Given the sorry state of this DOTM… my contribution. Chana bhatura & sav poori
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Hi @J_L -
[quote=“J_L, post:38, topic:5387”]
There are other countries in South Asia besides India. Indonesia, for example.
[/quote]Yes, I’ve been thinking about that too and managed to find a strictly Afghan (improper?) restaurant, not an amalgam of various regions. It’s a place I’ve been going to for a while, but didn’t realize the significance until researching places for this thread. We’re going this weekend; report to follow.
But, I didn’t realize we could have included Indonesian. I would have been all over that.
Oh well…
Meant to say that I did not attend the popup, but went to the actual restaurant in NYC. Since they had a popup here, I felt it appropriate to post in the LA forum. 
The tasting menu is available at the bar, but I wasn’t that hungry and went a la carte:
potato sphere chaat - all the authentic flavors of a traditional chaat dish done in a slightly elevated way, the sphere was stuffed with sev, really great stuff.
pathar beef kebab, bone marrow - how often do you have beef on top of bone marrow. A truly decadent and delicious dish, though didn’t taste all the Indian to me. The kebab had mild flavors akin to lamb kebabs served in India, but less spicy.
chicken kofta, punjabi kadhi, onion pakora - Combines two or three different indian dishes into one, thought it was miraculous. In particular, the slightly sour punjabi curry sauce really made the dish.
naan stuffed with goat cheese - needed more goat cheese inside, but was fine
naan stuffed with pastrami and mustard - really good combo, but no indian
Overall, one of the best meals I’ve had in a while, because tasting traditional Indian flavors in new ways just doesn’t happen that often. Very high level cooking. Excellent cocktails. All in was about $125 with 3 drinks. If I was more hungry, I would have liked to try the saag with corn roti.
A little expensive to do all the time, but I hope they open a location in California.
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i note that some folks value listing places one has been, even if not recently. alas, other than BKH i had not much else, unless we go eastward and include indonesia malaysia what have you yet exclude thai & vietnamese which seems to stand on its own.
A&J in elmonte deserves a plug for concentrating on being laotian vs. folding back into all the neighboring thai cuisine.
little malaysia in elmonte has morphed into a burmese restaurant but i understand that they retain a lot of the LM menu.
most of the good cambodian stuff is down in long beach (though IIRC siem reap is gone) , but there’s a cambodian hole in the wall in chinatown called golden lake that offers some very affordable lunch specials.
Hi @secretasianman -
See, I consider those to be Southeast Asian, which I just nominated for May DoTM. It has a wider range and could be really yummy & fun.
Not that I’m trying to sway your nomination or anything.
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lately i’ve rarely voted and nominated even less, for reasons that really don’t apply anymore. if we were going to do SE asian, i would add the caveat of excluding thai & vietnamese since those cuisines already possess a fair amount of traction, so to speak.
Hi @secretasianman -
No worries, it didn’t rank; maybe for the reasons you gave (been there done that). But we’ve also done fruit, which seems to be taking the lead. I’m actually happy about that. South Asian month almost sent me to the hospital 
. But it’s been tasty, although somewhat confusing. I plan on continuing to explore… once my stomach says it’s okay.
I’ll throw SE Asian out there again some time.
Happy Fruit Eating 
!
P.S. I’m curious about why you don’t nominate or vote anymore.
Hi @TheCookie,
Yikes! I hope you’re feeling better soon. 
Which restaurants messed you up? (so I know to avoid them. ;))
Hi @Chowseeker1999 -
Hah! No, it wasn’t food borne illness or anything. I had an inflammation in my back and rib cage (costochondritis). When it’s severe you feel like you’re having a heart attack. It’s usually caused by strain or over-activity. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence mine flared-up during this month of spiciness. Any doctors out there can correct me though.
I must be getting really comfortable with y’all. I’m sharing my medical history 
.
Looking forward to fruit! 
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Oh OK, glad it wasn’t food poisoning. Phew!
Fruit?! I thought you liked Salad? 
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I would love salad, but last I checked fruit was ahead. That’s good too.
i went into this in a recent DOTM nomination thread. back in the CH days, i was IMO curtly admonished for suggesting a nomination deemed too broad. the curtness combined with the apparent inconsistency of application of standard put me off more than i should have allowed it to. but i would be remiss not to acknowledge that i kinda know what i like, and when i’m curious, i’m very curious, and when i’m not curious, i’m often completely indifferent.
Yeah, I think @paranoidgarliclover is more easy going. I know I’ve gotten persnickety about posting things mostly eaten that month. But that’s my problem and not a rule .
FWIW, the comment did not come from the person administrating DOTM on CH.
Well then f-em.
Chicken Dum Biryani (Biriyani), Chicken Samosa, Naan
I didn’t have the vegetable samosa, but the chicken was delicious
; slightly spicy, sautéed ground chicken in a nice, flaky wrapper. I believe the naan is leavened, but it reminded me of a thin, soft, matzo cracker. The sample of biryani (flavored rice, chix, spices) was good enough to take an order home.
Butter Chicken, Basmati Rice, Daal (yellow lentils), Goat Curry, Bengan (eggplant), Condiments of Mint Sauce, Raita (yogurt, cucumber, mint) & Achaar (tart, pickled vedg/fruit)
The red sauce is hiding the tender pieces of white meat chicken in the butter chix dish; it was my favorite of the combo tray.
Buffet
A full menu & buffet is available
Indian Ground Chicken Tacos - When fusion goes well
These had everything you’d expect in a taco but w/the surprising twist of Masala seasoning. The spices on the tacos have a slightly milder heat (less garam
).
I misspoke when writing of Samosa House’s spice level “Don’t let the friendly vegetarian label fool you.” S.H. is a picnic compared to Masala Grill 
! You nutty heat lovers will get the works: sweat, runny nose, inflamed stomach… Ahh joy!
Masala Grill Indian Fusion Kitchen
5607 San Vicente Blvd
Miracle-Mile
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i bear the person no ill will.
secretasianman: if it was me who “curtly admonished” you, please let me apologize. my intention was to be an easy-going secretary of the DOTM thread.
thanks, neal, i appreciate your saying this, but it wasn’t you. and as i said before, i let the incident bother me more than it should have.