Veggin' Out

Baba India
3120 Madison Road 321-1600

Stopping at the nearest restaurant to grab lunch may not often offer many options for vegans. Many menus offer salads and wraps, maybe a veggie burger here and there. But if your sights are set on getting a great meal for lunch, look no further than our Indian friends at Baba India. We
stopped by at Baba's to veg' out on their Indian specialties. Buffet prices ($8) made up our mind for us and we were plenty hungry, so the "no wait" buffet was perfect. Buffet selections were a tad on the sparse side, however there was a few veggie dishes so it worked out fine.
Now besides rice and Nan bread I had to look closely (and ask the server) which dishes were veggie. First I tried the Aloo Choley, chick peas and potatoes prepared northern style. Soft subtle flavors laced these chick peas and potatoes together in a sweet savory sauce. Not at all spicy.
Rather an almost earthy curry flavor, very good indeed.
Next up I tried the Aloo Mater, peas and potatoes blended with aromatic spices. Once again I was impressed with the flavors in this dish, while not actually spicy, the Indian spices really shine through in these perfectly cooked potatoes. Hints of pepper, but mostly curry, these
two starches share these spices well.
My only other veggie choice was the Aloo Saag, potatoes with spinach and cream. This was so good, I ate three more portions of it. Very creamy and sweet, and even with that powerful Indian spice, the fresh spinach still held it's own. The potatoes seem to absorb most of the spices. This dish is one no one should pass up, if you like spinach, vegan or not you got to try this. Mixed with a little aromatic basmati rice or spead across some soft hot Nan bread it's good anyway you eat it. Of course there are chutneys, raw veggies, and fruit to choose from on the buffet, but I don't often skip the hot food over cold when I'm hungry. So I would like to see a little more veggie dishes steaming in the pans, however I got my moneys worth and felt good about making Baba India my choice. If your out for dinner they don't offer a buffet. Their menu does offer twenty different veggie dishes from $8.49 to $9.99 and they all sound delicious.
They also offer a Vegetarian Thal, a traditional Indian meal with aloo tikki, choley, mater paneer, dal, nan, raita, rice, and dessert served on a silver platter ($13.99) topped off with papardamm. I can't wait to try it. But that's another article, for another issue. You can be sure I will be looking forward to that one.