DINING OUT -- Mary Furr

Spices Cuisine of India, which opened a couple of months ago on Main

Street in Huntington Beach, is not the cafe you’d expect to find with

sandwiches, salads or pizzas.

It’s Indian.

It’s a tiny restaurant of nine green-clothed tables that fill quickly.

Along the back is the lunch buffet ($6.95) with trays of exotic northern

Indian specialties prepared by award-winning Chef Iobal Singh, who

learned his skills in the finest restaurants in the Punjab region.

Select a big dinner plate and fill it with meat and vegetable curries,

red tandoori chicken and lots of fluffy white basmatic rice dotted with

cumin seeds and flavored with saffron. According to Manager Jason

Chatralj, all of the food is prepared on the premises in the clay tandoor

oven, giving it the potent aroma of India.

First is a tray of red-dyed chicken legs and wings, marinated in

creamy yogurt and tandoori-roasted to falling-off-the-bone tenderness --

it’s a standard with Indian cuisine and especially tasty here.

Next is a delicious chicken curry -- boneless pieces cooked in a

golden sauce. Curry, from the Arab word “kari,� meaning sauce, is a mix

of spices as individual as the chef who creates them. According to Chef

Iobal, his curries are made daily from a blend of cumin, turmeric,

cardamom, fennel and other spices, much milder than he would use if he

was cooking in India.

Next is a tray of vegetable pakoras, deep-fried fritters of zucchini,

carrots and cauliflower, with a batter of besan (ground chickpea flour).

They’re light; a good finger-food appetizer that contrasts with the

creamier dark brown lentils, dal pakhani, which fills another tray. It’s

a thin, saucy dish, good as a meat substitute and great for vegetarians,

as are quite a few other buffet dishes.

Another tasty dish often found in Indian restaurants is a creamed

spinach and cheese creation called palak paneer. It is mild, aromatic and

mixes well with the rice.

At the end of the buffet is a milky soup, kheer, Indian rice pudding

that is so cool and especially good here because it isn’t too sweet --

just soothing to the palate. Another dessert is kulfi (a la carte $2.95),

an Indian ice cream with pistachios, raisins and almonds, with a denser

texture than American ice cream -- it clings to the tongue.

At a recent dinner, we began with mango lassi ($2.95), a refreshing,

less sweet than usual, yogurt drink flavored with mango -- for me, it’s

an essential part of any Indian cuisine.

Equally essential is a lamb dish -- here lamb bhuna masala ($11.95) is

a good choice of big tender cubes of lamb cooked with Chef Iobal’s secret

spices in a stew-like tomato, onion, garlic and ginger sauce.

It’s another dish to mix with the basmatic rice and also one to share

with a dining companion. At Spices, you and your friends can order

several dishes and create your own feast.

Chef Iobal sets great store by the healthy cuisine of Spices. The

herbs, he claims, will cleanse the body and build the immune system. To

me, it’s just great food to be enjoyed while sitting outside and watching

the Huntington Beach natives head for the pier.

* MARY FURR is the Independent’s restaurant critic.

FYI

o7 Spices Cuisine of India

f7

WHERE: 200 Main St., Huntington Beach

HOURS: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner

daily.

CALL: (714) 969-3884

MISC.: Credit cards accepted. No coffee and liquor license pending.