By Jim Duncan CVFDude@aol.com

India Star

India Star 3620 Beaver Ave., Des Moines Phone: 279-2118 Hours: Lunch buffet, 11:15 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily. Dinner, 5-9:30 p.m. daily.

After nine years in Beaverdale, owner-chef Baba Singh moved India Star last summer to a much larger and more comfortable site on Douglas Avenue. When a small café makes such a move, devoted customers start worrying — will it be the same? In India Star’s case, anxiety centered on Singh’s tandoori oven, a clay import from the Punjab. Tandoori is an astonishing culinary achievement. Back when French cuisine consisted of boiled cabbage and acorn gruel, sophisticated Muslim chefs fused Arab methods of “endoring” (color-coating) with the Hindu technology of charcoal- fired clay ovens. It’s been refined during the past 1,200 years.

In western terms, tandoori chicken (or lamb) is high-temperature barbecue. Similarly, tandoori breads are medium temperature pizza — hotter than you can make at home, but considerably cooler than what they make at Centro. Since Singh introduced tandoori to Des Moines, several places entered the market, but usually with stainless steel and gas simulating clay and charcoal. So, our first mission was to find out if Singh’s oven had been sacrificed to a more “modern” technology. Good news.

“Oh, yes, the oven was the first and most essential thing we moved,” Singh assured us.

Changes at the new place are mostly cosmetic — much higher ceilings, far more light, newer trappings and an expanded parking lot. They translate into much more business. On four visits, we never saw Singh, who always left his kitchen to check on guests at the old place. That’s the only downside to report. His busy kitchen is still full of romance.

In the Punjab, bread, not rice, is the base of the cuisine. Singh’s naans and his whole wheat, unsalted rotis are baked on oven walls. The bread menu also includes some southern Indian starches: deep-fried whole wheat puris; and bhaturas, which are made with refined flours and curds. He also makes paranthas — layered, unleavened flat breads that are treated with clarified butter and griddle fried. Both the naans and the paranthas can be stuffed with potatoes or meats, virtual Sikh pizza. All were superb, and the puris were better than we remember them at the old place, with no traces of the deep fryer.

Mulligatawny soup is a $2 revelation, with essential curries diluted in pure stock. Appetizers were notably affordable, too ($1.25 - $4). Combination platters, all under $5, were an even better deal, particularly for single diners, who also relish the thalis, which offer several small dishes for one price. The best first plates were chicken chat (marinated with tomato and onion in ginger, garlic and lemon); and pakoras (meat and vegetables coated in chick pea flour and fried). Samosas (stuffed pastries) were less exciting.

No other cuisine utilizes the natural assets of fall, namely root vegetables and birds, better than Indian, with its potato curries and tandoori chicken. India Star’s best curries were made with Singh’s fresh, homemade paneers (cheese). He makes four different dhals (lentil or bean stews), including a super rich makhani (tomato, garlic, heavy cream) version in ghee (clarified butter). For meats, the oven stars. Tandoori chicken was marinated in yogurt with a garam masala (garlic, ginger, cumin, cayenne, red chile) and cooked faster and hotter than BBQ or baked chicken is. That’s why it’s juicier. Singh makes whole chickens, half chickens and chicken tikka (boneless pieces). He also cooks lamb, kebabs, fish and shrimp in his tandoor and applies such meats to other dishes, notably the chicken makhani, which should be registered as repeat offender for decadence. The newest entrees, called “karahi,” seemed like misguided attempts to simulate Mexican fajitas.

Desserts included the usual Punjabi suspects — khir (rice pudding); gulab jamun (deep fried donut holes in syrup); ras malai (pistachio cheese in sweet cream); and gajrela, a famed carrot dish of the Mugal court. Plus, there was Singh’s homemade ice cream, with fresh mango topping. A short, inexpensive wine and beer list was available.

Food Skinny

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