Terrific Takeout: Aahar by Prashant Bhatt Inaugural Feature Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
From the Mango Lassi to the Tandoori Grilled Vegetables, Aahar is truly a feast, which is its name in Indian
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Right from the opening Mango Lassi, we were impressed with Aahar by Prashant Bhatt! It has been open at 10 Murray Street only for a few weeks so far. We hope we are the first to tell you about this new Indian standout, open since June 10, 2016. We picked it independently because you know who thinks for herself, but when we got there and spoke to Prashant, we found out he knows a chef we worked with before, Nilesh Singhvi, of The Bombay Club in Washington, D.C. owned by our pal Ashok, who's the best around in America in Indian food. Peachy didn't even think she liked Indian food before she met Ashok, but it just turns out she was eating the wrong Indian food, and all restaurant owners here should be uber-intimidated if Ashok ever opens in New York because he's the most competitive owner we've seen outside of Manhattan.
Aahar is also the right Indian food based on our first experience.
It is rare for a restaurant this young to be this excellent, a concept that was previously pointed out with Judge Palmer.
If you're not sure if you like Indian food but you like Italian food, you are going to love the Garlic Naan. It is amazing at Aahar and incredibly fresh.
Under accompaniments, you will meet the chutney, which we found very zippy. Mango is in the middle and it is flanked by mint pomegranate on the left and peachy plum on the right, which obviously is the best of the trio as it is peachy! And, peach and plum pair well together. We are always excited to try peach anything, however, the chef must be mixing it with ingredients that we think would go well with peach. Not everything does!
How the crabby love crab! The non-crabby will also love it here at Aahar. Peachy Deegan is absolutely not a vegan, so under non-vegetarian appetizers we chose Crab Seekh Kebab, above, featuring jumbo crab and fennel seeds as well as mascarpone cheese, above, and below, Chicken Tikka which was lovely arriving with a cilantro yogurt marination.
We do like to eat our vegetables though, and these were incredible! Meet the Tandoori Grilled Vegetables, which could be convincing to children that think they don't like vegetables especially. Broccoli, cauliflower, peppers and garam masala team up for a winner that sings the song of the sun in summer.
Also eat them because they are beautiful.
Steamed Basmati rice is a wonderful companion.
We cannot remember having Chicken Biryani this magnificent before. Peachy actually dreamed about this dish specifically at Aahar after having it: the flavor really is that sensational. It is not overly spicy but has solid, superb flavor of chicken and savory notes that are incredibly impressive. This was our favorite edible of the feature.
How we love shrimp, and not only because of Peachy's towering height. Feeling an affinity for shrimp, we almost hate to eat them but you are going to want to when they make an appearance in the amazing Shrimp Karawari! Tamarind, Fennel Seeds, and Black Peppercorn join the succulent party that is great with the rice previously mentioned.
If you are a vegetarian, we would order the Dhingri Matar. Shittake mushroom and green peas are festively teamed up with cardamon, cloves, and coconut cream. To us, this tasted like fall and pumpkin pie; it has great flavor.
As you know Peachy is not Indian at all; she is pretty American and always likes to try Chicken Tikka Masala, which is a standard and maybe too boring for Indian people but just right for Goldilocks Peachy. It is just terrific at Aahar in its tomato and fenugreek and this comfort food is going to impress you too.
Carnival Cruises loss is your stomach's gain; Prashant Bhatt used to work for them and now he is the proud owner of Aahar!
Why would you try only one dessert? Prashant thought we should try them all: his idea.
First in the batting order, meet the Swiss White Chocolate. To be honest, Peachy is also Ms. I Don't Care for White Chocolate so she was worried; she only likes Dark Chocolate. However, to us, this tasted like vanilla ice cream with totally different consistency. We liked it!
We really loved the Mango Firni, which was kind of like the incredible Mango Lassi but a different custard-like texture. This did not last long. The dessert that tasted the healthiest to us was the Squash Halwa, below. It does have milk and sugar but we understand its base is a vegetable: squash. Go see Prashant and his high ceilings and beautiful turquoise decor!
Meaning Feast in Indian, accurately named, Aahar is Terrific Takeout!
We hope they join Twitter...
