Kanak India Restaurant

FOOD

Kanak’s buffet is a North Indian meal with chicken dishes at the heart of its savory selection. It gives chicken several treatments, from roasted pieces to curries, then brings in chickpeas, seasoned rice, savory pastries and a cool rice pudding. These dishes form part of the changing lunch selection.

Tandoori chicken gives Kanak’s buffet a roasted main dish alongside its curries. The kitchen marinates half chicken in yogurt, mild spices and herbs; on the buffet, the red bone-in pieces are set over sliced onions. Tandoori refers to cooking in the tandoor, the traditional clay oven.

Chicken tikka masala takes lightly broiled chicken into a savory sauce of tomato, onion and butter. Chicken curry is a separate dish: boneless chicken, mildly spiced and served with plenty of gravy.

Chicken vindaloo brings potatoes and chicken together in a tangy, hot sauce. Its sharper seasoning gives the chicken selection another character beside the mildly spiced curry and the butter-enriched tikka masala. Chickpeas have their own place here in chana masala, cooked whole in sauce in Kanak’s North Indian style.

The biryanis deserve attention even when the curries are making a convincing case for plain rice. Chicken biryani combines basmati rice with chicken, peas, nuts and raisins; the rice takes on a golden color in the buffet preparation. Vegetable biryani is a separate selection, blending rice with garden vegetables, nuts and raisins. Basmati is an aromatic long-grain rice, and the nuts and raisins bring another element to these seasoned rice dishes. Plain basmati rice is also offered alongside the curries.

Samosas bring savory filled pastries, traditionally folded and fried, to the appetizer selection. The cold selection includes a mixed vegetable salad of cucumber, tomato, onion and lettuce. Cucumber and onion bring crunch among the leaves and tomato, with raw vegetables providing an accompaniment to the cooked dishes.

For dessert, there’s kheer, the Indian rice pudding traditionally made by simmering rice with milk and sugar. Kanak serves its version cool with pistachios.