Daily Herald
Saffron morphs into fusion fare
Leah A. Zeldes (Jun. 13, 2008)
You might not have noticed the change to the sign outside, but the short-lived Saffron Restaurant and Sweets storefront in Schaumburg recently morphed into Saffron Indiancredit card generator Restaurant. New owner Amit Contractor, a career-changing computer programmer, took over the small restaurant in April, changing the formerly Pakistani menu to an Indian and Desi focus.
"Desi," which literally translates as "of the country" in Hindi and Urdu, is a term often applied to
ramon j sender california people of South Asian heritage living outside the Indian subcontinent. When it comes to food, it connotes what you might call "fusion" fare. For example, chicken tikka masala, a famous dish of roast chicken in a creamy tomato-based sauce, served in Indian restaurants throughout North America
blusa falda medias and Great Britain, was reportedly invented in Glasgow, Scotland.
Saffron doesn't offer that dish but instead paneer tikka masala, made with fresh Indian-style cheese. You'll also find items such as gyros, a house burger zipped up with Indian spices, masala-seasoned onion rings and delightful specialty pizzas.
The Indian-influenced pizzas start with an almost paper-thin crispy crust and add a choice of cilantro-mint chutney or spicy tomato-chili sauce in lieu of Italian-American marinara. I tried one of the house specialties, the fiery tehalka ("sensation" in Hindi), a disk topped with
suzuki cars spiced chicken, onions, garlic and hot green chilies over tomato-chili sauce. Yikes! It's not for the faint of palate.
Other pizzas include the palak paneer, with spinach and cheese, and the "Saffron supreme," with ground beef or chicken, mushrooms, onion and green pepper, plus
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encuestas usa toppings from a list featuring paneer, tandoori chicken and gyros.
Traditional fare from northern India also features on the menu. Contractor, who immigrated to the U.S. eight years ago, is a native of Gujarat in western India, bordering Pakistan, and a few dishes represent
celular phone sales in new jersey u s the cuisine of that region, notably the tawa fry eggplant with potatoes. Prepared in a tawa, a flat Indian frying pan, this unique and appetizing dish presents small Indian eggplants coated with chopped peanuts and a variety of seeds and spices and dry-fried with thinly sliced potatoes.
Starters and snacks include excellent samosas, crunchy fried-pastry pyramids stuffed with well-seasoned chicken or potatoes, and chutney puri, walnut-sized, delicately brittle shells filled with a mixture of diced tomato, onion, cold potato and cilantro and drizzled with sweet tamarind chutney.
Other specialties
safety cars es include spicy Chinese-influenced chicken "chilly"; butter chicken; shrimp masala; and a good version of the layered basmati rice dish biryani, made with your choice of chicken or tender, flavorful "mutton" (actually bone-in goat meat). Paratha rolls, the Indian version of burritos, include roast chicken, beef, paneer and
tu y yo ya no se va a usar lyrics vegetable choices, wrapped in pancake-like flatbreads.
Ice Cream choices are limited to Eli's Cheesecake, packaged kulfi (Indian-style ice cream) and gulab jamun (dough balls in syrup). Beverages include cool, tart mango lassi (yogurt shakes) and canned sodas from a corner cooler.
"Saffron"
electric light orchestra telephone line implies something rich and costly, but this small eatery has a casual, fast-food ambience, and entree prices are reasonable. The food comes out on disposable plates with plastic sporks for utensils. The restaurant currently seats 16, although Contractor plans to add more tables soon.
