shaan indian cuisine

although i hardly ever blog about them (like i blog about anything anymore), i eat at cincinnati's various indian restaurants pretty regularly. in my opinion, baba is best for lamb saag, dusmesh is best for tikka masala and for overall spicing, amol is best for eggplant (bharta? i forget what it is called) and apna is best for other vegetarian dishes (but only if you order off the menu... the buffet is just blah). i like ambar for the atmosphere but the food generally is just average in my opinion. and akash has a good lunch buffet (and by "good" i mean "located within walking distance of my insipid downtown job") but nothing really stands out there for me.

i was suspicious of shaan when it first showed up in hyde park plaza because india hyde park used to be there and that place was gross. but i was out with some friends in the area one night and we decided to stop by. they are indian (and would prefer to remain anonymous) so i figured they could tell me if it was really authentic or not.

here is a picture of my leftovers

well readers we were very pleasantly surprised. shaan offers a great deal on their dinner menu which is that you can get a sampler platter of 3-4 dishes, either vegetarian or meat, along with garlic naan, rice, and dessert for only about $14. this was a ridiculous amount of food and between the three of us we had a ton of food with enough for each of us to have another whole meal. everything was delicious. one problem i have with some indian places is that the dishes can be so rich and/or creamy that it gives me a horrible stomach ache. i did get a stomach ache at shaan but that was because i ate too much, not because the dishes were too rich.

the spices were really good and even the shrimp curry, which i usually find to be kind of boring, was awesome. the garlic naan was super garlicky and soft. i actually liked the vegetarian dishes better than the meats, which is surprising because a lot of times i think that they can be kind of boring and bland. but not at shaan.

service was excellent, they were very attentive and even brought us extra rice to take home with our food. and the prices were good. on average the menu items were $9-12, and to get the sampler platters with way more food and selection it was only a few dollars more. the atmosphere is very much strip mall indian, but who the hell cares. they were pretty empty when we went so get your ass over there and give them some business. if they close i am going to be crabby.

dusmesh indian restaurant

i was all fired up to go to dusmesh ever since i read veggie option's glowing review. i was not disappointed. some friends and i decided to go a couple weeks ago before a movie at the esquire. the food was delicious.

we wanted to try different things but somehow we ended up with both chicken tikka and chicken tikka masala. we also got the navratan korma which looked irresistible in VO's photos and the lamb saag.

a welcome addition to the hopping cincinnati indian food scene

everything was excellent. i especially loved the lamb saag. it was really flavorful, tender, juicy, and not at all gamy. when it is done well, i am a huge lamb saag fan. that and eggplant bharta or whatever that dish is called are my indian restaurant favorites.

everyone i know is always claiming that the food at ambar, baba, etc. are all the same, but the only place that makes a decent lamb saag is baba. ambar's lamb saag is gamy, dry, and flavorless. ambar also makes the worst bharta known to man. if you want good bharta, go to amol. but anyway i am supposed to be reviewing dusmesh.

i thought dusmesh serves the best indian food i have ever had in cincinnati (caveat: i have never tried krishna or new krishna, both of which i have heard many rave reviews about). sorry for that preposition at the end of the sentence, grammar nazis.

avani also really liked the food. i can't remember what laura thought. but emma didn't think it was that amazing. she always gets chicken tikka and she thought it is better at ambar. however emma is from cincinnati and very much a food traditionalist so i am pretty sure she just likes ambar the best because of her food nostalgia rather than because it is objectively better.

chicken tikka

the chicken tikka masala was really excellent. it was not as creamy and was much more complexly (grammar nazis, is that a word?) spiced than at the other indian places in town. to me this means that the cook at dusmesh is just more skilled than at other restaurants, where they would rely on the richness of cream to carry the dish.

navratan korma was awesome. the vegetables were fresh and not overcooked. the spices were again really complex and interesting. the flavors of the dish just flowed.

clockwise from top: chicken tikka, chicken tikka masala, navratan korma, lamb saag

it is worth noting that the menu is very comprehensive. they just have more, and more interesting, dishes than most indian places around town (which have a lot). things i had never heard of. i can't remember what any of them are though, sorry.

service at dusmesh was... odd. we went for dinner so we did not have the buffet experience. the waitress was extremely friendly but we felt like she was trying too hard. i think she was probably just inexperienced as a waitress. we had a couple issues (charged for an item that we ordered but never got, served the wrong kind of tea, etc.) but she was really nice and resolved them all without a problem.

we got these little fried dough dessert balls for free, probably because i was taking pictures

the decor is fine, nothing special. it's just a big room with tables and a few decorations here and there. it is a little loud in the restaurant but then i am loud so it doesn't bother me. one thing that was weird is that however they make their grilled dishes makes them extremely smoky. we all had watery eyes every time one of those platters of tikka came out. i have seen the smoky platters at other indian restaurants but have never experienced watery eyes and sneezing from it so that was weird. i don't know if it is the particular spices they use or what. and the food was damn tasty so we didn't really care.

note to drinkers: they don't have a liquor license so it's byob, at least for now.

dusmesh is awesome and a million times better than shitty india palace which used to be in that building. ambar diehards, step out of your comfort zone and try dusmesh. you will be happy you did. and even if you aren't, it's not like ambar is going anywhere.

milanese risotto and stewed okra and tomatoes

i found a buy one get one free food & wine magazine deal around christmastime, so i got it for liberal foodie and me. LF got her first issue and demanded that we plan a monthly cooking extravaganza. we have only done this once so far, with the february issue. we decided we were going to each pick two recipes, cook them together, and then eat the results. we just picked what we wanted to make, regardless of whether it went together or not.

i am sure LF will write about her recipes (she has been demanding photos from me so a post is definitely on its way on her blog) so i will write about mine. i chose risotto because it is something i love to eat and had always been intimidated by. and i chose okra because i have had some really delicious okra and have always been scared to make it because of the potential sliminess factor. it can come out so good or so gross. how the hell to cook it?

the fact that i was going to have a master chef (aka LF) at my beck and call to give me cooking tips gave me the confidence to try these recipes. i'm going to post the original versions of the recipes here, with my modifications in parentheses. both of these recipes came out absolutely delicious and i would totally recommend them.

milanese risotto (original recipe here)


Ingredients

1. 5 1/2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade (i used 7 1/2 cups total, and i bought a really delicious boxed stock from dean's mediterranean imports)
   
2. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3. 1 small onion, finely chopped (i used a yellow onion)
   
4. Salt and freshly ground pepper
5. 1 1/2 cups arborio rice (10 ounces)
6. Pinch of saffron threads
7. 1/2 cup dry white wine (i chose a pinot grigio)
   
8. 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (i found the best parmesan ever at krause's)
   
9. 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (i used salted)
   
10. 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
    

Directions

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a simmer; keep warm. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. (under LF's direction, i cooked the onion probably 6-7 minutes until it was really soft)

Add the rice and cook for 1 minute, stirring to thoroughly coat. Crumble the saffron into the wine and add it to the rice. Cook, stirring, until the wine is absorbed. Add 1 cup of the warm stock and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until nearly absorbed. Continue adding the stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly, until it is nearly absorbed between additions. (LF and kate both advised me to stir constantly, so i literally stirred the entire time the rice cooked, about a half hour total. i also needed to use much more stock than the recipe said. i think the amount of stock you need probably depends on the arborio rice you use, so heat up more stock than you think you'll need just in case)

The risotto is done when the rice is al dente and suspended in a thick, creamy sauce, about 20 minutes total. Season the risotto with salt and pepper. Stir in the cheese, butter and parsley and serve immediately.

i don't know what the secret was (the high quality ingredients? the constant stirring? the magic of LF in the kitchen?) but this risotto was amazing. avani said it was some of the best risotto she has ever had! it really was damn good. you have to try it. now that i have done it, i can say that it really is much easier and less intimidating than i thought.

stewed okra and tomatoes (original recipe here)


Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2. 2 garlic cloves, minced
3. 1 small red onion, thinly sliced (i chopped instead of slicing)
   
4. 1 teaspoon pure chile powder, such as ancho (i got all my spices at dean's mediterranean imports and they were super fresh and potent)
   
5. Pinch of cayenne pepper
6. 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
7. 1 teaspoon turmeric
8. 1 pound okra, stemmed and sliced 1/2 inch thick (i used frozen baby okra, again from dean's, and did not slice them)
   
9. 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
10. 1/2 cup water
11. Salt

Directions

In a medium skillet, heat the vegetable oil. Add the minced garlic and sliced red onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the chile powder, cayenne pepper, cumin seeds and turmeric and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add the okra and cook for 2 minutes, tossing. Add the tomatoes and cook over high heat until they release their juices, about 1 minute. Add the water, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the okra is just tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and serve. (i stewed for probably 15-20 minutes. it was still tender but gave the flavors a longer time to develop.)

this dish was delicious the day of. the next day, it was nasty. after sitting in the fridge overnight and then being reheated in the microwave for lunch the next day, it became totally slimy and disgusting. i could not eat it.

i don't think i would make this with okra again because the leftovers taste like hell. however, i loved the flavors and simplicity of this dish and would definitely do it again with a different vegetable. i think green beans would be good, or spinach, or zucchini. you could also try it with meat or tofu. it is so easy and really you could do it all, start to finish, in probably 20 minutes. i highly recommend this dish, but unless you are going to eat it all in one sitting, don't use okra.

ambar and aristotle

tonight the book club met up for dinner at ambar india. this is after our third, yes third, thwarted attempt to eat at slim's. bastards. still we keep going back for more. pork belly, i will have you one day! mmm... slim's...

anyway, there really is no need for me to even describe our dinner at ambar because if you have been in cincinnati for more than five minutes, you've heard of ambar (and amol india and akash india and baba india). you know where they are, who owns them, and which ones have the best of pretty much the same assortment of menu items. you know that no one goes to any of them for the service or the atmosphere. i know you know all these things because i knew all these things within five minutes of moving here myself. you see, we share a bond, you and i. sigh.

i think this photo gives you pretty much all the information you need from me about a meal at ambar:


to entertain you since any further blogging re: ambar india would be pointless and boring, i will recount the post-dinner conversation in the car:

patricia: have you guys read aristotle's symposia?
beth: no
me: no. wait. maybe. probably. i can't remember.
patricia: well it's like these different stories he wrote about love. like in one story he wrote that everyone has a twin that they are joined to before they're born, and then once you're born you spend your whole life looking for your twin.
me: (doing air quotes) is that like some "soul mate" type thing?
patricia: yeah
me: that's stupid
patricia: awww, i think it's kind of a nice concept
me: no, it's sad and stupid because what are the odds? there are too many people. you'll never find them. you may as well give up and die. the idea of soul mates is stupid.
beth: hahahaha, you're so bitter!
me: i'm not bitter. i'm just being realistic. soul mates are stupid. aristotle is stupid. also love is stupid. ok, i'm being obnoxious! sorry! ignore me.
patricia: well maybe you will like this one better. he wrote this other story about how the truest and deepest form of love is between an older man and a younger man.
me: oooh, ok aristotle, i'm back on board with you!

SPECIAL FEATURE: reader shout-out!

so i hear i have more readers than i realized, and at least one of them was recently disappointed that he did not appear in my blog photos. so here you go, aaron!

aaron: intrepid GIMB reader, future lawyer, kosher keeper, and food lover. sorry ladies, he's taken!