http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/28/travel/indian-chains-in-new-york-worthy-of-their-flagships.html 2014-12-23 21:14:10 Indian Chains in New York, Worthy of Their Flagships It is possible to experience Indian food in its unadulterated form at four New York outposts of popular Indian restaurants. === With hundreds of Indian restaurants in But it is possible to experience Indian food in its unadulterated form at four New York outposts of Indian chains. During the three years I worked as a journalist in India, I obsessed over sampling different regional cuisines, and in the course of my exploration ate at all of the flagship locations of these Indian chains. In the New York outposts, authenticity is paramount — evidenced by their predominantly Indian clientele. Seemingly every connoisseur’s favorite South Indian restaurant is Though Saravana Bhavan serves great dosas and idlis — traditional South Indian snacks made from a rice-based batter — the lunch thali, a sort of Indian smorgasbord, is where the action is: a half-dozen or so spicy vegetarian curries served with two types of yogurt (plain curd and vegetable raita) to help temper the heat. Mumbaikars were giddy about the April opening of a Murray Hill outpost of The original Kailash Parbat is not much more than a tattered counter separating steaming snacks from a swarm of hungry locals. It’s famous for its samosas, chole bhature — a chickpea curry served with fried discs of savory dough — and pav bhaji, a sort of sloppy Joe with spicy vegetable filling. The New York location does pitch-perfect versions of these and other dishes I loved at the original Mumbai spot, and their pav (white buns of Portuguese origin that are a key element of many Indian snacks) are actually better than the ones found in Mumbai, because they manage to retain all of the good traits of the original in a better-quality product. And their mango lassis, made from the pulp of superior Indian mangoes, are alone worth the trip. Another recent addition is the slightly more upscale Mr. Anand and his chefs trained at the branch of Moti Mahal Delux in the South Extension neighborhood of New Delhi — the best of the Indian locations — where they learned to replicate those three dishes using Moti Mahal’s signature spice mixture, which now flavors the food at his New York restaurant. Perhaps more crucially, he cooks with Amul butter, the salty brand ubiquitous in Indian restaurants and households. Perhaps the most authentic of the New York outposts of Indian chains is Anjappar has restaurants spread throughout the Indian diaspora, and the New York spot, opened in 2012, might not look like much, but its South Indian thalis showcase some of the spiciest, richest and most distinctive dishes in “Curry Hill,” as the neighborhood is sometimes called for its abundance of Indian restaurants. Anjappar serves them with laccha parathas — flaky, gloriously greasy flatbreads common in the south of India. “The smell and flavor of the food here takes me back to India,” said Hari Ganapathy, a regular whose roots are in Tamil Nadu. “It’s almost as good as Mom’s.”