I hadn't expected to find Indian food in Las Vegas, and certainly not a restaurant as good as Origin India.
The only flaw I could find is that it is not in Los Angeles, closer to my home.
Executive chef Kuldeep Singh is updating Indian cuisine in a way that preserves its identity--no awkward fusion concepts. The dishes simply become more refined, more appealing, more interesting.
He might stuff a roast chicken with wild mushrooms and black prunes and serve it with a cashew mint korma sauce touched with truffle oil. Or he'll roast wild Atlantic black salmon that he has marinated in pickling spices and present it with apple fennel salad and roasted beets.
I didn't taste those dishes, but I did try rogan josh in which Singh replaced the usual cubed meat with lamb shank, cooked until seductively tender (at left in the photo).
The other dishes in the photo are chicken tikka makhani, or tandoori-grilled chicken chunks in a tomato sauce with cream; garlic shrimp, yellow rice and kadhi pakora, or gram flour and vegetable dumplings in a yogurt-based sauce.
Sometimes presentation makes the difference. The street snack pani puri appeared as a sort of shooter. Usually, it's a plate of small fried puffs (puri) that are stuffed with chick peas and potatoes and splashed with spicy sauce flavored with tamarind. Singh put the spicy mixture into a shot glass and set the puri on top.
Origin India's menu is primarily north Indian (Singh is from Meerut in that region), but he cooks southern dishes too, such as South Indian lemon rice with curry leaves and black mustard seeds, a lamb curry from Tamil Nadu, and baked eggplant in a Hyderabadi sesame peanut sauce tempered with fried curry leaves, mustard seeds and red chiles.
Naans include one with wild mushrooms and truffle oil and a sweet naan with apricots and raisins.
Singh will compose a five course tasting menu ($45) with optional wine pairings. My lunch included the appetizer plate at right, composed of a single seekh kebab, tandoori chicken decorated with edible silver leaf and a tiger prawn seasoned with kaffir lime leaves. The shrimp sound Thai, but kaffir limes grow in India too, Singh said.
The bar offers signature cocktails and a long list of beers. But the best beverage may be Singh's own sparkly, spicy homemade ginger ale.
No surprise that his cooking has captured national attention. In February, Singh was guest chef at the Beard House in New York City.
The only dishes on that menu that I tasted at Origin India were crispy dumplings with masala water (pani puri) and the dessert, vermicelli panna cotta with Alphonso mango jelly.
It was another dessert, though, that really intrigued me--a dark red, sweet beet dumpling coated with coconut. Singh put it on a plate with the panna cotta, and it very nearly stole the show.
Origin India Restaurant and Bar, 4480 Paradise Road, No. 1200, across from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV 89169. Tel: (702) 734-6342.
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