INDIA: Delhi Dhaba
Posted by ethnicfoodproject | Posted in Asia, South Asia | Posted on 26-04-2010
Tags: arlington, bhelpuri, biriyani, buffet, butter chicken, cafeteria, chana, chole, curry, delhi dhaba, dhaba, goat, kheer, lamb, lentils, mulligatawny soup, naan, pakora, paneer, panipuri, papri chat, rice, roti, samosa, vegetarian, virginia
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Delhi Dhaba is a tucked between Clarendon Boulevard and Wilson Boulevard in the Courthouse area of Arlington. Its side entrance is hard to see, but it still had a large and apparently loyal lunch crowd. The interior features cafeteria-style Indian food at a modest price. Also, there is a dining area in the back of the restaurant. The restaurant was being redone when we arrived, so we aren’t sure what it will look like when it is done. We found the staff to be extremely friendly. They even offered us samples of mulligatawny soup, chole, and dessert while the chef cooked fresh samosas and pakoras for us. By the way, “dhabas” are highway restaurants/truck stops that serve local cuisines. Most of these are 25/7 and serve truck drivers. Wikipedia notes that “Since most Indian truck drivers are of Punjabi descent, and Punjabi food and music is quite popular throughout India, the word dhaba has come to represent any restaurant that serves Punjabi food, especially the heavily-spiced and fried Punjabi fare preferred by many truck drivers.” Delhi Dhaba features primarily North Indian cuisine according to their website.
The different regions of India have markedly different cooking techniques and foods. Staples across all of the regions include rice, whole wheat flour (atta), and pulses (red lentil or masoor, channa or bengal gram, pigeon peas/yellow gram or toor, black gram or urad, and green gram or mung). The most common spices used in India include chili pepper, black mustard seed (rai), cumin (jeera), turmeric (haldi), fenugreek (methi), asofoetida (hing), ginger (adrak, coriander (dhania), and garlic (lassan). Often these are combined to form masalas.
North Indian cuisine includes Punjabi cuisine, Mughlai cuisine, Kashmiri cuisine, Awadhi cuisine, Uttar Pradesh cuisine, Rajasthani cuisine, Bhojpuri cuisine, Bihari cuisine, and Sindhi cuisine. All these cuisines share a higher use of diary products, the use of the tawa (griddle) to make flat breads (such as roti, paratha, and kulcha, the use of the tandoor, deep fried breads like puris and bhatoora, and the use of goat and lamb. North Indian desserts include gulab jamun, jalebi, peda, petha, kulfi, falooda, ras malai, barfi, laddu, and halwa. Kebabs can also be found in North Indian cuisine.
East Indian cuisine includes Assamese cuisine, Bengali cuisine, and Oriya cuisine and is most famous for its desserts like the rasagolla, chumchum, chhena poda, chhena gaja, etc.
South Indian cuisine includes the cuisine of Kerala, cuisine of Karnataka, the cuisine of Tamil Nadu, and the Cuisine of Goa. South Indian cuisine has considerable variation, most notably its emphasis on rice, use of coconut, pickles, vegetable stews, and curries. The dosa, poori, idli, vada, bonda, upma, and bajji are all South Indian staples. Due to the emphasis on rice, biryanis are southern dishes. Paneer (a soft cheese) is also common in southern cuisine.
Western India includes Goan cuisine, Maharashtrian cuisine, Saraswat cuisine, and Gujarati cuisine. Dishes, depending on the region, may rely more on rice, coconut, and fish (especially coastal regions). Goan cuisine reflects the influence of Portuguese colonization. For example, chicken vindalu is a Konkani/Goan dish whose name is derived from the Portuguese dish “Carne de Vinha d’ Alhos,” which is typically made with meat, pork, wine, and garlic and served on special occasions.
Delhi Dhaba’s special Punjabi cuisine includes a tandoor specials menu with a variety of meats, fishes, and shellfish. Additionally, the infamous butter chicken is a typical dish that is thought to have come from Delhi and to have originated during the Mughal Empire. Delhi Dhaba also has cuisine from other regions of India, like biryanis and on Sundays boasts over 45 different types of Indian cuisine for $10.95.
We ordered the Quick Pick (which is two curries with rice and a choice of naan, roti, or rice), which is $5.95. Ours featured butter chicken, saag paneer, and rice. We found the meal to be flavorful. We also ordered pakoras, which they cooked fresh for us and were yummy. The pakora is a fried snack food that typically consists of potato, spinach, onion, or chicken dipped in a batter of gram flour and deep fried. Delhi Dhaba serves both meat and vegetarian pakoras, although we tried only the vegetarian types. We also ate samosas, which are piping hot. We learned that the samosa is the most infamous North Indian snack food. The word “samosa” is traced to the Persian word “sanbosag,” and similar sounding terms exist for similar stuffed items throughout the Middle East and South Asia, as well. In fact, the samosa was thought to have existed prior to the 10th century. Abolfazi Beyhagi, an Iranian historian, mentioned it during his lifetime, which was from 995-1077.
We were also offered samples while we waited for our food to be cooked and were able to sample some delicious mulligatawny soup. We learned that the soup is Anglo-Indian in origin (the soup preparation is probably the British influence). The soup’s name is translated literally from Tamil and means “pepper water.” Millagu means pepper and Thanni means water. They also kindly gave us samples of chole, or chana masala, which was rich and flavorful. Chana masala is an extremely popular dish in the Punjab region. Finally, to round things off, they also gave us a taste of their dessert of the day, which was kheer. Kheer is similar to rice pudding and is made by boiling rice, milk, sugar, and seasonings together. Their kheer was thin and sweet. The word kheer is derived from the Sanskrit word “ksheer,” which means milk.
We loved the fact that on the weekends they have a special menu that features popular Indian street foods from different regions. Included in this menu is bhelpuri, a puffed rice snack served with potatos and a tamarind sauce. This dish is tyupical of Bombay. They also papri chat, a favorite North Indian street food of fried dough cut into strips and fried, then served with potatos, chick peas, chili, yogurt, chutney, chaat masala, and sev. Finally, they also serve panipuri (or gol gappa), another street food common in the North and West of India. The snack is served with a thin hollow fried ball that is then filled with water, tamarind, chili, chat masala, potato, onion, and chickpeas and then eaten before it dissolves. The fried ball is bite-sized and the entire snack is made to be eaten in one bite. We thought these foods are fairly uncommon, and liked the fact that the service was firnedly and seemed to enjoy their jobs.
TOTAL: $5.95 per person for the Quick Pick, otherwise between $5.95-$15, depending on the entree
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