Friday, March 06, 2015

Make it MASALA ART for magnificent munching (3-2-15)

On Monday we joined some vegan friends and hence chose to return to MASALA ART (at Friendship Heights, thought they now have a second location in the SW Waterfront-www.masalaartdc.com). This was our third time there since their opening and it was as good as before. We told our server, Sammy, what we had before and what we liked and he helped us choose some new options...everything was amazing. We ordered so much there was enough for 2 more meals at home this week!
Samuel chose his Vegetable Somosas and avoided the sauces :-)) and then had the Murg Tikka Masala, a yummy dish of chicken, onion, tomato gravy and fenugreek.
Our vegan friends ordered a number of the vegetarian dishes without yogurt and the staff was more than accommodating to boot!
Aloo Aur Pyaz Bhaji is a gear potato-onion-chickpea fried ball that is easily one of the star dishes here as is the Aloo Tiki Chaat a fried chickpea patty (think latke)with potato raisin and a yogurt or fruit/spice dip.
We chose a Truant 4 Vines Old Vine Zinfandel 2011 and ordered two more bottles as Monday is 1/2 price wine and at $16 this was a steal!!
Garlic Pepper Naan is one of my faves, but Will seems to prefer the Rock Salt/Cilantro version. There is also the Pappadam which you can order with a plate of hot mixed Indian pickles. Then there's the yummy tamarind sauce and cilantro paste to dip the pappadam in!!
Bhareli Wangi is an amazing Indian baby eggplant in coastal spices and tawa sauce that I would never have ordered save for our vegan friends; another hit!
My favorite veggie will always be the Tawa Bhindi that awesome okra cooked perfectly with no sliminess at all!
Lassoni Corn Palak--creamed corn with spinach is a close second in line for my vegetable competition. Will adores the Saag Paneer which is Spinach with Cottage Cheese.
Aloo Gobi isn't bad either if you like Cauliflower and Potato. For vegans the breads often have butter, but the Tandoori Roti is vegan unleavened whole wheat bread (get ready for Passover!).
Sammy suggested we switch our entrees to two different ones and we chose the Bhatti Ka Jheenga which are huge chargrilled Prawns with a dry spice rub that will really get your taste buds going.
For the Lamb dish we switched to Lamb Neelgiri Korma a rich stew with mint/cilantro gravy that was a treat, but I think I prefer the amazing Adraki Ginger Cumin Lamb Chops.
Missi Roti was another starch we could have skipped, but the breads are so good and this chick pea flouw with ginger and ajwain is indeed excellent.
There was not a sour note to the food, service or ambiance...we were just so full we couldn't eat another bite.
Samuel enjoyed the yummy vegan Nib Noir (crispy dark chocolate with brown rice) that our friends brought for him and we headed home with leftovers and the wine as well!


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