When Dallas and I arrived in New York on Friday afternoon we hung out and chatted with Jeannette and caught up on everything. When dinnertime came around we were trying to think of what to eat that we haven’t had for a long time. We thought maybe Korean, but settled on Indian. Jeannette and Yvan live in Queens and not too far from Jackson Heights, the largest Indian neighborhood in New York, so we headed over there to Delhi Palace for dinner.

We got appetizers and entrees, but most important of all, Jeannette and I split a dosa, which I’d never had before. The dosa is a savory rice and lental crepe served with fresh coconut and tomato chutney. It’s typically South Indian and is eaten for breakfast or dinner. In many places it’s eaten daily.

Delhi Palace had about a dozen different types of dosa. We decided to get the Butter Masala Dosa, a butter flavored crepe filled with spices potatoes, onions and nuts. Delicious, the crepe was nice and light, the filling savory and tasty. And the sauces were good too. I want more dosa!

As for the other food of the night, we of course started with Papadum, the fried crisp lentil wafers that are served at just about every Indian restaurant. We also had an appetizer called Samosa Chaat, which was smashed samosa topped with mildly spiced chickpeas, mint sauce, yogurt, and tamarind sauce. We all through this dish was very good. I’ve had samosa before, but I’ve never had them smashed up with other bits on top. The tamarind gave it a slightly sweet taste. Yum.

Be tried another appetizer called Bombay Bhel, made of rice krispies and mixed with chopped potatoes, onions, tomatoes, mint and tamarind. The menu said it was a street junk food in Bombay and that “U must try” it. So we gave it a try. Meh. When they say it’s made of rice krispies, they mean literally. Rice krispies cereal. Cold. Not the best, but we “must try”!

For entrees, Dallas had the Gosht Chiily Fry, marinated lamb cooked in tandoor, sliced and sauteed with peppers, onions, tomatoes & chilies (spicy). Jeannette had the Gosht Rogan Josh, cubes of lamb cooked in onion based red sauce & flavored with cardamom (specialty of Kashmir). And I had the Murg Korma, boneless chicken cooked with mildly spiced creamy sauce flavored with raisins and nuts. I ordered it mild and our wait asked a few times if I was sure. He seemed to want me to order it medium. In hindsight, I probably should have. My dish was good, but a little more spice would have given it an extra kick. Jeannette said the flavors of her dish were good but not like amazing. Same with Dallas. And his, even though it said “spicy,” it was anything but.

We had garlic naan on the side and some raita. Oh, and Dallas and I tried the Flying Horse beer. Jeannette asked about the wines. They serve Yellowtail.

We decided to pass on dessert since we were so stuffed from everything we ate. There’s a sweets shop attached to Delhi Palace and even though we passed on them, they brought us out a place of dessert to share. I don’t know how to describe what it was. At first we thought it was ice cream, but then realized it was solid square/triangle pieces. They were very rich and creamy, like a cheese dessert. Maybe burfi or kalakand?

It was so great to have a good Indian dinner. In Chicago 99% of all of the Indian restaurants are located up on Devon Avenue, which is about as far out of the way as you can get. I definitely want to try some more dosas!

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