Fun Playing With Food in Richmond VA

Once again, we headed for Virginia Beach to ring in the New Year with friends. In order to avoid wasting the first beach day with an all-day drive, we spent the night before in the Short Pump suburb of Richmond VA. Our Richmond resident friend Amy recommended Lehjah, an Indian restaurant literally one step from our chosen hotel. We got there at 9pm, and enjoyed a lovely dinner. Lehjah is not your momma's Indian restaurant - drawing from culinary traditions not restricted to the Punjabi style usually featured in US Indian restaurants, the unusual combinations of spices and seasonings danced on our tongues.  

Special Lamb Appetizer

This tasty cross between a kebab and a kofta (meatball) packed some heat, especially when dipped in either of the two sauces on the plate. A bit of white radish balanced out the spice, which stood up to the lamb but did not overpower it. 

Achari Warqi Paratha - Paratha with Achar (Indian pickles)

The achar cooked into the loaf merely accented the buttery bread, without overtaking it.

Bob's: Chicken Chettinadu: Chicken Morsels, Coconut, Roasted Coriander Powder, Star Anise, Chilies

Mine: Paneer- Asparagus Lazzatdar: Paneer Chunks, Awadhi Style Garlic-Tomato-Cilantro Sauce, Asparagus

Both entrees presented different palates of flavor, and the house made Paneer (cheese) was worth the price of admission all by itself! You can see the Basmati rice, and other omitted photos from this set, by clicking through any photo to the Flickr album. Good thing we stuck to "medium" on the heat with these!

Though our Hyatt House offered a made-to-order eggs breakfast until 9:30am, we decided to hold out for Virginia Chef Peter Chang's latest venture - a noodle and dumpling house literally across the sprawling shopping mall from our hotel.

Dumplings are made by hand

There is a magnificent spread of condiments and sauces to try

The beet-colored one features, well, beets. And ginger. Recommended for the Bao, which we did not sample, I tasted it with the pan fried dumpling and thought it worthy of tasting. 

麻辣牛肉拉面  Mala Beef Noodle Soup

This steamy bowl, combining beef and noodles with Baby Bok Choy, offered a beautiful hit of "ma la" or numbing hot from Szechuan peppercorns. The noodles in this dish, and the Dan Dan Noodles below were also made in house. What a difference a freshly made noodle makes!

四川担担面 Sichuan Dan Dan Noodle, Sichuan bean sprouts, Diced tofu, Scallion

Forget tasting any tofu in the tofu - it merely acted as a foil against the rapier heat of both red chilies and Szechuan peppercorns. Glad we ordered this version "mild."

猪肉饺子或锅贴 Pork Dumplings (Pan-fried), Ground Pork, Napa cabbage, Scallion.

Beautiful made-from-scratch potstickers, served with a garlicky dipping sauce (also available on the condiment bar). These can also be ordered steamed, and the steamed dumplings we saw go by made me regret that we already had leftovers and couldn't try one more bite.

Yes, we sweated a little while enjoying this brunch, but we had fun playing with this food!

Noodles and Dumplings by Peter Chang

11408 W.Broad St., 

Glen Allen,VA 23060

http://www.noodlesdumplings.com

804-918-1352

804-918-1250

918-1352

Fun Playing with Traditional Family Style Indian Food

It was a mere two days after we returned from Destin that we attended a fabulous dining experience at Doug Katz's wonderful restaurant, fire food & drink. We had missed last year's dinner, when Chef Doug teamed up with local Indian cook Radhika Rajwade to create an authentic family-style meal of Indian cuisine, and we were determined that we would not miss this one! A Rose Wine Cocktail began the repast; sorry, I didn't get a photo of it.


Our Hosts: Chefs Doug Katz and Radhika Rajwade

As Chef Doug introduced his cohort, the servers began pouring a variety of three Indian beers, which would continue to flow throughout the meal.


Hari Chutney - Cilantro & Green Chile


Lal Chutney - Red Chile and Garlic

Our table needed repeated refills of these fiery condiments, as all 7 of us were spice lovers!


Achar - Spicy Indian Pickles.

No cucumber = I love these!


Imli Chutney - Tamarind

This was freshly made and offered a sweet counterpoint to the heat of the other condiments.


Dahi Papdi and Ragda Patty

On the left, a house-made flour crisp is topped with Lentils, Potato and Yogurt. To the right, a mashed potato cake topped with chick pea curry.









Chicken Chaat - Indian Chicken Salad

Delicious!


Tandoori Prawns - Tandor-Roasted Shrimp with Indian Spices

I had warned Chef Doug before the meal that, being just off the plane from Florida, he should not be insulted if I found any of the fish or seafood not palatable. This dish surprised me, because although the shrimp was certainly frozen, there were no chemically tastes or smells. It actually was quite good.


Lahori Fish Fry - Spiced Talapia

I cannot say the same for the talapia - the joys of fresh-from-the-water grouper were too close to my memory banks. Though the preparation was lovely, the fish was, well, Cleveland fish.




Mughlai Karu Murgh - Cashew Chicken Curry

This dish was one of my favorites of the evening. As boring as white meat chicken might be - in this dish, it sang in perfect harmony with nutty, spicy, creamy goodness.


Baingan Bharta - Roasted Eggplant

One of my favorite Indian dishes - not too greasy, not too heavy - perfect!


Blurry, Steamed Basmati Rice


Naan - Clay Oven Bread


Aloo Gobi - Cauliflower and Potato Curry

Another delicious and expertly executed dish.


Makhani Macchi - Butter Fish Curry

Alas and alak - I could not get enthusiastic about the fish - though I again loved the preparation. Oh well - more food was coming out to the table!


Kheema Biryani - Spiced Minced Goat, Rice, Saffron and Crispy Onions

This was also one of my favorites. Who knew that goat meat could taste so good! It really stands up to the spices.


Yoghurt

This dip accompanied the Biryani. The yoghurt tasted homemade!


Saag Gosht - Braised Goat and Spinach

Loved this, too.


Badami Matar Paneer - Pea, Cheese and Almond Curry

This was my favorite dish of the night - I'd never had freshly made paneer before, and it was amazing. I was kind of sad that this was the last savory dish, because I did not have much room left to truly appreciate it! Though another round of naan was served with these courses, I was too full to taste any.


Mango Ice Cream with Nan Khatai (Cardamon-Pistachio Cookie)

I had a tough time eating any dessert - as tasty as it was, I was done.


Gajar Halwa - Warm Carrot, Cardamom and Saffron Pudding

I apologize for the lateness of this post - but by COB the day following this dinner, I came down with a nasty cold that got me way behind on a lot of things, including blogging.

If you learn that Radhika Rajwade is cooking somewhere - make a reservation - because we had tremendous fun playing with her artful, tasty food. And the rest of the staff at fire, together with Chef Katz, made this a great evening of fun and food.