Tas T. Budds discovers some very innovative Indian food in Dubai


Jashan restaurant
Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai

I hate a restaurant that overdoes the Indian bit. You know, things like Benares lamps and brass elephants and all men wearing bright red turbans. Thankfully, Jashan, a restaurant on Sheikh Zayed Road between The Fairmont Dubai and The Crowne Plaza Hotel, has none of that. Instead, it has pretty ethnic touches, good lighting and tables set comfortably far apart.

We were there for dinner, four of us. We knew they did a buffet lunch for Dh25, but we wanted to have a slow, relaxed meal. So dinner it was.

After we finished ordering, we panicked a little. We'd ordered over 10 dishes! Don't worry, said manager Troy, just enjoy yourself, we'll take care of everything else.

And they did. The food arrived steadily, was served very graciously and anytime we wanted to know more about a dish, they gave us the details.

We began with savoury starters - Murg Hari Mirch, the boneless chicken stir fried in a delicate coriander-based sauce; Makkai Paneer Ke Pakore, delicious cottage cheese and corn fritters; and Macchi Chatpati, batter-fried slices of marinated fish. Very good.

We moved seamlessly on to kebabs, picking our favourite pieces of meat and chicken from the Tarah Tarah Ke Kebab platter. We had some good Sheekh Kebabs, some very soft Boti, a slightly spicy Tandoori Murg and more. I'd asked for just two pieces of Tandoori Bharwan Aloo, baked potatoes stuffed with cottage cheese. I loved it. We crowned the kebab round with the Tandoori Sooaa Jhinga, the king prawns marinated with fresh dill, ginger and spices, tenderly charcoal grilled. Truly delicious.

We asked for a break and sat around talking, laughing, drinking sweet-sour thick lassi flavoured with fresh mango juice. Then our main courses arrived. Without another word, we started eating, picking and choosing from the grand spread. There was a traditional Goan prawn curry (hot and nice), an unusual Bhape Chingre (marinated and steamed prawns, a Bengali delicacy), some very tasty Murg Tikka Jhalfraizie (boneless chicken stir fired with bits of veggies) and a Tava Se Gosht Mirch Masala (to-die-for lamb cooked with heavenly spices). We also tried bits of the creamy Nilgiri (meat) Korma, and the very different Pahadi Kukkad (a "tribal chicken" that was tasty and spicy).

I was the only one who ate the Dal Makhni (black dal) and the Mattar Paneer (cottage cheese and peas) and was glad I did. We ended with some flavoursome Murg (chicken) Dum Biryani and Murg Kulcha Reshmi (a very interesting chicken-mince stuffed bread).

We had room for nothing more, but just had to try the desserts. So we had tiny, tiny spoons of Rasmalai (cottage cheese dumplings in sweetened milk), Gulab Jamun (fried cottage cheese dumplings in syrup) and a Kesar Badam Bahar (the Indian ice cream, Kulfi, topped with saffron sauce and sliced almonds).

We could barely get up after the meal...

Food was excellent. I was especially impressed by the many innovations and extra touches added to traditional recipes. The service was splendid, friendly, efficient and knowledgeable. The prices are reasonable -chicken dishes cost around Dh22 - and we left very, very happy.

Before we'd left home, my dining partners had been complaining about me always wanting to eat Indian. I smirked all the way home. Because after a meal like that, I know I'll never be short of company when I want to eat Indian out.