NORTHERN INDIAN CUISINE AT ARYAN

I have 3 wonderful doggies waiting for me after work every day, so that's why I don't want to go out after work during the weekdays.

JuJu 

Toto

Phow-Phow

From the pictures above, you find Juju in his cage outside the house, Toto on the sofa and Phow-Phow on the floor, so can you guess who is the "king"?

However last Friday was an exception, both of us went shopping and then adjourned for dinner.  Both of us does love to go for the occasional Banana Leaf rice and I have no problem taking idlis and dosais for breakfast.

We went to the Aryan Restaurant, serving fine authentic Northern Indian Cuisine. 

Spacious interior- they cater for special occasions too.

North India experiences extreme climates and because of  its geographical position it had abundance of fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables and its cuisine has strong Asian influences. Mughlai and Kashmiri styles of cooking are popular, the former from the imperial kitchen of the Mughal Empire(wiki).

North Indians seem to prefer Indian breads over rice. Tandoori cooking is a speciality of Northern India cooking style.

    

Our first course was this Naan- thin crispy bread.

The naan is accompanied with this Tandori Chicken with pickles onions- its look belied its taste.  It is mildly spicy and meat was moist and tender- not the usual tough dry pieces that we normally get elsewhere. 

   

The most notable ingredient in Kashmiri cuisine is mutton.

From right: Aloo ghobi (potatoes with cauliflower in thick creamy curry);  mutton Khurma - moderately spicy with thick gravy and a pot of delicately fragrant Briyani Rice.  Normally, I prefer beef (which is not use or forbidden in Kashmiri cuisine)  or chicken over mutton/lamb because of their strong aroma.   Surprisingly I find the mutton soft and tender without the strong taste.

We also had the Fish masala and dhall curry (not in photos) which was so full of lentils and yet creamy- none of the watery stuff! 

Our set dinner was for 2 persons and we did credit to the meal- almost all clean plates :D!.    

To finish off,  dessert was served. Cold ice-cream served with warm carrot halwa.

The carrot halwa was sweet and soft pairing well with milky ice cream.

We enjoyed this Northern India meal very much.

Enjoy your long weekend too.