Explore The Flavorful Taste Of India At

India Raj

 

 

Since 2002, India Raj Tandoori Restaurant owner Shahi Choudhury and staff have been serving home-style Indian meals to enthusiastic diners at the Monroe establishment in Clock Tower Square, off Route 25. With more than 16 years in the business, beginning with his first restaurant in Rhinebeck, N.Y., Mr Choudhury is skilled in providing an authentic Indian dining experience to his customers.

“We try to represent not just the Indian cuisine of the north and south, but of smaller regions in India, as well,” said Mr Choudhury. “The food of one single region does not represent all of India,” he said.

Guests at the 50-seat restaurant step into a casually elegant space decorated with joyful, handcrafted items intended to enhance the feeling of having stepped over the threshold into India itself. Handmade textile art pieces and paintings hung along the peach-colored walls are an oasis to the eye. Colorful fabric umbrellas and tiny lanterns are suspended overhead, dangling gracefully from the ceiling. Creating an atmosphere of warmth is the repeated reflection of the gold and maroon table settings in the mirrors that border one wall, while the rich scents wafting from the kitchen hint at the delights to come.

The restaurant specializes in tandoori dishes of chicken, fish, or lamb marinated in yogurt and spices and slow cooked in special tandoori ovens. Seven tandoori entrees are on the menu at India Raj, including chicken, mixed grill, and salmon. Nan, a flavorful flat bread, is grilled in the tandoor, as well, and is always baked fresh to order.

Tandoori dishes are among the mildest in Indian cuisine. Other delicately spiced dishes are the chicken korma, which is prepared with cream and almonds, and the slightly spicier korai delights, entrees cooked with onion, tomato, green pepper, and ginger and served in a hot pot. Spices can be adjusted for taste.

For those who enjoy the fiery end of the heat spectrum, Mr Choudhury recommends chicken vindaloo or the chili chicken, cooked in an exotic Indian sauce with green chilies. “Indian food does not mean only that it is hot, though” pointed out Mr Choudhury. “Indian spices can be flavorful without being hot. For the best flavors, we have a lot of different sauces,” he explained.

Chicken, lamb, and seafood are all available in a variety of preparations, from tomato and green pepper-based sauces, to silky coconut sauces infused with garlic and ginger, to the tandoori-style barbeque. Tikka Masala dishes, with Chicken Tikka Masala being among the most popular, are created by the addition of cream and almonds to tandoori cooked chicken, lamb, or seafood.

Jumbo tiger shrimp cooked in a mild coconut sauce combine to make Shrimp Malabar, another popular dish at India Raj.

A broad repertoire of vegan and vegetarian entrées of both mild and zesty dishes includes tarka dal (lentils cooked with garlic sauce), matar sag (peas and spinach cooked with onions), poneer makhni (homemade fried cheese with tomatoes and cream sauce), and malai kofta (mixed vegetable balls with nut and coconut cream sauce). Many other flavorsome vegetarian specials are created in the India Raj kitchen each week.

The India Raj Sabji Platter relieves diners of having to choose just one of the more than 12 appetizers on the dinner menu, with the sampling of crispy samosas, onion fritters, eggplant, potatoes, cauliflower pakora, and wafer-thin papadam cracker bread. The kitchen turns out more than 11 specialty breads baked on premises, and many traditional Indian side dishes round out the experience of Indian dining. All entrees are served with a Basmati rice pilaf.

Mr Choudhury noted that the generous portions are presented to customers, as they would be served in India. “We don’t ‘Americanize’ the cuisine,” he said.

A light appetite will be satisfied with the fresh vegetable soup or mulligatawny lentil soup, or the green salad enlivened with chickpeas and cilantro.

The restaurant has a full bar service, as well as a small but complementary wine list, including wines from Washington State, Australia, and California. Other wines highlighted at India Raj are Black Opal Chardonnay, Liberty School Chardonnay, Fitzer Valley Oaks Cabernet, and Meridian Pinot Noir. Wines from the Stone Cellar winery are available by the glass. Beers from around the world, including Indian beer, are available, as well.

Alcohol-free thirst quenchers such as tea; chai; Perrier water; juice; soda; and the popular yogurt drink, lassi are on the menu at India Raj.

The restaurant is open 11:30 am to 2:30 pm for lunch and from 4:30 to 10 pm for dinner, seven days a week. Lunch specials are offered Monday to Friday. A menu that changes weekly keeps customers coming back on Wednesday evenings, from 5 to 9:30 pm, for the all-you-can-eat dinner buffet, where six appetizers, more than half a dozen entrees, dessert, and tea or coffee are featured.

Regular customers have their favorite dishes, said Mr Choudhury, but can look forward to a new menu introducing new items this May.

All menu items are available for takeout by calling 203-261-1898 or 203-261-5573, with 20 minutes advance notice, and India Raj offers catering services.

India Raj is located at 477 Main Street (Route 25, in the Clock Tower Square), Monroe, 203-261-1898 or 203-261-5573. For more information about the restaurant and special coupons, visit indiarajmonroe.com.