Star of India Curries Favor but Fails Zest Test

A cook who is caught fiddling around while his food burns is, of course, an execrable cook.

But what does one say about a cook who fiddles around while he should be preparing dishes that are burningly hot?

If the cook in question is Indian, one would have to say that he is not living up to expectations.

La Jolla now has a third (!) Indian restaurant, the Star of India, which is the second to open this year, and which endows this seaside neighborhood with fully three-quarters of the Indian eateries in the county (the fourth is in Clairemont). As likable as Indian food is, it has never gained much of a toehold in these parts, and it is quite astonishing to suddenly find such a concentration of Indian places within a few blocks of one another. The other two La Jolla restaurants are Ashoka, on lower Girard Avenue, and Desmond’s, on Pearl Street.

Demographics aside, the Star of India is in many respects an enjoyable restaurant, although its kitchen and/or management seem to be suffering a crisis of confidence in terms of how strongly to season the food. Rightly or wrongly, one expects Indian dishes in general, and curries in particular, to carry a spicy and unmistakable wallop. This writer’s stated preference always has been for a curry that not only provokes a heavy sweat, but quite literally makes the ears burn.

Star of India errs in the direction of timidity. For example, an otherwise lovely and elegant lamb shahi korma (a curry that incorporates egg in its garnish) seemed like nothing so much as a lamb Stroganoff, which was indeed a surprise. The sauce was marvelously rich and creamy, quite a switch from the curdled muddle of oil, yogurt and spices that usually constitutes a restaurant curry, but it was so faintly seasoned that it could have been French.

There is no rule that dictates that every Indian dish must be spicy and/or hot, but curries by definition can be expected to have a punch, while this dish could have been served at a nursery luncheon. The shahi korma further had been ordered “medium,” which on the Indian scale is about as hot as the average Westerner is likely to find tolerable. Several other dishes also were exceptionally mild, which leads to the assumption that the kitchen is unsure of itself and its clientele, and is afraid to offend.

The interesting fact about all this is that the kitchen unquestionably does know how to prepare foods every bit as hot and spicy as they should be. A trio of condiments appears on the table early in the meal and stays throughout; almost all are homemade and, in keeping with Indian custom, they are pleasantly fiery. The exception to this would be the sweet mango chutney but, over the course of two visits, Star of India also offered a creamy mint chutney that behind its refreshing and sweet facade hid a wealth of potent minced green chili peppers. (This is one of those exemplars of Eastern cookery that makes itself felt several moments after ingestion.) Fresh carrot pickles, tiny, teasing chunks flavored with black mustard seed, ginger and other good things, were similarly refreshing and potent, as were the fresh lime pickles, a condiment that for sheer pungent piquancy would be hard to top.

Surprising Menu

The menu has surprising depth. It offers a more than generous selection of curries and appetizers, but is especially notable for its list of breads (bread is as much a mainstay of the contemporary Indian table as it traditionally was of the European and American) and for its Tandoori specialties.

Tandoori foods are anything cooked in a tandoor, a cylindrical clay oven that ideally reaches temperatures of 800 degrees Fahrenheit and more. Food placed in such super-heated air is instantly sealed, so that all juices are intact, and, of course, it also cooks quite rapidly. Rather than being sauced, Tandoori items usually are marinated in a spice mixture, for two reasons: Since the moisture is sealed in, a sauce is unnecessary, and a sauce also would take the edge off the excellent crust the meat receives in the tandoor process.

The Tandoori chicken takes on an unnatural pink shade during the cooking process, thanks to the superabundance of paprika used in the marinade. The flavor is excellent--the natural succulence of really well-cooked chicken shines through every bite.

The booti kabab, or small cubes of mildly spiced lamb cooked in the tandoor, is likable for the same qualities. Perhaps the most elegant of the Tandoori dishes is the bara kabab, which substitutes lamb chops for cubes, and the fish tikka may also be interesting, if the fine quaility of the fish used in a pakora (one of a family of appetizers dipped in chickpea flour batter, and fried) is any indication.

Different Curries

Of the curries sampled, the prawn bhuna (the menu says prawns, although small shrimp are used) and the neelgiri khorma, or lamb in spiced, creamed spinach, were the most interesting. The kitchen actually let itself go with the shrimp and added a deliciously hot blend of spices to the tomato-based sauce. The lamb in spinach sauce, though ridiculously mild, was quite flavorful, and made an excellent topping for the superior basmati rice that accompanied it and every other entree.

A real delicacy characterized the sauce for the chicken shahjahani, a restrained curry that, like several dishes, featured an abundance of sauce and a decided paucity of meat. The list of chicken curries is long, and other choices would be the makhanwala , which incorporates much butter, an item that the Indians sometimes use with abandon; chicken saag , or chicken cooked in a creamed spinach mixture similar to that used for lamb, and chicken masala , which is sauced with tomatoes and sprinkled with spices.

Star of India also makes a specialty of vegetarian curries, among which are mattar paneer , a blend of peas and paneer , the fresh cheese made daily in millions of Indian homes; dhal makhni, or spiced lentils, another mainstay of the Indian table; bengan bhartha, or eggplant and onions roasted in the tandoo r, and vegetable kofta, or vegetable balls in a spiced sauce. These dishes are quite inexpensive.

The plate of assorted appetizers gives a good introduction to Star of India’s talents and restraints.

Among the breads, the papadum (crisp, wafer-like breads made from lentil flour) are second-rate, but the hot-from-the-griddle aloo paratha, or whole wheat flat breads stuffed with cilantro and spiced potatoes and peas, are exquisite.

The surroundings are pleasant enough and, except for the addition of a few Indian paintings, are virtually unchanged from the days when the premises housed first the Anglo-Mexican Pancho Wellington’s, and then the Chinese Monkee’s.

STAR OF INDIA

1025 Prospect St., La Jolla

459-3355

Lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily; dinner from 5:30-10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 5:30 p.m.-midnight Friday and Saturday; 5:30-11 p.m. Sunday.

Credit cards accepted.

Dinner for two, including tax and tip, $20 to $50.