I love Indian food. I’m a child of two cultures, and both Indian food and southern food shaped my tastes. So before I get started, it’s worth noting that Indian food is never going to look pretty. What’s your favorite Indian (or Southern) dish – brown glop? Green glop? Orange glop? The deep fried brown thing?
Maybe this is why it annoys me when restaurants go for unnecessarily fussy presentations, or tack on “subtle touches” that will inevitably be overwhelmed by the powerful flavors of the cuisine.
We also ordered the lamb karaikudi, tandoori chicken, and some garlic naan. Karaikudi cuisine is from south india and features powerful, aromatic spice blends comprised of chilis, cinnamon, cloves, cumin fenugreek and a variety of dried flower pods. Believe me when I say this, I have not had a better Karaikudi dish outside of Tamil Nadu, its home state. The lamb was perfectly cooked, soft and giving without being mushy and with just enough chewiness and texture. The sauce that accompanied it was spicy, rich, and deeply satisfying. The garlic naan was crispy, flaky and buttery, but it was hard to notice above the intensity of raw garlic. Combining it with the gravy from the lamb helped, but unless we were planning to stave off vampires, I would have preferred a more toned-down version of this dish.
The dessert menu had most of the Indian restaurant staples, but for me, the only choice was Rasmalai. I have a deep, abiding fondness for this Bengali dessert which combines sugary cream, soft paneer, and cardamom to make magic. My companion found it overly sweet, but she eats 80% chocolate as a ‘light snack.’ If Rasmalai is your thing, then Moksha’s iteration will really be your thing.
Moksha
515 Bellevue Square
Bellevue, WA 98004
425.427.5787
Article by Vikram Rangraj, photography by Jessica Tupper.
My First Crave Article, It’s kind of awesome to see this up here!
This is really good!