I was born in New Delhi, India and grew up on Punjabi food. There is growing interest in Indian food in the US but not much clarity about what people are eating. The American Indian restaurants tend to create a menu that includes everything that the locals (mostly non-Indian Americans) tend to order, irrespective of which part of India it comes from. This is understandable as a business model but doesn't do much for education.
As is normal in India, the way to identify a restaurant is by referring to it by the region it comes from. There are app. 25 states in India, each with a different language, dress code and of course, cooking style. Although Punjabi (from the state of Punjab) cuisine is widely available all over the US, other regional restaurants (Gujarati, Bengali, Malayali, Andhra style; the list goes on) are beginning to pop up all over LA.
As far as Punjabi cuisine is concerned, generally speaking, there are two styles. The first is Mughalai, referring to the Mughal dynasty, in power mostly in the northern part of India for 3 centuries beginning the mid 1500s. This is a ?royal? cuisine, very meat centric and characterized by rich and complex recipes involving exotic ingredients. This is where you will find nuts, dried fruits, heavy sauces with cream, saffron etc. prepared laboriously, sometimes over days. The other Punjabi cuisine is the artisanal food eaten by the vast majority of people, which tends to be more vegetarian. This type of food is bold rather than subtle. Expect to bite into chunks of ingredients such as julienned ginger, raw onions, whole black peppercorns, uncut green chillies, pomegranate seeds, cardamom etc. Some of the signature Punjabi dishes that are hugely popular throughout India include kaali daal (black lentils), chhole (garbanzo beans), saag (spinach or mustard leaves pureed), gobi (cauliflower), bhindi (okra), bharta (roasted and smushed eggplant) raajma (kidney beans) kadhi (yogurt/chickpea flour curry), chicken curry, tandoori chicken and mutton curry (which is actually goat curry). (There are other things like samosas, paranthas and lassis that are also in great demand but these are more snacky in nature). There are two versions of this type of cooking - one is termed 'homestyle' food, which is a milder, everyday version. The other, over-the-top version, is the ?dhaba? style, named after the Punjabi word for a roadside truck-stop where the beer is cold and the food is extra spicy. They have a limited menu - a daal (lentil curry) or two, a couple of veggies, tandoori chicken, goat curry and some naan or roti (unleavened breads made in the tandoor). That?s it!
Coming back to Ambala Dhaba, as the name suggests, it represents the dhaba style of cooking. As far as I am concerned, this is my favorite sit-down restaurant for this type of food (and I have lived in LA for over 25 years and tried them all!). I always order kaali daal (black lentils), accompanied by a chicken dish (they have several to choose from), bharta (eggplant), saag or goat curry. The breads are great too, especially the tandoori parantha. And of course, some raw onions and green chillies on the side! I do, however, ask them to ramp up the spice level in my food as I would expect nothing less from a real dhaba.
Is this as good as it gets in India? Certainly not, but it still is the best in LA. Whenever I hanker for the old days, this is where I head.
Is this type of food for everyone? Chili-heads will love it.; if you want to push the envelope, this is for you. But if you are not there yet, then no guarantees for what comes out of a watered-down, oxymoron version.
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