Flavors

FOOD

Flavors’ lunch buffet brings Indian curries and Indo-Chinese cooking into the same meal. Chicken dishes share the selection with a substantial vegetarian range, including two different paneer preparations, slow-cooked lentils and vegetable biryani. Fried appetizers, noodles and naan extend the meal beyond the curry pots, with gulab jamun among the sweets. The selection changes, but these dishes give a sense of its breadth.

Butter chicken is one of the familiar choices, with chicken in a rich, buttery tomato sauce. Its gently rounded sauce belongs to a different style of cooking from the Indo-Chinese chicken Manchurian. It is also a natural companion for naan, with pieces of bread used to gather the gravy along with the chicken.

Paneer butter masala brings fresh cheese into a creamy, spiced sauce. Paneer is a mild, unaged cheese that retains its shape during cooking, remaining in pieces rather than melting into the curry. Paneer kadai offers a contrasting preparation, wok-tossed with a thick sauce, bell peppers and Indian spices. Kadai names the deep, curved cooking pan associated with the dish. The two preparations give the same ingredient quite different surroundings, one centered on a creamy gravy and the other on peppers and spices.

Dal makhani adds another substantial vegetarian curry. Flavors describes its preparation as slow-cooked black lentils in a creamy, buttery sauce. Long cooking gives the pulses a soft consistency, while the dairy enriches the finished dish. Makhani refers to butter, a useful clue to the style. This is a richer preparation than a brothy lentil soup, with enough substance to sit alongside the paneer and chicken curries as a main dish.

Vegetable biryani gives the rice its own place in lunch, rather than simply serving as an accompaniment to curry. The restaurant’s vegetable dum biryani is a slow-cooked, layered preparation with fragrant spices. Dum cooking holds steam within the cooking vessel, allowing the rice, vegetables and seasonings to cook together. The result is a composed rice dish, part of the same broad biryani tradition found in the restaurant’s meat preparations.

Chicken Manchurian represents the Indo-Chinese side of the selection. This sauced chicken dish belongs to a style of cooking that adapts Chinese techniques and influences to Indian tastes. Indo-Chinese noodles broaden that part of the meal further, offering an alternative to the biryani and breads without leaving the kitchen’s Indian and Indo-Chinese focus.

Pakoras bring fried appetizers to the spread. These Indian fritters traditionally use a seasoned batter, often based on chickpea flour, with fillings that vary by preparation. Naan supplies the soft, leavened bread alongside the curries, particularly useful with the butter chicken, paneer sauces and dal.

Gulab jamun provides a traditional Indian finish. These small fried, milk-based sweets are soaked in syrup, giving them their characteristic soft texture and sweetness. They make a distinct dessert course after the savory dishes.