Food Pr0n: Discovering The Flavors Of India At Tiffin Restaurant
By Staff in Food on Jul 17, 2014 3:00PM
Recently, the Chicago Cultural Alliance along with the Indo-American Heritage Museum hosted a tour of the stretch of Indian and Pakistani neighborhood along Devon Avenue. By far, the highlight of this cultural learning tour was our final destination—dinner at Tiffin Restaurant (2536 W. Devon Ave.)
The tour's guides chose a large selection of dishes from Tiffin's menu to be served in the form of a thali, which is basically a sample of a number of dishes served in small bowls. Each little bowl contained a concoction from a different region of India, which was a fabulous way to learn about the food cultures throughout India.
While our guides gave a very brief history of Indian food culture, I couldn’t help but munch on the delicious selection of breads, including puri (poori) and paratha, dipped in chutneys and sip on my viscous, milky mango lassi.
One of my favorite items was the pakoras, which are fried bites of vegetable. In this case, they prepared it for us using cauliflower. These crunchy appetizers were perfect for dipping into the mango chutney.
Although Tiffin does not normally serve up thalis aside from their vegetarian thali, you can order full dishes of the samples we had. One of my favorites, which I certainly wish I had full portions of, included the Hydrabadi bharvaan baigan curry. It’s a recipe from the Deccan Plateau in central India where sliced baby eggplant is slow-cooked in a masala of mainly sesame seeds and tamarind. The resulting curry has a very smooth, nutty taste to it that resembles an Indian version of peanut butter.
Another dish you absolutely cannot miss out on, especially if you love lamb, is the Kashmiri rogan josh. The Kashmiris live amidst the snow-capped peaks of northwest India and are known for their hearty meat dishes. Rogan josh is one of the most popular Kashmiri plates. The lamb is simmered in a yoghurt-based gravy and seasoned with anise, ginger and cardamom.
And you should certainly save room for dessert here. I first tried the gulab jamun, which are fried cheese balls soaked in honey syrup. This Bengalese dessert was much lighter than I had expected but also very sweet. Bn contrast, the rice khir is a well-balanced dessert of Basmati doe in a thick milk flavored with almonds, raisins and kewra.
If you are interested in the tour of Devon Street with a dinner at Tiffin Restaurant, The Indo-American Heritage Museum is hosting another one on Aug. 24.
By Lu Yao