Delhi Cafe…
…has dangerously spicy but tasty food.
You might have surmised by now that while not a complete wuss, spicy food and I aren’t the best of friends. At Delhi Cafe, the food is super spicy. It’s delicious, yes, but it’s also best to be warned that asking for “medium” heat is no guarantee against some serious mouth burning. We tried to stave off the burn by ordering drinks: a mango lassi for my pal, and a mango milkshake for me. Delhi Cafe was recently India Palace, but under new ownership and with a new name, they offer supremely spicy but tasty food at reasonable prices.
Chili Chicken
Chili Chicken
My foodie pal and I ordered this appetizer because it was recommended by our server. It was flavorful, a combination of sweetness from sauteed onions and searing heat from the chiles they use. The chunks of white meat chicken have a bit of crispy coating, which helps the thick, spicy seasonings really stick. It’s not saucy by any means; rather, the “sauce” element was more like a paste that clung in bits to the food. It prevented the taste from overwhelming the gentle chicken flavor and crisp greenness of the bell peppers.
Sheekh Kabob
Our one non-spicy dish was the sheekh kabob, much like a lula kebab in that it was made of ground meat with spices. In this version, the meat was
Sheekh Kabob
redolent of cumin, coriander, parsley, and onion. A welcome break from the spicy dishes, it was juicy and tender. Since beef isn’t eaten in Indian cuisine, we figured the ground meat was lamb, since that’s what it tasted like.
Vegetable Southern Curry
The menu lists this dish as making use of traditional spices from Southern India, tempered with coconut milk and fresh curry leaves. We ordered the vegetarian version, which included cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and onions. The sauce was velvety smooth, with a slight sweetness from the coconut milk. It was still incredibly spicy, despite the fact that we asked for medium heat. I can’t imagine how much spicier the hot version might be: over the course of this meal, we each drank at least three glasses of water and polished off our respective
Vegetable Curry
creamy mango drinks!
Garlic Naan
The curry comes with your choice of naan or rice, and we opted for the garlic naan. It’s delicately spiced, with minced garlic and parsley studding the flatbread for bursts of flavor. Baked in a tandoori oven, with crisp edges, the bread isn’t chewy but instead is pillowy soft. It’s the perfect vehicle for sopping up spicy curry sauce. Tasty!
Delhi Cafe
7231 Topanga Canyon Blvd, Canoga Park, CA 91303
(818) 348-4454
Garlic Naan