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India on
the Hudson had a whole lot going for it before we even stepped
in the door: It made parking easy in Hoboken -- a town
notorious for its lack of parking spaces -- by validating our
ticket for a lot just around the corner.
In general, eating at India on the Hudson is easy even
without parking validation. We didn't have a problem getting a
table on a relatively busy Saturday night, the service is
decent, and best of all, the menu has a wide range of choices
-- from vegetarian to rich lamb dishes, and from simple
flavors to fiery spice.
Although we didn't necessarily love all the breads that
were included, the India on the Hudson Bread Basket ($8.95) is
a perfect illustration of the something-for-everyone appeal of
the restaurant. For the diner who prefers flavors as simple
and familiar as possible, there is the naan, a plain classic
Indian bread similar to a pita. On the other end of the
spectrum is the chicken tikka naan, a bread filled with bits
of highly seasoned chicken, tomatoes, and bell peppers. The
basket included other breads, and while all were too
generously endowed with ghee (clarified butter), it was also
one of the reasons they were so delicious.
On another night, we ordered the pudina parantha
($2.95), one of 15 specialty breads that can be ordered
separately. The parantha, which is a flaky wheat bread shaped
like a pita, was far better without the mint (pudina), which
lent the bread a brackish flavor and overwhelmed the nuttiness
of the wheat.
Bhel puri ($3.95), on the other hand, was perfectly
balanced. Always a personal favorite dish, this version of the
puffed rice and vegetable salad had plenty of lively sweet
tamarind sauce, just enough heat, and a wonderful array of
textures. While the puffed rice and crackers in the salad were
somewhat less crisp than in other versions I've had, I didn't
mind -- it was because the crackers were more generously
"sauced" with the cilantro and tamarind mixtures.
Don't miss this wonderful starter, which is served in a
portion big enough to share.
For meat eaters, the kebab platter ($7.45) offers more
than enough food for two to four people as a first course.
You'll be able to sample the lamb samosa, a fried and somewhat
too greasy pastry with a dry but tasty filling of ground lamb,
the tender brick-colored chunks of tandoori chicken tikka, and
the intensely flavorful lamb seekh -- ground, pressed lamb
rolled into sausage-shaped pieces that we all vied for.
On the same visit, someone at the table ordered the
tandoori mixed grill ($16.95), which also included: lamb seekh;
tandoori shrimp, which tasted of iodine and were unpleasantly
chewy; and tandoori chicken, which was tender but somewhat
mealy.
Likewise, chicken ginger kebabs ($11.95) had sparkly
ginger flavor, but the mealy, mushy texture of the exterior of
each chunk of chicken became too hard to ignore after a few
bites.
A far more appealing chicken dish was the chicken Goa
curry ($10.95), a stew of chunks of chicken in an abundance of
deep salmon-colored, thick sauce of sweet coconut, a little
heat, and curry. The breads made wonderful sponges for this
hearty and addictively complex sauce.
All the entrees are served with basmati pulao rice --
lightly seasoned white basmati with a scattering of cooked
peas. The rice made a great bed for the chicken Goa curry, as
well as any other dish with sauce -- it was, in fact,
wonderful, buttery, fluffy, rice that was loved by everyone on
both visits, whether eaten plain or with the sauce from
another dish. Paneer makhanwalla ($8.95) may be more of an
acquired taste. This vegetarian dish of diced Indian
"cottage cheese" (which is more similar in texture
to creamy feta) is cooked in an extremely rich and buttery
tomato sauce. The cheese is very mildly flavored, and similar
to tofu in that it takes on the flavor of the sauce in which
it is cooked.
Another vegetarian dish we sampled, vegetable biryani
($9.95), was as flavorful as the paneer makhanwalla was rich.
Layers of seasoned
vegetables in the rice made each forkful an adventure, as the
vegetables retained enough of their inherent flavor to stay
distinct, despite the fact that they were cooked to the point
of being very tender, and all seasoned with the same aromatic
spice mixture. This is best ordered as a side dish to share
among several people -- and even then, you may be lucky enough
to have some left to take home.
India on the Hudson seems to do a rather brisk takeout
business. Throughout the evening, people streamed in and out
the front door to pick up their dinners. They obviously aren't
aware of the pleasure of validated parking and sitting in this
simple dining room with its pretty touches and getting waited
on by pleasant servers -- and having plenty to take home for
dinner the next night.
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