Diwan-e-Khaas (motto: "Tradition of caring for your health & taste!") is a small chain (well, there are three of them) of cheap Indian canteens which has provided me with many delicious lunches on my various visits to NYC. I only went once last week as I was collecting material for a forthcoming burrito review.
The setup is a dozen meat and vegetable curries behind a counter in a bain marie and a kitchen in the back from which issues forth an apparently unending series of fluffy, crispy, almost impossibly fresh naan.
There are other dishes on the menu, including biryani and tandoori things, but I tend to stick to what's behind the counter.
My recommended package is the "Executive Lunch Box". This is comprised of rice, a chicken, lamb or vegetable main course of your choice, two vegetable side dishes and one of the aforementioned naans. If this seems a bit too much (or you want more meat at the expense of the other stuff), you can take away a box with just rice and one of the curries.
The curries are OK. The gravy is thin — again, they seem to skip the blended onion base which gives bulk to the cufrries of home — but tasty and they don't skimp on the spices, chilli especially. There seems to be little in the way of herbs or chilli which leaves them with a heavy sort of flavour, if not texture.
The menu is proud to say "No butter added" which I take to refer to fat in general. The chicken is not all (at all?) breast meat and the lamb can be just a little on the fatty side but it's OK, and for the price (7.60 USD for the lunch box, 5.30-6.50 USD for single curry).
One of the Friday specials at the one on Cedar Street seems to be a stir-fried cabbage masala. Since I tend to be shortly to spend a confined six-hours en route to London, I have found it wisest to avoid this so far.
(Incidentally, one of the best things about New York is the range of places you can eat cheap, tasty food which is edible even when not driven to desperation by hunger or booze. However, we all worry about what lurks behind the scenes at these places, especially when reminded of the local cockroach problem. As reassurance (and incentive!) the health department makes available the results of its inspections online. It's sad to see that failure to show a patronising poster about what to do if someone if choking earns a restaurant more violation points than having evidence of live mice in your kitchen, or failure to keep food hot enough to prevent bacteria from multiplying, but it's a good start. I, for one, would like to see London's HSE branch do the same.)
3 comments:
The hitch is a huge fan of curry and Currently get my ring stingers from the same establisment David Cameron seeks out whenever he feels the need to ruin his guts.
mr scoffer , if you want to make a great curry at home i reccomend
www.thaitaste.co.uk
red curry paste , add coconut milk and palm sugar (i use maple syrup)to taste and it makes a brilliant thai curry , also a superb base for a tom yum soup.
sainsburys sell it in that end of aisle gourmet section they have
A visit from The Hitch himself! I am truly honoured.
If I promise not to stalk you, are you able to reveal the shop which is so honoured as to have you as Tattie Heid as customers?
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