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Cousin Helen went
to India once and never needs prodding to talk about the trip. Nestled
in a cozy Indian restaurant, her tales flow like the Ganges itself:
There’s one about the snake charmer who wouldn’t let her take his
picture unless she gave him 100 rupees. Or the one about the elephant
guide who charged her pennies to ride his lumbering pachyderm down a
canyon, and a hundred times that to get back up. And Helen’s
description of the Taj Mahal—a shimmering marble jewel in a sea
of poverty—is likely to move one to tears.
The
backdrop for her latest reverie proved equally powerful. Karma Kafe, a
stylish “Indian bistro” owned by Mehernosh Daroowalla, host of the
more traditional India on the Hudson in the Mile Square City, offers a
nifty seven-day-a-week lunch special for budget-minded folks who hate
fussing with the menus. Only $8.95 and you can eat for as long as you
can take the heat. Gurmej Singh, the chef, has assembled the perfect
sampler of popular dishes: tandoori chicken, saag paneer (creamed
spinach cooked gently with Singh’s handmade cottage cheese cubes),
dal tandoori (hot lentil sauce) to spoon over your pea-and-rice pulao.
There’s chicken curry, peas and potatoes, and plenty of naan to sop
it all up. Not to mention a bowlful of dill yogurt to cool your palate
for dessert. The regular menu offers Indian dishes for us chic western
types: tandoori wraps and crawfish vindaloo anyone? There’s a hip
looking bar, a window seat, and a television that, alas, does not
broadcast classics from Indian cinema. Your own tales of the East will
have to suffice; Cousin Helen does not do parties.
Karma Kafe, 505 Washington Street,
Hoboken
(201)
610-0900 www.karmakafe.com
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