Natraj:It’s not just curry

Indian cooking is one of the most artful, varied and complex cuisines in the world, but it seems to have found less favor in Laguna Beach than other ethnic food.

Perhaps this can be attributed to its reputation for spiciness as well as the myth that curry powder (that boring British concoction) is the dominant flavor of Indian food. While there are many dishes called curry, these are created with distinct spice blends that are almost unlimited in their diversity and none bearing any resemblance to that yellow stuff in the bottle. North Indian cooking is known for its delicate flavoring and silky sauces.

The dishes are generally seasoned with mild but highly fragrant spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, mace, nutmeg and clove.

Also characteristic are simple preparations of meat fish and poultry marinated in spiced yogurt for tenderness and then cooked in a very hot tandoori oven (giving it a flavor similar to barbecuing). Indian restaurants here tone down the heat for the American palate or they ask you how hot you like your food.

There is only one Indian restaurant left in Laguna. Natraj has been here for many years, although the original owners sold it in 1992.

One of our favorite things in Indian restaurants is the complimentary starter of pappadums (a paper-thin, deep fried, cracker--like pancake) served with an assortment of sauces. At Natraj, they are served with spicy mint chutney, sweet tamarind sauce and a sour/salty mixed vegetable pickle.

These delicious condiments can be used as dip for the crackers or any of the appetizers. Also served is a dish of raita (a thin yogurt sauce).

We ordered the mixed appetizer plate, which included a samosa (a savory fried pastry with spicy potato filling), vegetable pakoras (a battered cauliflower fritter), an onion bhaji, (a chick-pea flour pancake with onion) and chicken tikka (small pieces of chicken breast cooked in the tandoor).

The menu lists a seekh kabob (ground meat) as part of the appetizer plate but it had gone missing. The bhaji, which is not listed, appeared instead.

The vegetable pakoras were the best of the plate. The samosa, which has often been good here, was not. The outside was neither brown nor crispy, and the filling was tired and pasty. It tasted as if it had been cooked days before and reheated. The chicken tikka was dry and tasteless.

Tikka is marinated in yogurt for tenderness and spices for flavor. This chicken had neither. The bhaji were doughy and greasy. Next time we would skip the appetizers and enjoy the pappadums.

Fortunately, the dishes that followed were better. The garlic naan (a leavened flat bread baked in the tandoor) redolent with fresh chopped garlic and with a nice bit of char from the oven was as good as it gets. Chicken tikka masala is one of the most popular of entrées in Indian restaurants.

In England, the organizers of National Curry Day claim that if all the portions sold in one year in the .United Kingdom were stacked up, they would create a tikka tower 2,770 times higher than the Greenwich Millennium Dome.

The dish consists of pieces of tikka chicken, cooked in a tomato cream sauce seasoned with honey and a spice mélange of ginger, cardamom, cloves and chilies. In fact, Robin Cook, the British foreign secretary, has declared that it is now “a true British national dish.”

Legend has it that one obstinate Englishman demanded gravy on tandoori chicken. A bemused chef responded by adding a pinch of spices to a tin of Campbell’s tomato soup, unwittingly partaking in an early example of fusion cookery and Chicken Tikka Masala was born.

There are innumerable variations of this dish. Each restaurant has its own, and we have tasted a goodly number of them. The Natraj version is a surprising bright cherry red color, but it had the silky texture and complex flavor that one looks for in this sauce.

Unfortunately, the chicken was the same dry tikka chicken that appeared on the appetizer plate. However, it was much better soaked in the tasty sauce. The sauce was also excellent when spooned on the vegetable rice pillau that we ordered.

We highly recommend that when eating an Indian meal, be sure to order at least one dish that comes with lots of sauce so that you can dip your bread in it and spoon some over your rice.

The pillau was chock full of nicely cooked vegetables with a touch of saffron.

Vegetables are in fact an exciting part of Indian cuisine. Vegetarianism is much more common in India, resulting in an array of mouth-watering choices, each with its own interesting blend of spices.

We tried the aloo gobi, which is cauliflower and potatoes sautéed with garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, chili powder and other spices we couldn’t quite identify. It was a delicious combination of flavors with crunchy cauliflower and just the right amount of potato (as in not too much).

In our experience, Indian restaurants, like Chinese restaurants, are hardly famous for their desserts. Both cuisines are known for their extensive menus, but neither have more than a few dessert selections.

Three are offered here: kulfi, which is Indian ice cream with pistachios and almonds; kheer (rice pudding) and gulab jaman, fried dough balls in a sweet syrup.

The rice pudding was almost liquid without the fragrant cardamom flavor which typifies this dessert. The doughnut balls soaked in sugar syrup must be an acquired taste because the syrup makes the doughnuts soggy. We ended up putting them in the rice pudding and they weren’t half bad. Maybe we have invented a new dessert.cpt.21-gourmet-CPhotoInfoPU1T430T20060721j2nzmcncCredit: CHRISTOPHER WAGNER / COASTLINE PILOT Caption: (LA)Tandoori chicken, chicken marinated in yogurt sauce and fresh spices, and chicken curry at Natraj.