“Indus”- progressive Indian Cuisine ( An adventur in dining)

**** For many years, as a business owner on Devon Avenue and later as the VP of the Chamber of Commerce ( Devon WestRidge Chamber), I spent many a luncheon and several dinners in the myriad of Indian dining spots along Devon Avenue. I am , for the most part, not good with spicy food, although, over the years, I have gotten better. For most of my years of reporting on dining in the greater Chicago area, I have avoided Indian dining as I know that both Jane and I have had difficulty with the spices. Frank and Cary seem to be okay with them, so when I received a note from one of our listeners ( WCPT820 every Sunday 1-2 p.m.) about a special spot in Highland Park, I felt the need to make the call.

I spoke with Ajit Kaira, partner at Indus ( a progressive Indian Restaurant), downtown Highland Park, and found out that they are indeed a unique Indian restaurant that has modernized the tastes and flavors of their menu without taking away the concept of the food they serve. After getting thorough the Jewish holidays and then the Indian holy days, we arranged for the 4 of us to visit Indus and see for ourselves. Tonight was that night and tonight, Jane, Frank, Cary and I learned that all Indian dining is not the same. After all of our years of avoiding the tastes of India, we all agreed that we now have a spot to go for rich traditional dining with flavors that are terrific!

We started our evening with a cocktail ( except for Jane, who did a soft drink). Mine was the “kokum mezcal ( mezcal, kokum infused st. germain, mantenegro, lime and kashmiri). This is far from my usual choice, but I wanted to do the ethnic thing and do an Indian drink. Frank did the Dirty Chai Martini (vodka, house masala chai, mr. black coffee liquor) and Cary, the Jaggery Old Fashioned ( Rye, jaggery syrup, aromatic bitters, +2 buffalo trace bourban). We all loved the new beverages that were selected for the evening- they were terrific!

We have all heard the saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, so we opted to allow our hosts to help us with the menu. We started our dinner with kurkuri bhindi ( crispy okra, dried mango, tomatoes & onions)- very tasteful and the malai chicken kabob ( overnight marinated creamy charred chicken thighs) and the unbelievable Margra lamb chops ( succulent lamb chops marinated in mint, cilantro, and fresh roasted spices, chargrilled and served with a herb chimmichutney) WOW! They were special!

Since we were not ordering the items, we were unaware of the choices that were made , until we were served. I must say, the only problem we had with tonight’s meal is that we had far more food than we could consume, so Frank had some leftovers to take home to his family ( and a little for Angel). Three more items were delivered to our table by the very attentive staff at Indus. We go to a lot of restaurants, and I must say the staff here is amazing. New plates and silver were constantly appearing as we went through our courses.

Over my yearss on Devon Avenue, the chicken that was served was the Tandoori type, which I never fell in love with.Tonight we were served chicken tikka masal (grilled gerber farms pasture raised  chicken, creamy tomato sauce, basmati rice) so different than what they served on Devon. I loved this!!! We also had havaabi risotto khichrdi ke chaar yaar ( slow cooked rice & lentils; mango pickle, papad, smoked daal + ghee, roasted garlic yogurt) and for the last dinner dish,the masala brisket (20  hour smoked brisket/hand trimmed, house spice rub, special INDUS BBQ sauce ,cole slaw, and nizaami dum aloo).

note: being Jewish, brisket is part of our lives, in particular for our high holy days- this was as good as it gets! In fact, I would be proud to serve this at my house for the Jewish New Year! This was indeed an unexpected surprise. The restaurant is named for the Indus Valley, the birthplace for spice blending and the first place ever that food was created for pleasure, not just sustanance.  Sukhu and Ajit Kaira have truly brought this concept to highland Park with this wonderful spot in Downtown Highland Park. Don’t forget the bread ( called  naan- theirs is unbelievable)

FYI as full as we were, we decided that we needed to try the desserts ( well two anyway), so we did the ramaala creme brule and the valrhona dark chocolate torte. There were no leftovers with these wonderful and quite tasty desserts. If you are seeking something different…. this is the place! If you have stayed clear of Indiane cuisine…forget about the past! Time to go forward and let your taste buds experience what Indus means by progressive Indian dining…. it is special!

Indus Progressve Indian is located at 617 West Central in Highland Park.

FYI Parking on street is free and there is a garage, also free, available 1/2 block away. They are open:

HOURS:

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 4:30 p.m.- 9:30 p.m.

Sundays 4 p.m.- 8 p.m.

CLOSED MONDAY

phone number 312-282-8064

menu www.eatindus.com