Restaurant: Bindaas (Washington, D.C.)

Roasted sweet potatoes

What does it take to turn around a declining neighborhood restaurant scene in a tony corner of Upper Northwest D.C.? Indian street food, apparently, and we're all the more lucky for it.

Cleveland Park, one of the coziest northwest red-line neighborhoods, used to be a prime dining destination in the city. When I moved to the neighborhood in 2001, I was excited to live in an area known for its diverse dining options. This was well over a decade before places like 14th Street and Shaw became filled with a seemingly endless array of eating options.

Recent years haven't been kind to the Cleveland Park dining scene, which has been marked by a number of closures--Palena, Dino and Ireland's 4Ps most notably--without notable, or in many cases any, replacements. There are still good reasons to eat in Cleveland Park, such as Fat Pete's barbecue, Italian Coppi's and Top-Chef alum Marjorie Meek-Bradley's Ripple, but the long-vacant restaurant spaces really stick out, as the aforementioned three vacant spaces are among the most prominent locations in the neighborhood.

The reasons for the vacancies are not entirely clear. Some say it's because new restaurants are more interested in hot zones like Shaw, U Street and the SW Waterfront. Some say it's because of the area's high rent. Others blame local zoning rules that cap the percentage of Cleveland Park commercial space that can be used for restaurants at 25 percent. Although I've read this was done to help ensure the neighborhood maintains a variety of commercial uses (and not just eating and drinking), it seems that non-restaurant businesses are not interested in these spaces. After all, what type of business besides a restaurant would be interested in a space configured for a large seating area and an industrial kitchen?

If the aforementioned zoning rules are the reason behind Cleveland Park's restaurant gaps, you may be wondering how Bindaas managed to pull of its opening? Well, it's technically more of a repurposing than a wholly new space, as it occupies the former Bardeo half of Ardeo+Bardeo, and is mostly but not completely closed off from Ardeo, which now returns to its former half-size (and both Ardeo and Bindaas have the same owners).

All this to say that the fact that the area's newest restaurant has foodie tongues wagging--in a major way unseen for years in the neighborhood--is a major coup for Cleveland Park.

And deservedly so, for Bindaas is a thoroughly enjoyable and unique dining experience. Sure, there's no shortage of good Indian restaurants in D.C., as I wrote about last year. This includes Indique, which is just a block away and recently refreshed its menu. It also includes Rasika, the downtown restaurant generally regarded as the best Indian restaurant in the city (and among the best restaurants period). That bodes well for Bindaas, since its kitchen is helmed by James-Beard-award-winning Rasika chef Vikram Sundaram. While the name may be familiar, the cooking might not be, as Bindaas' menu is inspired by Indian street food, making it an exciting departure from the usual tandoori, curry and tikka masala dishes available at most American-Indian restaurants.

As is common in newer restaurants, our server informed us that all the dishes on the menu are meant to be shared. The night we went, we had another couple in tow, giving us the opportunity to sample than we would have normally. And almost everything was a home run. "Oh my god, this is so good" because the mantra of the night.

Golgappa

The menu opens with a selection of chaat, small plates of just a few bites. Nothing we tried from this section of the menu was disappointing. One-bite golgappa, crispy fried biscuits, arrive filled with avocado and set atop overlapping streaks of yogurt and spicy-sweet tamarind chutney. Crunchy fried shisito pepper pakodas, which I've read can be hot, but ours weren't. The accompanying pickled onion chutney adds a tangy note.

Although the fried goodies are tasty, the chaat selections also include more healthful offerings like sweet potatoes roasted with cumin and chili and enrobed in sweet chutney and yogurt (pictured at top). Our favorite from this section of the menu: bhel puri, a wonderfully fresh grain salad of puffed rice, mango and mint.

Uttapam with corn and peppers

Having chosen so many chaat dishes, we selected fewer tastes from the rest of the menu, which consists of slightly larger dishes. The pao bhaji was another winner, a spicy vegetable stew served with grilled buns perfect for dipping. Although I've heard the naan at Bindaas is stellar, we opted instead for uttapam, a rice pancake that Bindaas serves with several topping options--we chose corn and red peppers, another winning combination. The only dish out of the bunch that fell short was the chicken kebab, which came with a delicious makhani sauce but the chicken itself was surprisingly tough and rubbery.

Kulfi

For dessert, we opt for kulfi--so good we're told by our server that we decide to order two of them. And we made the right choice. The treat is a cone of ice cream on a stick served over noodles with crunchy almond nougat and other sweet sauces and spices.

A nice surprise awaited us at the end of the meal: the bill. It was surprisingly small. Granted, we ate a bit on the light side, but not so light that we weren't satisfied. Our party of four spent as much as a party of two can easily spend around D.C. these days.

Who knows whether the holes left by Palena, Dino and the 4Ps will be filled anytime soon. I sure hope they are. In the meantime, Bindaas's excellent cooking and fine service is more than enough to distract from that issue, providing an excellent reason for choosy diners to discover (or re-discover) Cleveland Park.

Bindaas, 3309 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC (Cleveland Park, near Macomb Street). (202) 244-6550. Reservations: Resy.

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Coconut-Curry Chicken with Vegetables and Couscous

I've been on a real cooking kick lately that involves mostly vegetables paired with a lean meat and a grain of some sort. In that vein, I made this Indian-inspired dish last week. It's basically a stew of chicken, onion, carrot, bell pepper and sweet potato served over couscous with raisins and almonds stirred in.

The ingredient list is long, but there's nothing really complicated about it. You could vary the flavors any way you like. I used both curry powder and garam masala--both of which are pretty general terms for Asian spice blends. In fact, I've seen some sources call garam masala a type of curry powder. A key difference is that curry powder usually contains turmeric, which gives it its yellow color. To my taste, it tends to be earthier, whereas garam masala is sweeter. The particular curry powder I use contains coriander, fenugreek, turmeric, cumin, black pepper, bay leaf, celery seed, nutmeg, clove, onion, red pepper and ginger. The garam masala has cardamom, cinnamon, clove, cumin, black pepper and coriander.

Coconut-Curry Chicken with Vegetables and Couscous
Adapted from multiple sources, namely Couscous from The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian by Sally Butcher and Spicy Chicken Coconut Curry by Tyler Florence for Food Network

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. chicken breast meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, diced
1 large or 2 small carrots, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 orange, red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 tbsp. garam masala
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt (or more or less to taste)
Pinch of red chili pepper flakes
15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
15 oz. can diced tomatoes
15 oz. can coconut milk
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup golden raisins
2 cups water
10 oz. couscous

1. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through but not browned, about 8-10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Add 1 tbsp. of butter to the pot. When melted, add the onion, carrot, bell pepper, sweet potato, garlic and ginger. Sauté until softened, about 8-10 minutes. Add the curry powder, garam masala, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and red chili pepper flakes, stir to combine, and cook another couple minutes. Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, coconut milk and chicken stock. Increase heat to medium-high to bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 15-20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp. butter in a small (8-inch) frying pan over medium heat. When melted, add the almonds and raisins and cook, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes.

4. Bring 2 cups of water to boil. Place couscous in a bowl with remaining tbsp. of butter and a pinch of salt. Pour the boiling water over the couscous, stir to combine, then cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap. After 5 minutes, remove the cover and stir to combine with the butter and fluff. Stir in the buttered almonds and raisins.

5. Serve the couscous in shallow bowls topped with a generous helping of the coconut-curry stew.

Indian-Spiced Nan Bread Stuffing

Last week, when I shared the Indian-inspired Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Honey-Curry Yogurt recipe, I talked about using Indian spices as a way to inject new and surprising flavors into the Thanksgiving menu. That's also the idea behind this dish, a fairly straightforward bread stuffing (or dressing, if you want to be technical about it) flavored with ginger, cumin, garam masala and turmeric. A touch of cayenne pepper adds some spice too.

Indian nan bread

Additionally, I used a traditional Indian bread, nan, as the foundation. Nan, also spelled as "naan," is an East Indian flatbread traditionally baked in a tandoor oven. I found nan at my local supermarket (Giant). If you can't find it, you could look for a recipe and make it yourself or substitute a similar flatbread. I cut the nan up and toasted it to dry it out, just as you might for any other bread for stuffing.

Indian-Spiced Nan Bread Stuffing

1 lb. nan bread (about 4 pieces), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 lb. mild Italian chicken sausage, casings removed
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, diced
2-3 celery ribs, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 tsp. salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Olive oil for greasing the baking dish

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.

2. Spread nan cubes in an even layer on a large baking sheet. Heat in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the nan starts to dry out and brown a bit on the edges. Remove from oven and set aside to cool and further dry out.

3. Increase oven to 400 F.

4. Heat a large sauté pan over moderately high heat. Add sausage and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until browned. Remove sausage from pan and set aside.

5. Melt butter in pan, then add the onion, celery and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8-10 minutes. Add the spices (cumin through black pepper) and stir to combine. Add back the cooked sausage and cook another minute to reheat and blend with the spices.

6. In a large bowl, combine the toasted nan bread cubes, the cooked sausage-vegetable mixture, eggs, cream and chicken broth. Transfer mixture to a greased (with olive oil) 9 X 13 baking dish. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir the ingredients. Bake for another 15 minutes until the mixture is lightly browned on top. Allow to cool sightly before serving.

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Honey-Curry Yogurt

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In D.C., Indian Food Crosses Over to the Mainstream

Rasika's fried spinach appetizer, Palak Chaat, may not be an Indian staple, but the iconic dish is a prime example of how Indian cuisine has found enduring mainstream appeal in Washington, D.C.

In The Tastemakers, author David Sax discusses how food writers forecast Indian cuisine as the next-big-thing, but, although it continues to grow in popularity, has never quite crossed over to the mainstream in the dramatic way that other foods have. It's a cuisine more frequently labeled as "ethnic"--something spicy and exotic you get from a hole-in-the-wall--rather than "foreign"--a label denoting a perception of sophistication as well as mainstream acceptance. Vietnamese cuisine appears to be making that transition now: pho has spread across the country, bahn mi is available everywhere from food trucks to airplanes, and San Francisco's The Slanted Door was honored with last year's James Beard award for Best Restaurant. Vietnamese isn't really "ethnic" anymore, it's everywhere.

It's the sort of transition one would have expected Indian cuisine to have made by now, but, for some reason it just doesn't. Possibly because of the spiciness. "Spicy" is an unfortunate word for talking about food, as it can imply two things: 1) hot, as in spiced with chili peppers, and 2) full of spices, which are not necessarily hot, like cumin, cinnamon or cardamom. For example, an apple pie is spicy in the latter sense, yet calling it so may make people think you spiked it with chipotles. Yet to suggest a dish is "hot" (or not) could also suggest you're discussing it's temperature.

Indian food can be spicy in both senses. Wanting to educate myself more about Indian cuisine, I made several dishes recently, and boy did I go through my spice cabinet, adding ingredients by the tablespoonful that I would normally measure by teaspoons or fractions thereof. The Chicken Tikka Masala I made used portions approaching or exceeding 1 tablespoon of turmeric, coriander, cumin, cardamom and garam masala (an Indian spice blend of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, black pepper and coriander) plus generous doses of fresh garlic and ginger. That's a lot of flavor. And the dish was fantastic: tender pieces of chicken coated in a luscious tomato-cream sauce.

Like Sax, I never ate Indian food as a kid. My first real exposure to it was in London as a college student in the late '90s. Indian food was plentiful in London at that time, and a vegetarian Indian buffet made for a filling, affordable lunch for a young person without much cash in an expensive city.

Indian food is also fairly common in Washington, D.C., and it's offered by a diversity of establishments from fast-casual to fine-dining. If Indian food still hasn't quite had it's "moment" nationally in the U.S., it's certainly broken through to the mainstream in the capital.

Masala Art: Top - Aloo Tikki Chaat, Bottom - Murgh Tikka Masala.

Some of D.C.'s best Indian food comes from those sorts of neighborhood restaurants that Indian food is often associated with, although several have distinguished themselves enough to become "destination" establishments. Masala Art in Tenleytown is a great example. The long menu is filled with familiar northern Indian staples like tasty Chicken Biryani, the spicy chicken and rice dish. During a recent visit, I opted for the Murgh (chicken) Tikka Masala, the popular spicy dish of chunks of chicken served in creamy onion-tomato sauce. The dish was quite good and also quite spicy--much more so than when I made the dish myself at home.

Our appetizers were also very good. We enjoyed both the Aloo Tikka Chaat--fried potato cakes served with chickpeas, yogurt and tamarind sauce--and Sarson wali Gobhi, cauliflower florets coated with a rich mustard sauce. A side of nan (same thing as "naan") is essential for cleaning your plate of all these wonderful sauces. I recommend the garlic and black pepper nan.

While Indian restaurants typically are the sit-down, full-service variety, there are options for those on the go. Several food trucks in the area offer Indian food, although I've yet to find one that I really like. The curried chickpeas and lentils I tried recently from a truck were surprisingly bland, especially compared to the spicy cuisine at Masala Art.

Merzi: salad with chicken, tikka masala and yogurt.

One of the more interesting options for "fast" Indian is Merzi. Fans of Chipotle will find the setup similar, a choose-your-own-adventure of bases, proteins, sauces and add-ons. While I love the chaat base--a combination of warm vegetables--I find it to be too filling for lunch, and instead opted for the romaine lettuce salad. Topped with chicken, creamy tikka masala, corn, pickled onion, cucumber and garlic-yogurt chutney, my selection was tasty and refreshing, mixing fresh and cooked ingredients with a bit of spice and creamy cool.

At the opposite end of the restaurant spectrum from fast-casual, there's Rasika. Since it opened 10 years ago, Rasika has proven, without a doubt, that there's a place for Indian cuisine among the city's elite dining destinations. Ask Washingtonians where to eat for a special meal, and Rasika will no doubt be among the shortlist of answers. Its palak chaat, a starter of flash-fried spinach, is legendary, a staple of any list of D.C.'s most iconic dishes alongside fare like Ben's Chili Bowl's half smoke, Central's fried chicken or Graffito's pepperoni sauce.

"Rasika" means "flavor," and it's delivered in abundance at the Penn Quarter establishment. We enjoyed everything we sampled from Rasika's four-course tasting menu. At $58 (more for six courses, less if you opt for the vegetarian dinner), it's a steal among the tasting menus in D.C.'s four-star restaurants. Restaurant Eve, Komi and the Inn at Little Washington's are $85, $135 and $188/$208, respectively, while Minibar really stretches your wallet at $250. All of these restaurants, including Rasika, offer optional wine pairings at an additional cost.

Rasika: Tea Clipper Gimlet

We didn't opt for the wine pairing, but did start our evening with cocktails. I had the Tea Clipper Gimlet, a refreshing riff on the gin classic enhanced with the flavors of kaffir lime and curry leaf. Our server was sure I noticed the clever garnish: a clipper ship fashioned from a lime-wedge hull and curry-leaf sail. Chris's Royal Orient Express, a drink of rum, sweet vermouth and pineapple, with hints of clove, is also excellent.

As I mentioned, Rasika's palak chaat is legendary, and thankfully the restaurant doesn't force diners opting for the tasting menu to order it a la carte, as it arrives as our first course. The dish deserves every accolade that has been handed to it. Although deep fried, the thin coating of chickpea batter does not overwhelm the baby spinach leaves, which are light and crisp. The tamarind, date chutney and yogurt give the dish a refreshing tangy sweetness. With a starter this good, it would be difficult to visit Rasika and begin the meal with something else. The second course, a seared scallop with a honey-ginger red pepper sauce isn't as instantly memorable as the spinach, but the tender scallop is a very good follow-up.

Rasika: (top) Chicken Makhani and (bottom) Lamb Mirchi Korma

Course three is the main event: Chicken Makhani, also known as butter chicken, finds broiled chicken bathed in a rich tomato and fenugreek sauce. It's not dissimilar to the chicken tikka masala we had at Masala Art, although it isn't as spicy-hot. Spice lovers may instead by drawn in by the Lamb Mirchi Korma, pieces of braised lamb with caramelized onion and a spicy sauce of Kashmiri chili and Schezwan pepper. It would be hard to say which of these were better, as both were excellent. Accompanying the meat entrees were two wonderful vegetable sides: carrots and green beans served with cashews and saffron and sliced okra with mango powder, along with the expected basmati rice and naan bread.

Rasika's dessert trio.

The final course is a trio of tasty desserts. The apple jalebi is the standout: a breaded and fried slice of apple, sort of like what apple tempura would be like. The gulab jamun is a like a donut glazed with as sweet syrup. I've read they are made from milk solids. The ice cream is cardamom flavor, and it's sensational. I'm all about finding more ways to use cardamom these days, and ice cream is a grand idea.

Among these three restaurants, Rasika is the clear standout, but I certainly wouldn't dismiss the other two. Masala Art presents something that feels more traditional, a nice counterpoint to the "modern" cuisine at Rasika. And Merzi is great if you want the typical fast-casual food experience with the spicy flavors of India. I would revisit any of them, particularly Rasika. To the surprise of no one, Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sietsema named Rasika the city's #1 restaurant last year. Indian food may be a second-class citizen in other cities, but Rasika proves that in D.C. it's king.

They day may still come when Indian hits that tipping point toward mass acceptance. Until then, count yourself lucky if you've already been won over by its charms and enjoy all the variety it has to offer.

Masala Art, 4441 B Wisconsin Avenue NW (south of Albermarle Street), Washington, D.C. (Tenleytown). (202) 362-4441. Reservations: Open Table.

Merzi, 415 7th Street NW (between D and E Streets), Washington, D.C. (Penn Quarter). (202) 65-MERZI.

Rasika, 633 D Street NW (between 6th and 7th Streets), Washington, D.C. (Penn Quarter). (202) 637-1222. Reservations: Open Table.