Kiran’s in Houston

I’ve taken a long hiatus from RKK, longer than I would’ve liked, to be honest. I thought Nikhil’s Upanayanam ceremony in May would be my only “short” break, but many events that happened during and after that momentous occasion only got me deeper into an abyss and updating this blog was the last thing on my mind.

Oh well, so I needed a break! I needed a diversion from the craziness and so to get away, we visited Houston this weekend. Nothing exotic and not exactly a beach resort but the hotel pool in humid Houston was enough to help me unwind. Yes, I was vacation straved! We just hung out by the pool, ate good food, slept in.

I guess I’ve rambled enough but my first post back from a vacation is obviously not out of my kitchen but of a restaurant in Houston. Let’s just say Kiran’s amazing food justified a post. I’d heard Girish rave about this place so much that I had to check her out (the restaurant:)

It was restaurant week so we were expecting a long wait but surprisingly were shown our table in about 10 mins. Amidst papad and chutney I took in the sophisticated yet cozy decor. We were handed the menu for restaurant week with the main menu. I’d heard about their roomali rotis (roomali is the Hindi word for handkerchief; meaning rotis or tortilla like Indian bread that is rolled out as thin as a handkerchief and cooked) so we bypassed the restaurant week menu (no roomali rotis there) and went straight for the traditional roti, dal (lentils), sabzi (veggies). Girish suggested the veg seekh kababs for the appetizer.

The menu was a good mix of non traditional “fusion” dishes like tandoori portabella mushrooms, Chilean sea bass with mango chutney, chocolate samosas, and to be honest, I was half expecting a pseudo Indian air that most Indian “fine dining” restaurants have; an air that only typically caters to the non-Indian crowd, but calls itself Indian. I am probably not doing any justice to Kiran’s extensive menu of lamb, venison, crab and the many palates she tends to…this isn’t because I am vegetarian but because I only wanted to taste her traditional Indian food that evening.

We ordered pindi chana, dal makhni and bhindi masala to go with the famous roomali roti. The bhindi looked like it wasn’t fully cooked, but the chana and dal looked fine. Again keep in mind I was the skeptic here, so I was all set to critique the food. Surprise, surprise! From the veg seekh kabab (paneer and vegetables baked in a tandoor), to the dal makhni and even the seemingly under cooked bhindi, the food was delightfully flavorful. There was something pleasantly homey about the taste, not what I expected from a “fine Indian” restaurant. The dal makhni reminded me of a dhaba (local highway restaurants in India, street food) like taste with just the right amount of spice. The food wasn’t masked with butter and cream , the usual ingredients used to tone down the spice in Indian food in most other restaurants. It was obvious that Kiran’s was really committed to retaining the true homemade Indian flavor in her cooking, despite the fancy ambience not that any of those should be mutually exclusive. That was just what I was used to seeing in my cynical opinion:)

As a generous gesture from the chef we were also sent a sampling of her melon gazpacho, again, spiced just right for the Indian palate, with a tomato base, watermelon, chilies(?) and cilantro, almost giving it a melon chutney like taste but with a soup consistency. Very interesting combination.

After this delightful introduction I had to try her dessert. We requested the chef to “surprise us”. I really didn’t want to restrict my taste buds to an Indian dessert so was anxious to see what was brought out. It was another treat, her famous (I know now after reading up on the restaurant) crème brulee trio (pistachio, saffron and cardamom). I have to say, I love crème brulee by itself but this was what I would call Crème Brulee meets Shrikhand (an Indian sweet dish made with strained yoghurt). A perfect end to a perfect evening!

I’m not a reviewer so my rating doesnt matter at all, but I would give Kiran’s 5 stars for excellent ambience, service, a very creative menu and an amazing flavor to her food. And a huge thanks to her to get me back to RKK again:)