Conscious Choice: Hema’s Kitchen Conveys Authentic Indian

October 2005 | Conscious Dining

Hema’s Kitchen Conveys Authentic Indian

by Janine MacLachlan

For years, decades even, Indian food circled just outside my universe, like a comet that came close enough to be seen but not close enough to draw me into its orbit.

But suddenly, Indian cooking is front and center on my radar screen and I can’t get enough. Maybe it’s because that region is in the news. Maybe it’s their booming new economy. Or perhaps I was just ready to expand my own cooking repertoire to include another vibrant culture. My Indian cookbooks are off the bookshelf and onto my bedside table, tagged with the recipes I plan to try next. One of those books is The Turmeric Trail, by my friend Raghavan Iyer, a native of India who once told me that his favorite Indian restaurant in Chicago is Hema’s Kitchen.

This mainstay is in the heart of the Devon Avenue Indian/Pakistani neighborhood. Its not too fancy setting is counterbalanced by ultra fancy-schmancy beaded tablecloths, which could have come from the sari store up the street, where the vibrant colors and sparkly sequins would make the most dazzling evening wear. My guess is that it’s the family atmosphere that keeps people coming back. Although owner Hema Potla has never been there on my visits, she’s a legendary hostess who’s clearly imparted her generous spirit into her welcoming staff.

Authenticity in the Kitchen

The novice might think of Indian food as spicy curry, but that’s not always the case. Aficionados will tell you there’s no such thing as curry powder in India, it’s always a blend of spices, often varied to the personal taste of the cook. I find that Serrano chiles, fennel seed, cardamom pods, mustard oil and coconut milk might go into a curry dish, and it’s fun to discern which spices are in the dish, because often menus do not specify this.

Here at Hema’s, appetizers come with a pair of sauces — cilantro and tamarind — perfect for dipping and drizzling on just about everything throughout the meal. Starters are between one and four dollars and include samosas, house-made pastry filled with potatoes, peas and cilantro, and a kebob of lamb and lentils.

Indian food is a vegetarian’s dream. And here, decoding the veggie/carnivore menu is simple: vegetarian entrees are $7.99, meat entrees are $8.99. A few of my favorite vegetarian entrees include chana masala, chickpeas with onions, green peppers and cilantro and dal palak, roasted lentils cooked with spinach and lemon juice. On one visit my dining companion endorsed the murg makhani, a boneless tandoori chicken cooked in a rich onion and tomato sauce made in the style of food cooked in a tandoor, an Indian clay oven. And my Irish roots were well satisfied, with a full seven dishes focused on aloo, potatoes.

The biryani category is well worth exploring. Biryani is an elaborate pilaf made by braising meat, chicken or vegetables, then folding it into fragrant basmati rice. We were partial to the shrimp biryani, but it’s also available in lamb, chicken or veggie versions.

Bread and Cheese Sure to Please

Lots of menu items listed paneer. Paneer, here spelled panner, is housemade cheese, called chenna, compressed into a cake and cut into small pieces. Here you can enjoy the aloo version with potatoes, matar with green peas in a tomato-based sauce, sag with spinach and shahi, which means fit for a royal table, with rich onion and tomato gravy and a little almond paste.

Granted, some of the dishes may be a tad spicy-hot for some, but a spoonful of yogurt can soothe the tastebuds, as does a bite of bread, like the papadam or pulka, each 99 cents a serving. In our carb-o-phobic world, it’s great to throw caution to the wind and enjoy good bread along with a meal. The paratha is a homemade wheat bread grilled with butter; the pulka is also grilled, but without butter.

For beverages, try the mango lassi ($2.99). The precursor to our smoothies, a lassi is a blended drink of yogurt, milk, sugar and flavoring, in this case mango pulp. I found myself wanting a splash of vodka, which is entirely possible in Hema’s BYO setting.

But I’d recommend a hearty beer to balance out the robust food.

Always game for a frozen dessert, we tried both the pistachio and the mango kulfi ($2.99), Indian ice cream made from milk thickened by simmering until it’s reduced, then poured into round molds. While the flavor was delicious, since the milk by definition made it much lower in fat, it came across as on the icy side for my taste. And I couldn’t generate a lot of enthusiasm for the gajar halva ($2.99), a rich mixture of grated carrots cooked with milk, sugar, butter, cardamom, cashews and raisins. I wanted to like it because it seemed healthy and indulgent at the same time, but it just didn’t work for me.

The Final Word

Masala tea is also on the menu, and I imagine it’s infused with a masala spice blend that includes ground seeds of coriander, fenugreek, cumin and black peppercorn with a touch of the classic spice turmeric. My friend Raghavan writes in his memoir cookbook The Turmeric Trail about hearing again and again the tale of a sparrow enlisting the advice of a crafty crow to obtain the spices to make sambhar masala, a blend of lentils with spices, to feed her hungry children. A visit to Hema’s Kitchen can be just as comforting as hearing this classic childhood story.

Hema’s Kitchen, 6406 N. Oakley Ave., Chicago, 773-338-1627. Daily noon-11 p.m. Smoke-free.

Janine MacLachlan is a freelance writer, cooking-school owner and food enthusiast whose search for well-raised food is a passion.

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