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to both local and national websites of interest to women in NH & n. MA.
applaud local women. The core of the magazine is our inspirational women's articles, most of which feature local women but occasionally we are
able to interview national women who we feel provide a unique inspiration for our readers. Our other articles cover topics of interest such as food
recipes, home, garden, beauty, health, fashion, dating, parenting, seniors, finance, business, hair care, skin care, advice, real estate, insurance,
weddings etc. Each issue has a feature section as well. Many of our articles are written by local business people who provide information
relevant to their business expertise. The Applaud Women website is also a resource center for local women including the most comprehensive
listings of Restaurants, Weddings, Female doctors and Hotels. It also includes a number of informational pages with links, articles and RSS feeds
to both local and national websites of interest to women in NH & n. MA.
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| Café India By Oonagh Williams |
I grew up in London, England where (almost) everybody eats Indian food. It’s probably true to say there’s an Indian restaurant on every corner in
the Cities. Plus it’s virtually mandatory to go out for an Indian meal when the pubs close on a Saturday night. I also had a father who served with
Indian soldiers (in fact Gurkhas from Nepal) in the British Army, so I also grew up having authentic Indian curries made at home from a selection
of spices, not just a jar of curry paste or jars of ‘cook in’ sauce poured over some raw chicken. I’m also lucky that my Welsh husband will happily
eat Indian food, I have friends that are happy to go out for ‘Indian’, as well as Indian friends who cook for me for a change. Now just to get my son
to eat Indian food!
For years I have eaten at India Palace on South Willow in Manchester. I was taught by them how to cook two of their dishes and presented them
on WMUR’s Cooks Corner. Then they opened India Palace on 101A in Nashua – far closer to home so we would go there. I was recently told that
they are closing at least one of these restaurants and relocating to Boston. I have also eaten at Indian restaurants in Lowell, Boston and
Montreal. Then a friend discovered Café India in Nashua.
Café India is on Elm Street in Nashua, one street back parallel to Main Street, roughly behind the Aubuchon Hardware Store on Main Street. Free
parking after 5 pm on weekdays, free all day on weekends. It’s in the Old Mezzas Lebanese restaurant that I had also eaten at. One large room
with plenty of space between tables, modern Indian décor, very comfortable atmosphere. It doesn't look fancy from the outside.
I went there for Dinner one night with a girlfriend – one of those weeks when both husbands were unavailable so we could eat out instead of
cooking in. Allyson and I both happily eat vegetarian even though we are very definitely carnivores. As a chef I have both eaten and cooked a
wide variety of cuisines. Growing up in London, I have eaten my way across most of Europe and down to Africa, as well as Mexico and the
Caribbean and always tried out new ‘ethnic’ restaurants.
Dinner is à la carte – meaning you can choose what you want from the menu. The Tuesday night we were there it was quiet so the waiter was
able to give us advice on the menu and the Manager spent some time with us as well. We are used to eating Indian food but every restaurant and
every menu in every cuisine is different, so you can’t assume that dishes will be identical from one restaurant to the next as each chef will put his
‘spin’ on the dish.
We had Café India’s Special Non Vegetarian Dinner for Two – $34.95 for two plus tax and gratuity. Drinks were extra. There was a choice of
several soups. Allyson makes her own Mulligatawny (The story in England goes that this vegetable and curry broth soup was created by British
Army officers in the 1800’s returning from India who wanted to eat food they had enjoyed in India. Many of them returned with Indian staff who
presumably cooked the best they could with native English ingredients.). I chose to have the coconut soup which was shredded coconut cooked
with milk (no sugar or salt added). We both found the two soups to be mild in heat (especially since we are used to spicier dishes) but the
restaurant can make dishes hotter for guests, and for the average American taste, milder is probably safer. To me the coconut soup only tasted
like warm coconut milk. However, when I returned for a Saturday buffet lunch with my husband, the table next to us of parents and 4 adult
American children were devouring both these soups.
Then we had samosas. I make appetizer size samosas and cheat by making them with puff pastry and baking them. Traditionally they are a snack
of a very large conical piece of dough filled either with potatoes, peas and spices or sometimes with ground lamb and spices and deep fried. .
Because we were so obviously enjoying ourselves and appreciating the food, the waiter brought us both the vegetarian and the lamb version.
You also receive 3 chutneys to add further taste to the food, as well as Raita, a yogurt, tomato, cucumber and mint cooling dip with naan bread.
And again every Raita and Naan is different. We also had papadums – which they describe as Fried sun-dried lentil crisps – think of them as their
version of chips but far thinner and crispier, and addictive. Indian stores sell many varieties. Tamarind is a dark brown sticky pastelike sauce that I
have never cared for since it is more bitter than I like, plus an onion chutney and a chopped mint chutney. Be warned, the onion and mint chutney
are still spicy so don’t go crazy but the mint chutney has a wonderful flavor and I use it lavishly on everything. The samosas were huge, tasty,
tender and the traditional conical shape. Last time I had them this good was at school on an International day when everyone brought in food to
share.
Tandoori chicken was served on skewers as an appetizer. A tandoor is a traditional Indian clay oven that cooks at extremely high temperatures.
The raw naan dough is rolled thin, slapped on the inner side walls of the tandoor and cooked very briefly. Chicken tandoori is chicken marinated
in yogurt and spices and then hung inside the tandoor to cook. I like to make tandoori shrimp at home.
Chicken tikka is boneless chunks of chicken that are marinated then cooked in a tomato and yogurt or cream sauce. Each restaurant’s is
different, but it is normally a very popular dish. This was one of the dishes I learned to cook in the India Palace kitchen and yes, the Café India
version was different but still tasty.
Then we had seekh kebab which was delicately seasoned tender minced lamb, mixed with fresh ground spices and baked in a Tandoori oven.
You can then choose two more entrées (not from seafood or tandoori). One of our vegetarian favorites is Baigan Bhartha – whole eggplant
smoked in Tandoor, and seasoned with herbs and spices – a specialty from the Punjab region . I love the version from Udupis, a vegetarian
Indian restaurant in Lowell that adds cream as well. Café India tries to limit the amount of cream in dishes for everyone’s health. It was very good,
but as you know when you have a favorite dish, you want it to taste the same everywhere. I can’t even replicate it properly at home. We also
chose Lamb Rogan Josh which is a classic of tender pieces of lamb spiced with onion, ginger, a touch of garlic and yogurt, a Kashmiri delight. It
was all served with basmati rice, plenty of naan bread and dessert.
We had wanted to try Mango ice cream but they had none left. Instead we had Gulab Jamun which are homemade cheeseballs dipped in honey
syrup. This is a spongy chewy donut texture saturated in a honey syrup, definitely very sweet, and I remember eating them as a child in London.
Then we had to try their rice pudding. English and American rice pudding is very thick, Indian style tends to be runny, infused with cinnamon and
often served with chopped almonds or pistachios and golden raisins. I make the Indian style at home but make it thick.
To drink, Allyson often orders Chai. This is the word that the British turned into having a ‘cup of cha’ when they came back to England from
service in India and it’s now used everywhere in England. Chai is brewed tea which normally already has sugar and lots of milk added. I drink
nearly black sugarless tea so there is no way I can cope with drinking sweet sugary tea. I had a mango milk shake which was absolutely delicious.
Basically puréed mangoes, ice cream and only a little milk I think to make it thin enough. My husband had mango lassi, a mango and yogurt drink
when we went together. Far healthier, but I eat my yogurt not drink it. He thoroughly enjoyed it.
We obviously enjoyed our meal so my husband and I went for a buffet lunch one Saturday. Lunch buffet is served daily from 11.30 am to 3 pm
and costs $9.49. You know a restaurant serves authentic ethnic food when you see people from the same country eating there. That was the
case on that Saturday. Mind you as a female I have to say was it also because they had a large screen television with a Football (British soccer)
match playing. Football is on the television every Saturday afternoon in England. We ate many of the same items. There were also pakoras on
the buffet. These are vegetable fritters deep fried so they don’t stay crispy on a steam table but still taste good. Saag Paneer is another favorite.
This is cubes of Paneer (Indian style cheese a bit like cubes of tofu to look at but tasting more like ricotta) in a spinach sauce. There were also
Dal dishes. Dal is the name given to dishes made of lentils, peas, beans etc cooked with vegetables and spices and they are the protein base for
vegetarian meals in India.
Café India has a large selection of vegetarian dishes since many Indians eat only vegetarian foods. The food has many complex flavors and
varies from very mild to very hot. A dish known as ‘korma’ tends to be mild while a ‘vindaloo’ could take your head off. So make sure you check on
the level of heat if you order from the à la carte menu. Obviously at the buffet you can take and taste small samples of everything and go back for
your favorites. Both at lunch and dinner we were full and at dinner we had take home as well. Go in a group for the buffet lunch one weekend or
as a group for dinner during the week, that way you get to enjoy many different dishes. They do have a liquor license with beer and wine, delivery
is available for an order over $25 and there are discount coupons on their web site www.cafeindianh.com.
I’m now getting withdrawal symptoms for some Indian food. Got to go there again soon!
British Born Chef Oonagh Williams caters and teaches in the Nashua area. She has a gluten intolerant son so also offers gluten free cooking
classes and parties as well as demos, presentations and help in dealing with going gluten free. Read more about her gluten free service on her
web site www.RoyalTemptations.com.
Oonagh Williams - Award winning Chef/Instructor Oonagh@RoyalTemptations.com 603-424-6412
Merrimack NH
www.linkedin.com/in/OonaghWilliams
Royal Temptations - Delicious food for all occasions
Menus available at www.RoyalTemptations.com
See Cooking with Oonagh TV shows: http://www.youtube.com/kb1dbg
the Cities. Plus it’s virtually mandatory to go out for an Indian meal when the pubs close on a Saturday night. I also had a father who served with
Indian soldiers (in fact Gurkhas from Nepal) in the British Army, so I also grew up having authentic Indian curries made at home from a selection
of spices, not just a jar of curry paste or jars of ‘cook in’ sauce poured over some raw chicken. I’m also lucky that my Welsh husband will happily
eat Indian food, I have friends that are happy to go out for ‘Indian’, as well as Indian friends who cook for me for a change. Now just to get my son
to eat Indian food!
For years I have eaten at India Palace on South Willow in Manchester. I was taught by them how to cook two of their dishes and presented them
on WMUR’s Cooks Corner. Then they opened India Palace on 101A in Nashua – far closer to home so we would go there. I was recently told that
they are closing at least one of these restaurants and relocating to Boston. I have also eaten at Indian restaurants in Lowell, Boston and
Montreal. Then a friend discovered Café India in Nashua.
Café India is on Elm Street in Nashua, one street back parallel to Main Street, roughly behind the Aubuchon Hardware Store on Main Street. Free
parking after 5 pm on weekdays, free all day on weekends. It’s in the Old Mezzas Lebanese restaurant that I had also eaten at. One large room
with plenty of space between tables, modern Indian décor, very comfortable atmosphere. It doesn't look fancy from the outside.
I went there for Dinner one night with a girlfriend – one of those weeks when both husbands were unavailable so we could eat out instead of
cooking in. Allyson and I both happily eat vegetarian even though we are very definitely carnivores. As a chef I have both eaten and cooked a
wide variety of cuisines. Growing up in London, I have eaten my way across most of Europe and down to Africa, as well as Mexico and the
Caribbean and always tried out new ‘ethnic’ restaurants.
Dinner is à la carte – meaning you can choose what you want from the menu. The Tuesday night we were there it was quiet so the waiter was
able to give us advice on the menu and the Manager spent some time with us as well. We are used to eating Indian food but every restaurant and
every menu in every cuisine is different, so you can’t assume that dishes will be identical from one restaurant to the next as each chef will put his
‘spin’ on the dish.
We had Café India’s Special Non Vegetarian Dinner for Two – $34.95 for two plus tax and gratuity. Drinks were extra. There was a choice of
several soups. Allyson makes her own Mulligatawny (The story in England goes that this vegetable and curry broth soup was created by British
Army officers in the 1800’s returning from India who wanted to eat food they had enjoyed in India. Many of them returned with Indian staff who
presumably cooked the best they could with native English ingredients.). I chose to have the coconut soup which was shredded coconut cooked
with milk (no sugar or salt added). We both found the two soups to be mild in heat (especially since we are used to spicier dishes) but the
restaurant can make dishes hotter for guests, and for the average American taste, milder is probably safer. To me the coconut soup only tasted
like warm coconut milk. However, when I returned for a Saturday buffet lunch with my husband, the table next to us of parents and 4 adult
American children were devouring both these soups.
Then we had samosas. I make appetizer size samosas and cheat by making them with puff pastry and baking them. Traditionally they are a snack
of a very large conical piece of dough filled either with potatoes, peas and spices or sometimes with ground lamb and spices and deep fried. .
Because we were so obviously enjoying ourselves and appreciating the food, the waiter brought us both the vegetarian and the lamb version.
You also receive 3 chutneys to add further taste to the food, as well as Raita, a yogurt, tomato, cucumber and mint cooling dip with naan bread.
And again every Raita and Naan is different. We also had papadums – which they describe as Fried sun-dried lentil crisps – think of them as their
version of chips but far thinner and crispier, and addictive. Indian stores sell many varieties. Tamarind is a dark brown sticky pastelike sauce that I
have never cared for since it is more bitter than I like, plus an onion chutney and a chopped mint chutney. Be warned, the onion and mint chutney
are still spicy so don’t go crazy but the mint chutney has a wonderful flavor and I use it lavishly on everything. The samosas were huge, tasty,
tender and the traditional conical shape. Last time I had them this good was at school on an International day when everyone brought in food to
share.
Tandoori chicken was served on skewers as an appetizer. A tandoor is a traditional Indian clay oven that cooks at extremely high temperatures.
The raw naan dough is rolled thin, slapped on the inner side walls of the tandoor and cooked very briefly. Chicken tandoori is chicken marinated
in yogurt and spices and then hung inside the tandoor to cook. I like to make tandoori shrimp at home.
Chicken tikka is boneless chunks of chicken that are marinated then cooked in a tomato and yogurt or cream sauce. Each restaurant’s is
different, but it is normally a very popular dish. This was one of the dishes I learned to cook in the India Palace kitchen and yes, the Café India
version was different but still tasty.
Then we had seekh kebab which was delicately seasoned tender minced lamb, mixed with fresh ground spices and baked in a Tandoori oven.
You can then choose two more entrées (not from seafood or tandoori). One of our vegetarian favorites is Baigan Bhartha – whole eggplant
smoked in Tandoor, and seasoned with herbs and spices – a specialty from the Punjab region . I love the version from Udupis, a vegetarian
Indian restaurant in Lowell that adds cream as well. Café India tries to limit the amount of cream in dishes for everyone’s health. It was very good,
but as you know when you have a favorite dish, you want it to taste the same everywhere. I can’t even replicate it properly at home. We also
chose Lamb Rogan Josh which is a classic of tender pieces of lamb spiced with onion, ginger, a touch of garlic and yogurt, a Kashmiri delight. It
was all served with basmati rice, plenty of naan bread and dessert.
We had wanted to try Mango ice cream but they had none left. Instead we had Gulab Jamun which are homemade cheeseballs dipped in honey
syrup. This is a spongy chewy donut texture saturated in a honey syrup, definitely very sweet, and I remember eating them as a child in London.
Then we had to try their rice pudding. English and American rice pudding is very thick, Indian style tends to be runny, infused with cinnamon and
often served with chopped almonds or pistachios and golden raisins. I make the Indian style at home but make it thick.
To drink, Allyson often orders Chai. This is the word that the British turned into having a ‘cup of cha’ when they came back to England from
service in India and it’s now used everywhere in England. Chai is brewed tea which normally already has sugar and lots of milk added. I drink
nearly black sugarless tea so there is no way I can cope with drinking sweet sugary tea. I had a mango milk shake which was absolutely delicious.
Basically puréed mangoes, ice cream and only a little milk I think to make it thin enough. My husband had mango lassi, a mango and yogurt drink
when we went together. Far healthier, but I eat my yogurt not drink it. He thoroughly enjoyed it.
We obviously enjoyed our meal so my husband and I went for a buffet lunch one Saturday. Lunch buffet is served daily from 11.30 am to 3 pm
and costs $9.49. You know a restaurant serves authentic ethnic food when you see people from the same country eating there. That was the
case on that Saturday. Mind you as a female I have to say was it also because they had a large screen television with a Football (British soccer)
match playing. Football is on the television every Saturday afternoon in England. We ate many of the same items. There were also pakoras on
the buffet. These are vegetable fritters deep fried so they don’t stay crispy on a steam table but still taste good. Saag Paneer is another favorite.
This is cubes of Paneer (Indian style cheese a bit like cubes of tofu to look at but tasting more like ricotta) in a spinach sauce. There were also
Dal dishes. Dal is the name given to dishes made of lentils, peas, beans etc cooked with vegetables and spices and they are the protein base for
vegetarian meals in India.
Café India has a large selection of vegetarian dishes since many Indians eat only vegetarian foods. The food has many complex flavors and
varies from very mild to very hot. A dish known as ‘korma’ tends to be mild while a ‘vindaloo’ could take your head off. So make sure you check on
the level of heat if you order from the à la carte menu. Obviously at the buffet you can take and taste small samples of everything and go back for
your favorites. Both at lunch and dinner we were full and at dinner we had take home as well. Go in a group for the buffet lunch one weekend or
as a group for dinner during the week, that way you get to enjoy many different dishes. They do have a liquor license with beer and wine, delivery
is available for an order over $25 and there are discount coupons on their web site www.cafeindianh.com.
I’m now getting withdrawal symptoms for some Indian food. Got to go there again soon!
British Born Chef Oonagh Williams caters and teaches in the Nashua area. She has a gluten intolerant son so also offers gluten free cooking
classes and parties as well as demos, presentations and help in dealing with going gluten free. Read more about her gluten free service on her
web site www.RoyalTemptations.com.
Oonagh Williams - Award winning Chef/Instructor Oonagh@RoyalTemptations.com 603-424-6412
Merrimack NH
www.linkedin.com/in/OonaghWilliams
Royal Temptations - Delicious food for all occasions
Menus available at www.RoyalTemptations.com
See Cooking with Oonagh TV shows: http://www.youtube.com/kb1dbg