Best Indian Restaurant Dishes if You Don't Like Curry

Someone said this to our server last week: "My wife loves Indian food. I don't like curry. Am I going to starve?"

No. And honestly, "curry" as a category is a bit of a British invention anyway. In a Punjabi or Pakistani kitchen like ours, plenty of the best food never touches a gravy.

Anything from the tandoor

This is the whole answer for most people. Our clay oven turns out chicken tikka, tandoori chicken on the bone, seekh kebab, malai boti, lamb chops, and paneer tikka. Marinated in yogurt and spice, cooked over fire, served with onions and mint chutney. No sauce, no gravy, nothing to hide behind.

Karahi and bhuna — cooked down, not soupy

If it's the *texture* of loose gravy you dislike rather than the spices, karahi is your dish. Meat is seared in a wok-style pan with tomato, ginger and green chili until the liquid cooks off and clings to the meat. It's closer to a stir-fry than a stew.

Biryani, on its own

A proper biryani is a full meal. Layered basmati, whole spices, meat cooked into the rice. People sometimes order it as a side, then realize halfway through it was the best thing on the table.

Starters as a whole dinner

Nothing wrong with building a meal out of appetizers. Samosas, pakoras, chaat, seekh kebab, and a stack of naan is a genuinely great order — we see groups do it at our banquet hall all the time.

Bread and something to dip

Garlic naan, paratha, or roti with raita and chutney is comfort food at its simplest. Add grilled meat and you're done.

What to tell your server

Just say it plainly: "I'm not into heavy sauces — what's dry or grilled?" Any decent Indian restaurant will have five answers ready. Ours does.

Have a look at the tandoor section of our menu, or order online and start with a mixed grill platter. The Namak is at 848 Willow Ave in Hercules — details on our contact page.