Mynt Fine Indian Cuisine

FOOD

Mynt’s weekend feast is a good occasion to loosen your allegiance to one favorite curry. Goat is part of the invitation, simmered into a rich curry that gives meat lovers a reason to branch out from chicken. Saturday and Sunday lunch has the unhurried feel of a neighborhood meal worth settling into. The spread can vary, including the dishes described here, so leave a little room for surprise. Your usual order will survive the temporary disloyalty.

That slow curry cooking has a lively companion in the tandoori dishes. Mynt’s kebabs begin with spice marinades and grilling, bringing char into a lunch with plenty of simmered sauces. Curry devotees and tandoori fans can make a happy lunch of that combination. A helping of goat and a kebab can belong to the same meal, with freshly baked naan close at hand.

Chicken brings its own familiar comforts. For tikka masala, the yogurt-and-spice marinade comes first, followed by simmering in a creamy tomato sauce. Butter chicken takes chicken pieces into another rich, spiced tomato-and-cream sauce. For creamy-curry devotees, either makes a comforting place to start a leisurely lunch. And there’s nothing wrong with a little loyalty after all. Enjoying a favorite here still leaves room for the kitchen’s vegetables and rice.

Those vegetables have more to say than “something green on the side.” Aloo gobi gives potatoes and cauliflower a seasoning of turmeric, cumin and coriander. Palak paneer brings creamy spinach and soft cheese, a substantial green curry beside the spiced potatoes. Together they make a vegetarian lunch with two quite different personalities: the warm spice blend of aloo gobi and the richness of spinach with paneer. Meat eaters are very much welcome to take an interest.

Biryani keeps that interest going, carrying the kitchen’s spicing into basmati rice with meat or vegetables, depending on the version offered. For a biryani lover, the spiced basmati can be as compelling as any curry. Raita adds cucumber and spices to yogurt for a cooler accompaniment. Then there’s the naan: freshly baked, warm and fluffy. Some of us need very little persuasion where Indian bread is concerned.

Golden samosas and house-made chutneys bring a smaller, livelier bite into the feast. When the vegetable version is offered, Mynt’s samosa recipe folds spiced potatoes and peas into a deep-fried pastry shell, paired by the kitchen with tangy tamarind chutney. That tartness against the seasoned filling is a welcome part of the meal. The chutneys are made in-house, a detail worth appreciating amid all the attention naturally paid to the curries.

Gulab jamun closes on a sweet note: milk solids made into small sweets, soaked in syrup and flavored with cardamom. After the goat curry, tandoori cooking and spiced vegetables, a compact dessert feels entirely right. There needn’t be a grand finale. A little cardamom sweetness is a lovely way to let a generous Indian lunch come to a gentle stop.