Feed your senses at Saybrook's Shakahari

January 11, 2017 11:01 pm • Last Updated: January 12, 2017 5:18 pm

From bottom left, Aloo Gobi, kachumber and Veg Biryani at Shakahari in Old Saybrook (Marisa Nadolny/The Day)
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It was 18 degrees the night we went for dinner at Shakahari in Old Saybrook. Neither of us was eager to leave the warm house. By the time we had sampled our first dish, we were very, very glad we did.

Beyond the warming nature of Indian food thanks to its characteristic spices, the chill of the night fell away after a warm welcome from the restaurant’s staff: on this night, the waiter/host and his mother, who does all the cooking. Mom welcomed us with a smile when we entered, and an evening of easy conversation followed with our waiter — complete with recommendations, a little history, and insight on other Indian restaurants in Connecticut.

Among his recommendations was a dish on the Starters menu called Patra ($5). I’d seen another recommendation for this dish online, and in reading its description (and researching its ingredients), we were intrigued and ordered it with a bowl of daal to start.

Patra is cooked colocasia leaves (from the plant in the family Araceae, commonly called Elephant Ears) combined with chickpea flour, carom seed, lemon and jaggery. (Per Wikipedia, jaggery is “a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar ... It is a concentrated product of date, cane juice, or palm sap (see palm sugar) without separation of the molasses and crystals ...”)

How could we not try it?

And having tried it, I join the choir of folks who have thumbs-upped this dish. The sum of the parts was remarkably delicious. From its great texture, thanks to the greens themselves, which were rolled and coated in the toasty flour, to the sugar and spices mixed in, we enjoyed every nuance of this dish. The flavors sort of unfold in stages: first a burst of bread-y flavor from the flour, then the mellow greens, and then the wonderful spice mixture that starts spicy and finishes sweet.

Mid-self-congratulation for picking such a winner, our order of daal ($5) arrived. Past renditions of daal I’ve tried were thicker, yellow split-pea-like stews, which I love; Shakahari’s is a broth-y concoction that’s more orange than yellow — possibly from the addition of tomato. A base of carmelized onions and magic (maybe ghee?) plus pigeon peas reduced to their magnificent liquid essence yields a light, bright almost buttery dish with a slight spice kick. It is exactly what is needed on a New England January night, and you will feel renewed and happy upon eating this soup.

Between sips of very good mango lassi ($3) and fresh, homemade masala chai ($3), we puzzled over what to order for dinner. We seriously would have tried any of the six or so dishes on the entree menu. (Note: menu items will rotate occasionally.) After consulting our waiter, who noted spice levels of any dish could be customized, we ordered Veg Biryani ($10; ordered medium spicy) and Aloo Gobi ($13; spicy).

The Veg Biryani is a basmati rice dish with mixed vegetables and spices, plus a few hunks of cottage cheese (paneer). Generally, paneer serves as a fun chewy tidbit with which to sop up your savory sauces. In the biryani, it did take on the flavor of the dish’s spices, but the spices amplified the basic flavor of the cheese. It was wonderful synergy and the best preparation of it I’ve ever tasted. Tossed with the perfectly cooked rice and the accompanying peas, green beans, cauliflower, spices and cilantro, this dish is a multi-sensory pleasure: it smells great, it’s colorful, and it’s bursting with dynamic flavor — a dash of lemon juice made everything pop even more. It’s also filling, especially paired with the potato-stuffed whole-wheat flatbread, Aloo Paratha ($5), I ordered with it. (I challenge you to stop eating once you’ve tasted either one.)

You’d think whole-wheat bread might be a bore. When it is brushed with olive oil and lightly fried, and the flour is apparently fresh and well-sourced and THEN stuffed with spiced mashed potato, it is anything but boring. It is fabulous. My husband’s order of Paratha ($4; all of the above without the potato filling) proves the power of a well-crafted whole-wheat bread, because it, too, was a wonderful accompaniment to “his” Aloo Gobi (which we split). Both breads also went well with the palate-cooling and tangy home-made yogurt that arrived with our dinners and the side of kachumber ($2) — quite spicy onions and chili peppers topped with spices and lemon — we ordered as an versatile add-on.

The bread is particularly useful with Shakahari’s Aloo Gobi because it is served in a sauce that is begging to be scooped up in something — either the perfect basmati rice that came with it or some bread. The starches beautifully amplify the dish’s spicy tomato-based sauce that is somehow both savory and bright and mildly buttery (maybe from a dash of cream?). The potatoes and cauliflower that make up the rest of the dish offer an earthy base to counter some of the spicy heat and to fill the belly. It’s another dish that’s enjoyable from nose to palate.

As this report might indicate, Shakahari is a vegetarian restaurant. (“Shakahari” means vegetarian or vegan in Hindi.) Good news for some, a reason to pause for others (indeed, two friends declined to come with us because they weren’t sure they’d find anything they'd like to eat). Please do not be put off by the meatless menu; you’ll be amazed by the wizardry that can happen when food is prepared by an able chef armed with creativity and a respect for tradition. Your meal will be fresh, flavorful and served with such care, you’ll feel like family.

The very delicious Patra appetizer at Shakahari in Old Saybrook; it's made from colocasia leaves, chickpea flour and a fabulous spice mix. (Marisa Nadolny/The Day)
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