One of Taipei's oldest and most reputed Indian restaurants, Tandoor Indian Restaurant, has recently found a new home in the multicultural Tienmu neighborhood serving the same authentic North Indian cuisine and an enchanting interior design mixing elegance with modern chic.
Named after the traditional Indian clay oven, Tandoor takes its native recipes seriously and imports all the spices and herbs from India. For each dish, at least 10 to 12 spices are used.
"Many people ask us if we make changes to appeal to local palates. I always reply that there is no such need since the menu is so extensive, diners are bound to find something to their liking," said manager Monisha Relwani.
PHOTO: HO YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Relwani's confidence is not unfounded since the restaurants experienced Indian chefs study the ancient combinations of spices and are skilled at making over 100 different sauces.
For appetizers, the barbecued delicacies come highly recommended as they are roasted in the tandoor in the traditional way. Seekh kabab (NT$290), or the roasted minced mutton, is one of the most-ordered dishes.
The Indian gravies come in three basic kinds: yellow, which is made of various vegetables and ginger powder; red, which is either tomato or chili-based; and green, which is the spinach-based. The vindaloo is not for the faint-hearted. If you prefer something milder, chicken saagwalla (NT$300) has a slight tang of spices mixed with the fresh flavor of spinach.
Arguably the world's favorite Indian dish, chicken tikka masala (NT$350), cooked with green peppers, onions and spices, is perfect with a basket of garlic naan (NT$70), according to Relwani.
"All our meats are deboned and skinned since North Indian cuisine was traditionally served at the imperial family's dinning table and the royal family liked their food immaculately prepared," the manager explained.
As for the vegetable options, aloo gobi (NT$220), or cauliflower and potatoes cooked with dry herbs and spices and chana masala (NT$220), which is chickpeas cooked in traditional Punjabi style with a thick spicy gravy, are two must-tries for vegetarians.
A tip to Tandoor's customers: ask for a doggie bag for leftovers since the sauces are the soul of the food and excellent seasonings for bread, rice or noodles.
In recent weeks the Trump Administration has been demanding that Taiwan transfer half of its chip manufacturing to the US. In an interview with NewsNation, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said that the US would need 50 percent of domestic chip production to protect Taiwan. He stated, discussing Taiwan’s chip production: “My argument to them was, well, if you have 95 percent, how am I gonna get it to protect you? You’re going to put it on a plane? You’re going to put it on a boat?” The stench of the Trump Administration’s mafia-style notions of “protection” was strong
Every now and then, it’s nice to just point somewhere on a map and head out with no plan. In Taiwan, where convenience reigns, food options are plentiful and people are generally friendly and helpful, this type of trip is that much easier to pull off. One day last November, a spur-of-the-moment day hike in the hills of Chiayi County turned into a surprisingly memorable experience that impressed on me once again how fortunate we all are to call this island home. The scenery I walked through that day — a mix of forest and farms reaching up into the clouds
With one week left until election day, the drama is high in the race for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chair. The race is still potentially wide open between the three frontrunners. The most accurate poll is done by Apollo Survey & Research Co (艾普羅民調公司), which was conducted a week and a half ago with two-thirds of the respondents party members, who are the only ones eligible to vote. For details on the candidates, check the Oct. 4 edition of this column, “A look at the KMT chair candidates” on page 12. The popular frontrunner was 56-year-old Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文)
Oct. 13 to Oct. 19 When ordered to resign from her teaching position in June 1928 due to her husband’s anti-colonial activities, Lin Shih-hao (林氏好) refused to back down. The next day, she still showed up at Tainan Second Preschool, where she was warned that she would be fired if she didn’t comply. Lin continued to ignore the orders and was eventually let go without severance — even losing her pay for that month. Rather than despairing, she found a non-government job and even joined her husband Lu Ping-ting’s (盧丙丁) non-violent resistance and labor rights movements. When the government’s 1931 crackdown
RSS