Centerstage - Chicago's Original City Guide

Articles Sections >> Arts + Words Bars + Clubs Dating Festivals Fitness Food Lifestyle Music Theater Travel + Tourism Who's Who > View All Best When Drunk Dining Guides The Raving Dish

A veggies lover's dream...bring on the spinach!

Thursday Mar 03, 2005.     By Misty Tosh

Food Feed

After a particularly funky batch of pork this weekend, I'm back on the pureness of veggies, hardcore. Nope, you won't find me doing the late-night steak taco shove down anymore, and there'll be no more wild cravings for juicy hamburgers fueling my dreams. Plain and simple, it's all about veggies, all the time.

But, really, where do you find tons of vegetables, served every which way you can imagine? The answer? Hema's Kitchen, home to what the popular local TV show Check Please calls "The best Indian food in Chicago." Rightly so, kids, rightly so. I haven't always been so keen on Indian cuisine, but after a wine-fueled stumbling fest my last night in France, I did run across some divine Indian cuisine and I've been a devout researcher of this tasty spin on vegetables ever since.

And, Hema's Kitchen is truly some of the finest in Chicago, in part because of the bubbly personality of Hema herself, but mostly because she's a true connoisseur of Indian cuisine. When it comes to Indian dishes, whip-smart Hema is totally delighted to shop for ingredients, throw together incredible meals, chat about the way she did it, and then relive it all with her customers, full throttle. Obsessed with grinding up her spices and fine-tuning her lesser-known ingredients (coconut powder, entire curry leaves, cashew powder, and delicate saffron flowers were all lovingly described at this particular outing), all of her beautiful enthusiasm shines through in every single vegetarian dish she presents.

For me, the ultimate shining star on the menu is Aloo Baigan; this extremely intricate dish features plain ol' potatoes and eggplant, but with the addition of tiny, minced onions, chunky tomatoes, chopped curry leaves, chick pea flour and a swish of coconut powder, holy cow! Spoonful after heaping spoonful, I relished in the way the tiny peas crunched in my mouth, the sweetness of the coconut powder, the moistness of the well-done eggplant (really, the only way to eat eggplant), and the complexity of the masala; just a wonderfully orchestrated creation. A super close second is the Sag Paneer entree. Again, a plain-on-its-own ingredient like spinach is turned into this scorchingly spicy, brutally addictive meal via the addition of a bit of ginger, a touch of garlic, a twist of cinnamon, and a truckload of chili powder. The best part, though, are the little hunks of homemade cheese that pop up every few bites. Hema makes this firm white cheese in house every night and as she so blatantly gushes, "This is a very hard food to make, so one must have a passion to cook the Indian food. I also buy and sell real estate."

The Final Rave: Appease your blistered taste buds with Hema's unique recipe for rice pudding; creamy and chilled, it's deliciously topped off with the bright red flower petals of saffron.

KEEP IT GOING:

Read It: Devon Avenue street sign
Spy the sign announcing this dusty Northside street, home to a string of world-class Indian restaurants. Get your money's worth and hit an all you can eat buffet; they're the best veggie deal in town.

Eat It: Chicago Diner
Truly a Chicago mainstay, everything rolling out of this Boystown kitchen is organic, free-range, totally vegetarian or dairy free. Though it sounds a bit weird, the tofu cheesecakes are brilliant takes on the real deal.

Drink It: Essence of India
What could be better than a BYOB policy at an Indian joint? Just make sure it's chilled. You'll need it as a reprieve for the draining nose, pouring eyes action.

Get Crazy With It: Taste of Chicago 2005
This summer, watch firsthand as Hema takes the stage in Grant Park and demonstrates her finesse with the Indian cuisine. Hell, she probably owns half the buildings within eyesight. An enterprising one, that Hema!