or roti. The presentation of Doubles varies slightly. Depending on the vendor, they could resemble a soft-taco, a sandwich, or a mini-burrito. While it’s possible to find Doubles throughout the day, they’re predominantly enjoyed either for breakfast or as a late-night snack after or during ‘liming,’ a Trinidadian term for hanging out.

Click for the History of Doubles Complete With a Recipe >>