click to enlarge - Sophia Afsar-Keshmiri
- Chicken tikka masala, garlic naan and samosa
I'm a lover of all things garlic: bread, knots, pickled and powdered. So my mouth watered as a server set a plate of steaming naan covered in finely minced garlic on the table during a recent lunch at the Taste of India in Middlebury. The toastiness of the golden brown, bubbled flatbread balanced the generous portion of allium, rendering the naan just garlicky enough.
The bread was not only delicious but also useful. As the menu states, "An Indian meal without bread is not complete," and restaurant manager Narender Kaur insisted that my friend and I order some that her husband, chef Gurdip Singh, had baked in a clay tandoor oven. By the end of lunch, we had consumed naan plain, dipped it in sauces, and used it to scoop mouthfuls of rice and curry.
Beyond bread, there's much for the frugal diner at the Taste of India. A short walk from Middlebury College, where I am a student, the restaurant is one of my go-to spots for an appetizing, affordable meal.
click to enlarge - Sophia Afsar-Keshmiri
- Gurdip Singh and Narender Kaur
Singh immigrated to the United States in 1998 from Punjab, India, where he learned to cook from family. He began cooking at the Taste of India in 2001, when the restaurant was opened by his cousin, Narinder Pal Singh, and the latter's wife, Jasbir Kaur (no blood relation to Narender), of South Burlington. Narender followed later from India and joined her husband. Now they run the restaurant's day-to-day operations.
All the midweek lunch specials fall within our "Dining on a Dime" budget, with a few bucks to spare. Chicken and most vegetable curries cost $9; lamb and shrimp curries, just a dollar more. Dishes come with a heaping pile of basmati rice and a choice of the soup of the day, such as a veggie-filled, spiced lentil broth, or a house salad.
Stick with the lower-price lunch specials, and you can squeeze in a $3.50 four-piece order of garlic, ginger or onion naan. At dinner, if adhering strictly to a budget, you might need to forgo the naan, but the larger portion sizes will compensate — or you could bring a friend and go halfsies on the naan.
Alternatively, if dining with a pal, you could add a pair of vegetable samosas ($4). Roughly the size of a fist, each crisp, golden pyramid holds soft, steamy boiled potatoes and peas. A trio of dipping sauces served in an elegant silvery dish offer sweet, minty and spicy flavors.
click to enlarge - Sophia Afsar-Keshmiri
- Chicken tikka masala
A creature of habit, I generally order the chicken tikka masala ($9), starring tender meat in a thin, acidic tomato-and-butter sauce flavored and tinted with turmeric. I opt for a low heat level and often pair it with raita ($4), a soupy yogurt side dish featuring cucumbers, potatoes and mint. The combination reminds me comfortingly of the Iranian recipes my grandmother used to cook with chicken, yogurt, turmeric and rice.
Recently I ventured into new territory with the shrimp mango curry lunch special ($10). Sweet chunks of mango and plump shrimp balanced punchy ginger, garlic and onion. The tikka masala has some competition.
And from now on, I will always obey the menu's urging and order bread.
"Dining on a Dime" is a series featuring well-made, filling bites (something substantial enough to qualify as a small meal or better) for around $12 or less. Know of a tasty dish we should feature? Drop us a line: [email protected].