Louisville Medicine Volume 69, Issue 8 | Page 23

city in India , in the state of Gujarat . Now the interesting part about this restaurant is that I ’ m Gujarati , and I have never heard of this style of cuisine . A lot of folks in India , especially Gujarat , tend to be vegetarian . Many of them do not eat eggs . So this type of cuisine was very new to me . In Surat , this type of cuisine is a special sort of delicacy , all about the combination of spices . The menu has a lot of options : some involve eggs , some involve chicken , and some involve street food favorites like grilled sandwiches . These are items you ’ re not going to find at any of the other restaurants that I know of locally . Thanks to a Yelp event , I was able to try the Anda Masala sandwich , an incredible mix of flavors . Think of an Indian spiced egg salad , with grilled cheese , tomato , bell pepper and lettuce in a sandwich . It ’ s paired with chips and some ketchup . The flavor combination was out of this world tasty . I ’ ve never had anything like it . I also got the Surti Gotalo , a spiced curry topped with two eggs , with the rotli ( bread ) and it was delicious . The atmosphere is hip and trendy . The murals are adorable . This is all counter service , and very inviting . I may have dreams about the sandwich , and I ’ ll have to try my favorite samosa chaat here next time , or some ice cream ( or both ).

TANDOORI FUSION

I met up with a friend at Tandoori Fusion off Brownsboro / Chamberlain for lunch . For lunch they actually do a thali - I ’ ve had before on my only trip to India in 2005 . Thali is a way to celebrate an event , sharing a lot of food in a glorious steel plate , with small bowls filled with different items . They serve both vegetarian or non-vegetarian thali , regular or premium , which for the vegetarian thali gave you the possibility for paneer biryani and a paneer tikka masala . Being vegetarian and loving paneer , I went straight to premium . It only took about 15 minutes after the order , but a giant steel plate filled with small bowls came out . It was warm , it was delicious and it was so appetizing ! We had pakora : fried vegetables in a chickpea flour ; sabaji : spiced seasonal vegetables to be eaten with the warm naan . We had sambar ( tomato based lentil stew ) and kadhi ( yogurt gravy ) with the rice . There was also a refreshing yogurt raita ( yogurt and vegetable sauce ), and a beautiful container of paneer biryani . I actually couldn ’ t finish everything so I took the paneer biryani home .
RESTAURANT REVIEW
This was an elegant meal for about $ 15 . I totally enjoyed having a thali with my friend and being able to catch up in this atmosphere .

SONAL ’ S KITCHEN

My next inspiration for thali came from Sonal ’ s Kitchen off Westport Road . It was Thursday , I was out and about , craving Indian food , and headed straight there . This was the first time I had ever seen regional cuisine beyond just North versus South India . I had options of a Gujarati Thali or a Rajasthani Thali in addition to the expected favorites , North and South Indian Thali . They had an impressive number of take-out snacks , unusual for a restaurant . Some were things you may have with coffee or chai , others were refrigerated sweets . I needed lunch , ordered the Gujarati Thali and was not disappointed . I had many options of spiced vegetables , a bread ( poori or roti ), rice , dhal ( lentils ), raita , appetizer with dhokla and dessert - all the Gujarati favorites I know and love . I took it to go and they packaged it exceptionally well , so thoughtfully , not a drop of oil slipped out ( the typical hazard of takeout ). I wish it had been a little bit spicier , but that ’ s ok , the variety was fine , it was very freshly prepared . This Indian girl found it very authentic .
For those of you looking to expand your culinary tastes , I hope you find yourself with some Indian street food at Shreeji or EggHolic . For those of you looking for an authentic experience with a special thali meal to try multiple different items at the same time , check out Tandoori Fusion or Sonal ’ s Kitchen . You can have an authentic experience without leaving Jefferson County .
Dr . Monalisa Tailor is the Executive Medical Director , Primary Care for Norton Medical Group and is a practicing internal medicine physician at Norton Community Medical Associates : Barret .
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