Jewel of an opportunity to sample Indian cuisine

Jewel of India deserves a lot of credit simply for bringing an Indian buffet to the Greater Portland.

When you have a craving for Indian food, you want to try everything on the menu. The lunchtime buffet at Jewel of India at least gives you a generous sampling. At $9.95, it's a real bargain.

The restaurant also offers numerous luncheon specials, most of them priced at $6.95, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The original Jewel of India in Biddeford has long had a good reputation for fresh and delicious Indian cuisine. The same family owns the South Portland restaurant, which is located one parking lot over from Ricetta's.

I brought a friend with me who loves Indian food – both eating it and cooking it – as much as I do. We have both learned how to prepare traditional dishes from Indian women who cook luscious feasts for their families every day. We are far from experts, but know good Indian food when we taste it.

There were a couple of dozen other patrons in the dining room the day we went to the restaurant for lunch, and it looked as if just about all of them were there for the buffet.

For the most part, we were impressed by what Jewel of India had to offer. Entrees on the buffet included chicken makhala, tandoori chicken, chicken curry, cauliflower curry, aloo saag (spinach and potatoes) and aloo mutter (peas, tomatoes). There was also, of course, a large pan of basmati rice to go with any of the selections.

Diving into the buffet felt a bit like an Indian Thanksgiving. Putting just a spoonful of everything on your plate manages to fill it up fast. We tried to be reasonable.

Neither of us was crazy about the idea of the tandoori chicken – they were all chicken legs, and we are not chicken leg people – so why not just skip it? Instead, we decided to split one so we could "just taste it." We were pleasantly surprised by how tender and flavorful the meat was.

The dish that stood out to me was the delicious cauliflower curry. The cauliflower florets, prepared with a gram (chickpea) flour, were like tender little dumplings in a golden turmeric gravy. Watch out for the chilis, though. While the overall dish is only moderately spicy, I accidentally bit into one of the chilis that give the dish its heat, and paid the price for it.

You get a lot more than entrees with the buffet. There are pakoras (deep-fried vegetable fritters) for an appetizer, and they were fresh and not greasy like the ones you find at some restaurants. The nan was plentiful, fresh and hot. We both wanted another piece of the bread, but by the end of our meal we were too full to eat anything else.

I was happy to see onion chutney at the buffet, because I love it. I've had onion chutneys that are so good you just want to spoon it directly into your mouth. But this one, I'm sorry to say, was a disappointment. I thought it tasted bitter.

Traditionally, dessert is eaten with the rest of the meal in India, and Jewel of India's buffet included a big bowl of my favorite Indian dessert, kheer.

Kheer is rice slowly cooked in sweet milk, with raisins and nuts (usually pistachios or almonds) added. Homemade kheer takes a long time to make, sort of like a risotto, but it is well worth it. My friend thought the kheer at the buffet didn't have enough cardamom, and we both thought it was too thick. The consistency was probably a result of the dish sitting at the buffet for a while, giving the rice a chance to soak up more of the milk.

My only other criticism, and it is a small one, is that it would have been nice to have two selections of bread. Pooris are impractical in a buffet, but maybe some chapatis or parathas? That's probably asking too much for a buffet that is already a bargain.

If a buffet is too much for you, or if you're a vegetarian who would like more veggie selections, try one of the luncheon specials. There are eight vegetarian dishes, and all but two of them cost only $6.95. Curries come with or without meat, and are priced at $6.95 and $7.95.

No matter which way you decide to go, buffet or special, the Jewel of India is well worth trying.

Jewel of India