A Different Kind of Indian Cuisine: Yogi's Kitchen

As someone who is uber-wary of ghee lurking in vegetarian Indian food, as soon as news of the new, vegan-friendly, Indian restaurant Yogi's Kitchen buzzed onto my radar I was anxious to try it.  The ayurvedic menu showcased online seemed significantly different than traditional Indian offerings, but I didn't give it a second thought.  Then, when I saw the awning, I was sure I was in for an Indian feast.

The restaurant is lightly staffed, roomy, and bright.  The green-hue is courtesy of strategic, colored lighting.

There are no alcoholic libations offered at Yogi's kitchen, so we ordered soft drinks.  Oddly, the soda contained no ice and the lemonade, while sporting a few cubes, was ginger-infused without any warning (I'm not a fan).  They didn't hesitate to bring us ice when asked, but since every diner in the restaurant made the same request, I'm thinking maybe they should consider asking your preference when you order.

Only a few pages long with a handful of items on each page, the menu is quite limited and repetitive, so I recommend reading the descriptions of the assorted items- such as the appetizer sampler and vegan thali- carefully, so you don't wind up double ordering anything you don't necessarily want seconds of.  As far as "vegan" items are concerned, they are not specifically noted on the menu except for all of the pizza varieties and the vegan thali.  When we asked the waiter about everything else, he was unexpectedly blase with his answer of, "Most things are vegan" and, when pressed, said only that he thought that the Murmura Chaat wasn't vegan.  For the record, I find this laissez-faire attitude towards veganism infuriating at vegetarian restaurants.

We started off with a sprout salad.  After picking off loads of un-advertised cilantro we were left with an extremely lightly dressed, fresh, sprout salad.  There was some kind of spice mixed in that looked like green mustard seed; I'm not sure what taste it contributed, but unfortunately it added an unsettling crunch to the dish that was reminiscent of getting egg shell in your scrambled eggs.

As huge fans of NY Dosas, we couldn't resist ordering the Masala Dosa: a crispy spiced crepe filled with onion, mashed potato served with sambar and chutney. 

I'm admittedly spoiled by NY Dosas' overflowing versions, so I was extremely disappointed that, as with most traditional dosas, this one wasn't exactly "filled".  The entire dosa contained about a 4 by 3 by 1/2 inch square of what happened to be extremely tasty filling, but it was not enough quantity in my book.  It was served with sambar and two chutneys that looked too creamy to be vegan, but one depression was curiously empty.   I asked for it to be filled with tamarind chutney; I love tamarind chutney. 

In our effort to try as many things as possible, we also ordered the assorted appetizer: an assortment of Alutikki (potato patties served with coriander and sweet chutneys), Dhokla: puffed lentil cake served with coriander and sweet chutneys, idli, and mini dosa

The mini dosa was as good and proportionately as un-filled as the giant one.  The idli was a robust addition to our second serving of sambar.  Again, I wasn't sure about the white sauce or the green, so we stuck with the teeny portion of tamarind chutney in the corner.  The dhokla tasted like light, non-corny cornbread: pleasant, but almost tasteless.  Aloo-tikki is one of my favorite Indian dishes because it tastes like a spicy, Indian knish.  Unfortunately, this version was much too lightly spiced for my tastebuds.

For dinner, VM chose the Vata Pizza: onion, green peas, carrot; it too was served with the green chutney and even more sambar.

The texture of the dough/crust was very similar to uppatham, except that the (seemingly raw) veggies weren't so much incorporated into the pancake as settled into the top.  It was extremely dry and doughy; overall, in a city known for its impeccable pies, I'm not comfortable with the title of "pizza" having been bestowed on this dish.

And finally, for my dinner I chose the Vegan Thali:

It consisted of (clockwise from top):

• roti
• papad: roasted thin wafers (1/2 a papadum)
• dessert: I initially thought this was a sweeter variation of the dhokla until I overheard Matthew Modine* ask the waiter what it was and the answer was dessert: some kind of cream of wheat.  It was pleasant enough, but not something I'd go out of my way for.
• two seasonal vegetables: on this night there was a kidney bean stew and a potato dish.
• rasam: traditional south indian spiced tomato soup with curry leaves (I poured this on the rice)
• sambar: traditional south indian tangy lentil curry with mixed vegetables (enough with the sambar already!)
• achaar: oil free carrot pickle (tasted like horseradish cured carrots)
• sprout salad
• basmati rice: very dry and not at all spiced

To be fair, I visited Yogi's Kitchen completely unfamiliar with ayurveda and expecting a more traditional Indian experience; that was my mistake.  There were no samosas, pakoras, or rich and creamy dishes to be found.  Having eaten there I can only describe it as showcasing fresh, healthy offerings with minimal Indian flair.  The owner came out towards the end of our meal and was much more friendly and talkative than the waiter.  He explained a bit about ayurvedic cooking, which we found very interesting.  Perhaps he would consider including this kind of information either within the menu, or instructing the waitstaff to share it over the course of your meal as a welcome point of interest.

But, as for us, it's not our cup of tea.  We enjoy traditional Indian food for the spice, flavor, texture, and variety; to us, Yogi's Kitchen offered something else entirely.  I presume that they have a specific, health-oriented, niche clientele and I wish them the best to attract them. 

* Yes, THE Matthew Modine.  I happened to glance over at another table and there he was.  Not one to interrupt someone's meal, VM was able to catch him on his way out in order to tell him how much she loves Fluke and he was kind enough to share a personal story about making the film.  Matthew, if you're reading this she also loves Flowers for Algernon!

Conquering the Biggest Head of Cauliflower I've Ever Seen: Korma and Subji

I know better.  Rather than buy the first thing you see at the first stand, you should always peruse the entire Farmer's Market to ascertain all available choices.  But this cauliflower was so awesomely huge that I couldn't resist.  Sure, there were more appropriately sized smaller heads at the stand in the back, but had I known this I probably still would have gone for the biggest for the cool factor alone.  It sat on my desk the rest of the day making all of my co-workers wonder what I was going to do with all of it jealous and permeating my office with its fragrance.

So I came home and hit the books: the indexes of my arsenal of cookbooks, that is.  I quickly decided on a recipe, but once I started washing and cutting the cauli it became clear that I should make more than one-- not only because there is a limit to how much of one thing I can eat, but also because even my most gargantuan frying pan could only contain half of the florets.  My ginormous colander couldn't even harness it all; it was quite intimidating.

I started out with Tempeh Vegetable Korma from The 30 Minute Vegan's Taste of the East (p. 30-31).  I didn't have any tempeh, but I did have three times as much cauliflower (half of my booty) as the recipe called for so I figured it would be okay.  I didn't have any coconut milk or soy yogurt either, but since I really wanted to make the recipe I improvised with extra cashew "cream" (cashews bulletted with soy milk) and some coconut shreds thrown into the mix. Instead of chilis or red pepper flakes I subbed sambal olek: gads of it. 

I doubled all of the other recipe ingredients and added 1/2 bag of frozen peas.  I also subbed fresh parsley for the cilantro (blech).  Because somewhere during the cooking frenzy course of the evening the line between Indian korma and Thai curry blurred, I inexplicably added a large sweet red pepper, more onions, and a can of baby corn.  Potatoes would have also been phenom and considerably more appropriate, but the hour was getting too late to begin washing and peeling.

The finished dish was extraordinary: thick, rich, and decadent-- almost like a Divan-- and not even very spicy (I will fix that).  You can add water as you're cooking to customize how thin you'd like your creamy  sauce to be, and you'll also need to add water when you reheat in order to loosen things up.  I served over Jasmine rice, but naan wouldn't hurt.

The sun long since down, I was ready to tackle Cauliflower and Peppers (Gobhi-Mirch Subji) from The Indian Vegan Kitchen (p. 93).  Having used my only pepper, I instead added one small white and one small purple/white eggplant.  I am never successful with eggplant and I could see right away that things were not going to be any different with this particular dish.  Then, when it was almost done, I decided that the flavors were much too similar to the Okra with Onions from the same book; so, I improvised.  I added one small can of tomato paste, a bag of frozen, chopped spinach, and lots more of the same spices I had already used.  Note: I also had to de-glaze with water extremely often while cooking.

I decided to forego the rice and instead served the mixture over potatoes pan-fried with minimal oil.

For those of you keeping track, I started tackling the giant cauliflower at 8:00pm and it wasn't until 10:43 that I was finally looking at this, which became dinner and leftovers for 9 additional meals.