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Culinary Connection
Flavor of India, Burbank
By Bruce Wildstein
Flavor of India has spent years building its well-earned reputation at its West Hollywood location. Now, residents of Burbank and surrounding areas can enjoy its fine cuisine right in their own neighborhood. Situated just off the very popular San Fernando Blvd. shopping street, and just a block from the Burbank Town Center, Flavor of India is a somewhat more elegant version of its WeHo counterpart. A fully stocked bar occupies the front of the restaurant and if you care to walk to the far end, you'll see a number of celebrity photos on the wall from some of their famous patrons. Names like Dolly Parton and Nicolas Cage, just to name a few. From there, you'll walk down a booth-lined hallway to the main dining room. Walls are adorned with murals depicting typical Indian scenes, such as elephants and tigers accompanied by statues of Indian characters. One of the hallmarks of the restaurant is that they use authentic home-style recipes devoid of artificial preservatives and colorings. You can, in fact, eat quite healthy here with low-fat foods and vegan choices for those who do not eat meat.
Perusing the menu, which is not exhaustingly extensive, is always more fun with a drink. Kingfisher beer and some wine got us started. The wine menu is short but offers enough variety to accompany the many flavors of their menu. Whites include a Riesling, an Italian Pinot Grigio, and some California labels such as Mirrasou. Reds include Chilean Cabernets and California Merlots. Some additional Indian beer is on hand including Taj Mahal and Karma. And what would an Indian meal be without a Mango Lassi? This traditional cold and refreshing drink is a combination of Mango and yogurt prepared like a milkshake. If you've never tried one, it's a great way to begin or even end a meal.
But now it was time to get into the food, and we decided the Began Salad and Uttapam were good choices. The Began Salad was a delightful dish, which featured sautéed Japanese eggplant topped with tomato sauce and ginger garlic yogurt.
So good, in fact, we could've ordered two of them. The Uttapam is a pancake made from semolina with onion, fresh tomatoes, green chile, and cilantro. In the center was a small cup of coconut chutney. The chutney provided a sweet contrast to the onion-flavored pancake. Other appetizers include the traditional vegetable Somosa plus shrimp, chicken and fish Pakora. If you love Naan, the wonderful tandoor cooked bread, you have a number of choices. We decided on the Peshawar Naan, made with farmer cheese, raisins, and nuts with fruit chutney. Served hot from the oven, it was excellent.
Flavor of India features many vegetarian and non-vegetarian entrées, plus their tandoori specials. The traditional Chicken Tikka Masala features marinated tandoor cooked pieces of chicken in a tomato fenugreek saffron sauce. Always good. Lamb, fish, and shrimp curries are available as are Lamb and Chicken Kormas. The Lamb Korma we ordered had boneless lamb chunks in a very tasty cream sauce made with nuts, onion, tomato, raisins, and ginger garlic. This is an outstanding dish and should be tried by anyone who enjoys lamb. From the vegetarian side of the menu, we chose the Mixed Vegetable Sabzi. Served in a large bowl, this hot dish had cooked carrots, potatoes, and cauliflower chopped into small pieces with onions, green chilies, and ginger. Healthy, tasty, and filling is how I would describe it. Other vegetarian entrées include several dishes made with Paneer cheese, Began Bhartha with tandoor-baked eggplant, and the vegetarian lamb curry, featuring soy lamb. Flavor of India has a number of specialty dishes made in the tandoor oven and cooked on skewers with grilled onions and mint yogurt cilantro chutney.
Desserts at flavor of India include the Indian rice pudding Kheer, the traditional Gulab Jamun, and a carrot pudding Gajjar Halwa. Our choice, however turned out to be one of their delicious Kulfi ice creams. We chose pistachio, but they also have Mango and Ginger.
Flavor of India has attracted a steady and loyal following. An all-you-can-eat lunch buffet is served daily and of course, they have dinner specials announced by your waiter. If you love Indian food, it's certainly worth the drive to visit this new outpost of a Los Angeles favorite. They are located at 161 E. Orange Grove Ave., Burbank, and telephone 818-558-1199. You can also order online at:
www.flavorofindia.com.