Dine Like an Expert at Aangan India Bistro
Plus, a new bread bakery opens in King-Lincoln.
Dine Like an Expert
A Visit to Aangan with Create Your Curry’s Bidisha Nag
We recently had the chance to dine with Dr. Bidisha Nag, the owner and instructor of Create Your Curry, an Indian cooking school in Columbus. Bidisha is a fascinating woman who has a PhD in geography and grew up traveling the world with her shipping engineer father. If you want to learn how to cook Indian food, Bidisha would be a great teacher to choose. She prefers teaching hands-on classes to small groups in her own home.
Recently, we asked Bidisha to recommend a lunch spot, and she suggested Aangan India Bistro which has relocated from Crosswoods to 5855 Frantz Road in Dublin. This was our first visit to the new location.
When Indian restaurants first became common in the U.S., buffets were a staple. They are less common since the pandemic. Over lunch at Aangan, Bidisha shared her expert advice for ordering from an unfamiliar Indian restaurant menu—especially one that doesn’t have the option of a buffet.
Order a variety of dishes to share: Indians typically eat a variety of dishes in one meal, Bidisha says. When eating with a group at an Indian restaurant, the most “authentic” experience would be to share a number of dishes rather than each person ordering individual entrees. This is more akin to a typical Indian home meal where you would have a meat curry or daal as well as a couple of vegetable preparations and rice or bread.
Order a thali: A thali, which includes a variety of dishes in small quantities, is a great option for people dining alone or if you’re dining with people who aren’t in the mood to share. Think of it as the Indian version of a Japanese bento box, a full meal for one person. Aangan offers a thali at lunchtime for $12.99 with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. It consists of three dishes plus naan, rice and gulab jamun for dessert.
Order regional cuisine: India is a huge country with a great deal of regional variation, and Bidisha observes that we are starting to see a greater variety of Indian restaurants in Columbus. She recommends trying to find out what region or state the restaurant owners or its chef are from. Indian restaurants often offer a broad range of dishes, but you may have the best experience eating dishes from their home region. For example, Aangan specializes in Punjabi cuisine from northwest India, and Bidisha suggests asking the server for recommendations. (You may need to make it clear to them that you want to deviate from the stereotypical, “most popular order” of chicken tikka masala.) At Aangan, our server recommended we try Punjabi kadhi (pakoras cooked with chickpea flour and yogurt based sauce), dal makhani (lentils prepared with butter and spices) and kadahi ginger paneer (homemade cheese cooked with onions and bell peppers).
Rice or bread: Once you have established a regional cuisine, it might help you decide whether to choose bread or rice to accompany your meal. Choosing both is fine, too, and thalis will generally come with both. Broadly speaking, people from the north and west of India eat more bread; roti or chapati are typical accompaniments to mop up sauces. In the south and east of the country, rice is the more typical side dish. This is largely due to the climate and where wheat and rice grow best. Because Punjab is in the northwest, Bidisha suggested we order bread with our lunch. One of the breads we enjoyed was paratha, a flaky flatbread that is made by folding the dough repeatedly and laminating with ghee. Paratha is therefore usually thicker than a chapati and can also be filled. Potato parathas are a favorite of mine.
Branch out beyond mango lassis: You may already be very familiar with a mango lassi, a yogurt-based drink. Bidisha recommends trying a salt lassi at your next Indian meal. Instead of blending yogurt with fruit as in a mango lassi, a salt lassi is served with just a little salt and cumin. I found it ideal for counteracting the heat of the dishes, and especially recommend it if you are pushing the bounds of your spice tolerance!
After-meal snack: Don’t miss the mukhwas as you leave the restaurant. You will often find a bowl of colorful looking seeds on the counter near where you pay. This digestive aid, known as mukhwas, is widely used as a breath freshener, especially after meals. It can be made of various seeds and herbs, typically fennel, candied fennel, aniseed and coriander, often with added rock sugar and essential oils. Typically you would eat a small spoonful.
If you are interested in exploring more regional Indian cuisines in Columbus, here are some other ideas:
Hyderabadi food: Hyderabad House, Bawarchi
South Indian: Dosa Corner
Punjabi: Mehak, New India, Doaba
Mumbai street food: Neehee’s
Uttar Pradesh: Awadh
Bengali-inspired: Joya’s Cafe, Agni
Housekeeping
Coming Soon: Our Favorites of 2024
Not exactly a “Best of” list
By Andy Dehus
Let’s be honest, “Best of” lists are a bit of a game. All of us here at The Columbus Foodletter have contributed to them at some point in the past, and all of us have lamented the unearned authority the word “best” is forced to shoulder in service of largely subjective judgements made by committee.
That said, we’re far from immune to the charms of lists, and we know we’re not alone. We do have strong opinions about what’s good, and we won’t let a word like “best” get in the way of sharing them. We’re just going to call them what they are: our favorites.
From now through the end of the year, we will be writing about our favorites in three categories: Favorite Dining Experiences of the Year, Favorite Bites of the Year, and Favorite Sips of the Year.
At the end of the year, these three lists will be compiled into one easy-to-reference location, and linked to their respective writeups in The Columbus Foodletter’s Archive.
Look for our first entry on our Favorite Dining Experiences of the Year list this Thursday—it’s a good one!
Notes
Around the Columbus Food Scene
Let’s hear it for more fresh bread! Yawning Bear Bread Co. holds its grand opening 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, in the King-Lincoln District. The new brick-and-mortar bakery from founder Liz Brett is located at 999 Mt. Vernon Ave. , formerly home to Three Bites Bakery. Brett’s bakery promises classic sourdough loaves, ciabatta, baguettes, focaccia, coffee and more.
Cincinnati-based Taft’s Brewpourium Columbus has closed permanently in Franklinton, according to an announcement on social media. The brewery and New Haven-style pizzeria joined the Gravity development at 440 W. Broad St. almost five years ago.