Passage To India
Holiday Inn Express
525 South Front Street, Harrisburg, PA
717-233-1202

By Dawn Eckenrode

Dust off your passport because this month’s culinary journey will take us on a Passage to India. Now those of you who have never sampled the wares of this exotic and varied land are indeed missing a virtual taste vacation. It’s leagues apart from the Pennsylvania-Dutch no-nonsense meat and potatoes that prevails hereabouts. When you enter the Passage through the elaborately decorated door, you will find yourselves in an elegant-exotic room with very high ceilings, wall tapestries, and tasteful brass Hindu-esque statuary and accessories. The dining room is large and open, although an air of family intimacy prevails. The most striking feature of the restaurant is the ample window frontage, allowing for a lovely river view by day, and creating myriad reflections of the many lit candles by night. As an added inducement, you are greeted by the lovely drifting aromas of the tasty preparations of Chef Victor Fernandes. An extended family of six of us took the Passage on Thursday evening, and here’s how it went:

First of all, let me tell you that we had so many different foods that I cannot possibly cover them all. Our very gracious host, Vishnu Shenoy, when we asked him to send us out a sampler platter of appetizers, sent out a small army of servers bearing gifts: we determined that we tried all of the appetizers listed on the menu and then some -over ten in all! What a treat! We were given the ever popular Samosas, which are little pastry turnovers filled with mashed potatoes and peas; there was the Onion Bahia, which would please any discriminating Westerner – battered deep fried onion and bell peppers with spices; the Bombay Mussels, my personal favorite, was a captivatingly different dish of fresh New Zealand mussels in a blended, craftily spiced Indian tomato sauce. If you are a fan of the characteristically strange (to western tastebuds, that is) juxtaposition of savory and sweet, vegetable and fruit, I recommend the Papri Chat - crisp waferbreads of lentil and flour atop chopped onions and chick peas, covered with mint & cilantro yogurt and a tamarind chutney. For those of you who are a bit daunted by confronting a menu with many foreign words and phrases, do not despair. There are clear English descriptions of everything that appears on the menu. Then, if you keep in mind these few basics of Indian cooking, you should be all set: First – spices and the combination thereof are the basis for Indian cooking. Most dishes are made with freshly prepared combinations of spices called masalas, which can vary widely, but are the basic blend of spices to be used, in combination with additional herbs, and perhaps even coconut, onions, garlic, or nuts. Second – many Indian sauces, including a basic tomato sauce, use yogurt as a modifier, much like a western chef would use cream. The use of yogurt is as integral to Indian cooking as the use of spices. Third – anything Tandoori is good! Tandoori means that the lamb, chicken, shishkebab, vegetable, whatever, has been roasted under high heat in the traditional clay oven that is the pride and joy of all Indian chefs. Most of the meats that are prepared Tandoori have been marinated beforehand, so you can get several different tastes of the same type meat, depending on the marinade. And Fourth – many dishes either contain, or are accompanied by chutneys. These are fresh relishes, made from fruits, vegetables, and herbs. They are usually uncooked, finely chopped or ground, and blended with seasonings.

OK, now that the mini tutorial is over, let’s talk about the main courses. I’m a lamb lover, so I chose the Lamb Madras. This was a generous portion of marinated boneless lamb, in a spicy-hot brown sauce. It was great (especially if you get a kick out of a fairly hot dish)! A second dish that was superb was the Shrimp Lababdar. These were incredibly jumbo shrimp, cooked Tandoori (oven grilled), and then simmered in a delicate, yet complex creamy tomato sauce with sauteed onions and a celery-like vegetable called fenugreek. Another noteworthy dish was Chicken Tikki Masala - marinated, tandoori-cooked chicken, with sauteed onions and bell peppers, in a creamy tomato sauce. If you want to be a little different, try the tasty Chicken Xaccutti (pronounced sha-ku-ti). The xaccutti means coconut, and this was a relatively spicy dish with a beautiful combination of spices and roasted ground coconut. A few at our table tried some of the Tandoori selections, you may choose just chicken, lamb, salmon, or shrimp, or a combination of these. All have been marinated to impart a lovely taste and color. Our entrees were all served with saffron basmati rice. The basmati rice is a high-grade nutty flavored rice preferred by chefs the world over. Our server, in traditional family style, brought the rice and spooned some into each person’s dish, and then spooned a portion of your own entree beside it. It was intimate, yet gracious to be served in this manner.

Oh, I nearly forgot (how could I!) - the breads (the most well-known of which are probably Paratha and Nan) served at the Passage are all freshly made and cooked upon your order in the clay oven. We tried a sampling of these, along with the crispy and irresistible Papadams, which are very thin, crisp crackers of lentil flour with some spices rolled in. The breads and crackers were all extremely good. If you should have room at the end of your meal, for dessert you could try the Gulab Jaman, which were very popular. The are little fried milk balls, covered with a cardamom-honey syrup, and are a nice ending to your meal. If your tastes are a bit richer, try one of the homemade ice creams - like the Pistachio. It is very rich and creamy and definitely not like any ice cream you have ever dipped out of a carton! As you might expect, Passage to India offers a very wide selection of vegetarian entrees - at least fifteen. They are located on Front Street in Harrisburg at the Holiday Inn Express and there is ample parking in the lot. You may take the Passage seven days a week, for lunch or dinner. There is a very popular weekend lunch buffet from 12 to 2:30, and reservations are not required, but probably a good thing to do if you are going on the weekend. Go, experience, enjoy!

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