Side Trip: New House of India

On Wednesday my lovely daughter Katie put together a perfectly delightful birthday surprise party for the charming Marissa at the New House of India in Worcester.  And how often does a surprise party come around?  If you're living my life, not very often, so of course I took a detour from the Shrewsbury Street Shuffle and had a lovely, delightful, and charming meal in Coes Square.  

I didn't even know that Coes Square was an actual place - I've always thought of this plaza as the point at the intersection of Lovell and Park, but the address isn't Lovell or Park...it's 2 Coes Square.  Coes Square?  To a lot of us though, this location will forever be "the place where Tin Tin Buffet used to be" or the place where Cow Farm is.  And that's another thing - Cow Farm?  Has there ever been a stranger name for a store in the middle of what is arguably one of the least farm-like stretches of road in the city of Worcester?  Is there even a tree on that part of Park Ave?  Is there a blade of grass?  Is there a cow?  No to all three, I think, but there is an Indian restaurant.

Now that I think back to the evening, I don't remember ever seeing the word vegan on the menu anywhere and at the time of ordering I assumed that all vegetarian dishes without paneer (a cow milk cheese) would be vegan since all the listed elements of the dishes I ordered were vegetables of some kind.  But in the days that have  followed I've wondered if the dishes were prepared with ghee (clarified butter).  All I know about ghee is that it's not that hard to make and that lots Indian recipes I look up call for it, but is it a feature of Northern Indian food or of Southern Indian food, or is a feature of both?  I just don't know,  and I never thought to ask at the time.  So it's entirely possible that the following dishes weren't necessarily vegan...I'll check the next time I'm there and update.

I can't remember all we had since we shared and shared alike, but here's what stands out from the evening:

Vegetable Samosas - I love these things...or maybe I just love the relishes that you dip them in...I'm a sucker especially for whatever that green sauce is...sweet/spicy heaven

Garlic Naan - totally delectable with visible pieces of chopped garlic on top.  I would have happily eaten a second piece, but I was with people I hardly knew and didn't want to look like a bread hog, so I just spent the bulk of the evening eyeing the last remaining piece that sat in the basket until we packed our to-go boxes.  I think the birthday girl took the last piece.  I can live with that.

Chana Masala - Is there anything more sublime than chickpeas, potatoes, and spicy sauce? No.

Alu Gobi - Cauliflower and potatoes in spicy sauce - soft potatoes and crunchy-soft cauliflower.  Yum.  We ordered both the Chana Masala and the Alu Gobi spicy, but neither seemed particularly spicy to me.

Something involving okra came by and I took some even though I cannot stand okra, but this was pretty tasty.  The okra was sliced into little rings about a half-inch in diameter and fried so they were not exactly crispy, but they were definitely toothsome and not the simultaneously gelatinous and stringy blobs I usually see.  Also, they did not taste like okra at all which made them perfect.

We skipped dessert because we had a stupendous vegan ice-cream cake waiting for us at home.   I'd go back again and try a few more dishes, and maybe get take-out because I've got to say, the atmosphere isn't really all that appealing...unless you need a Bolllywood fix while you dine.