Kaveri Madras Cuisine
I recently read cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey's book Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India
Kaveri Madras Cuisine is a restaurant on Fulton Avenue north of Fair Oaks. They have been in business since 1994 and specialize in southern Indian cuisine (although they do have the northern Indian restaurant standards like pakora, aloo gobi [potatoes and cauliflower], and chicken curry). But if you look beyond those, you'll find the opportunity to try rarely offered specialties like avial (a mixed vegetable stew with coconut), idli (steamed rice flour cakes), and ginger shrimp curry. They also offer a la carte, thali dinners (platters with entree, dal, soup, raita, bread, and dessert), or an all-you-can-eat buffet. So the options are very broad and Kaveri is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week!
I've eaten there or had their food at parties several times (they do a good catering business as well), but recently went back for a birthday dinner. All five of us chose the $12.99 + tax buffet so that we could sample lots of dishes (only $9.99 at luch). This is a great bargain, but the food loses some quality in its steam table setting. I know that Kaveri food is usually much better. But we got to try lamb curry, chana masala (delicious chickpeas and tomatoes), fried okra masala, chicken tikka masala, the rice-flour idlis with coconut-cilantro chutney, and plenty of naan--although it was a bit dry from exposure. For dessert were warm rice pudding with a hint of cardamom and gulab jamun--a kind of dumpling soaked in sugar syrup. The okra masala ("masala" means mixture), was crisp and flavorful. Only in Indian food have I eaten okra that was not slimy, and this lived up to my expectations. The tikka masala sauce was deliciously creamy and even the vegetarian at the table had to try that (sans chicken).
What I really wanted though was began bartha, a dish made by roasting eggplant until it is soft then mixing it with spices and caramelized onions. I asked if the "eggplant curry" ($9.95) on the menu was that dish and hearing that it was, had to order some. It was delicious, but was not the recipe I expected. The photo above shows you that it also included peas and some tomatoes and it had a nice spiciness. We scooped it up with wedges of naan. One of the other dishes that we didn't try but I've had there before is the fantastic chicken makhan ($10.95), in a tomatoey-buttery sauce.
I love the variety of flavors and textures that you get with a good Indian meal, but this one was a bit unbalanced (perhaps my fault for not choosing from the buffet well). I usually enjoy more vegetables and sauces like a yogurt raita and a spicy-sweet chutney. But I'll know next time to stick to some of the fabulous menu offerings rather than try to go for the bargain buffet. Especially if you have several people at a table, it's much better to each order a different main dish, get a variety of appetizers, and share some large Indian Kingfisher or Taj Mahal beers. Then dig into a family-style serving of rice and naan and don't forget to accompany everything with some palate-cleansing chutney and raita.
Kaveri Madras Cuisine
1148 Fulton Ave.
916-481-9970
M-F, 11:30 to 2:30; 5 to 9:30; dinner buffet F, Sa, Su
www.kaverimadrascuisine.com
Comments
Does anyone know of a nice Indian market where I can get good spices?
[From Ann}
Yes, Kaveri has a market right next door! See my post at http://www.sacatomato.com/2007/08/day_trip_to_india_and_turkey.html to learn more. The Mediterranean market I talk about also has some Indian spices.
Posted by: Kele' Self | September 15, 2007 5:53 PM
Kaveri is pretty good compared to many Indian restaurants. There is an abundant of Indian restaurants in my homeland - Great Britain
Posted by: Iggy | September 18, 2007 11:52 AM