Friday, December 19, 2003

By Mackenzie Carpenter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

One of the best reasons to go to Tamarind Savoring India, the newly renovated South Indian restaurant in Scott, is for what comes at the end of the meal.

Tamarind's many Indian specialties include paper dosa. (John Heller, Post-Gazette) TAMARIND 2101 Greentree Road Scott Towne Centre Scott 412-278-4848 HOURS: Closed Monday. Lunch buffet, 11:30 a.m-3 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday; Dinner, 5-9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. BASICS: South Indian cuisine in small, bright, contemporary setting. Wheelchair accessible. No smoking. All major credit cards accepted. BYOB.

There's Kulfi: homemade Indian ice cream, milky and fragrant with almonds, or Rasmalai, a mild concoction of homemade cottage cheese in rose-water-flavored condensed milk. Small and unprepossessing on the plate, both delivered sweet, cooling relief to the heat-exhausted palate.

Aaah.

Actually, some diehard Indian food aficionados claim Tamarind's fare isn't scorching enough, but I found myself reaching for my wine (it's BYOB) frequently during meals there. Chili peppers, black mustard seed and other vivid accents spike many dishes, from the tangy lemon rice to the Madras Masala Dosa, a spiced crepe.

If only that kind of intensity of flavor were sustained throughout the meal. Alas, it isn't. A number of selections were bland, from samosas with barely discernible fillings to an onion "rava" dosa -- a rice crepe stuffed with curried potato and onions -- that lacked punch.

Still, Tamarind, which in July replaced the former Thali Indian Restaurant in Scott Towne Centre, is a small, intimate, pretty place, with apricot-colored walls, track lighting and friendly, if not always super-efficient, service. And it is, first and foremost, a South Indian restaurant, of which there are few in Pittsburgh (most notably Udipi, a wildly popular and slightly scruffy chain restaurant located in Monroeville).

That means a lot of rice -- nine different choices -- as well dosas, crepes made from fermented rice or wheat, which are a main part of every South Indian's diet. There's also Uthappam -- thick rice-and-lentil pancakes with a choice of seasoned vegetable or cheese toppings. Spices include the fruity, sweet-sour tamarind, of course, and cinnamon, ginger root and fragrant curry leaves. Coconut is used as an oil for cooking, its milk in sauces and chutneys, or sprinkled dry. Lamb, chicken and shrimp (there's no beef on the menu) are often boiled, steamed or roasted.

But in the wake of its recent renovation, Tamarind seems to be interested in broadening its identity beyond South Indian cooking -- given that what many American diners know of as "Indian" food is actually from the northern part of that country. The restaurant has now added a Tandoor, a blazing hot clay oven that's a staple in North Indian kitchens, so it can satisfy diners' cravings for such standards as lobster-red Tandoori chicken, chicken Tikka, shrimp and lamb kebabs. Other favorites from India's north are on the menu, too: Nan bread, and dishes made of spinach and paneer, a homemade cottage cheese. Chicken and lamb and vegetarian curries are also available, although at Tamarind they're called Kormas because the liquids used are cooked down to almost a paste and thickened with ground nuts.

Greasiness, which can plague some Indian restaurants, is at a minimum here. Even the Poori, a deep-fried wheat puff bread, was crisp and light. Still, if you're on the Atkins diet, or are allergic to nuts, don't come to Tamarind. There are cashews in everything, and the list of rices, breads, pancakes and crepes is vast. We started with the assorted appetizer ($5.50), which included Samosas (potatoes and peas in a deep-fried pastry), Vada (a fried lentil doughnut), a fried vegetable cutlet and fried peppers, all made from a sourdough batter of rice, beans or a combination of both.

Overall, they were a doughy, heavy start to the meal, but were helped along by the addition of four sprightly condiments -- especially the cool green mint chutney. Oddly, though, the yogurt Raita that came with the food contained large pieces of tomato rather than finely minced or diced vegetable. A new Tandoori mixed grill entree ($11.99), which we also shared as an appetizer, had some good bites in it -- the shrimp and the bone-in chicken were succulent -- but the boneless chicken was on the dry side (an occupational hazard with Tandoori ovens) and the cinnamon-scented lamb kebab required some intensive chewing.

Main dishes included the aforementioned lemon rice ($4.50), a dish I'd order again as a base starch on which to ladle on other sauces and curries. It's a tangy, fluffy melange of curry leaves, chilis, mustard seeds, cashews, turmeric, cilantro and other spices -- and lemon, of course. There's also tomato rice and tamarind rice, but inexplicably, the new menu no longer lists coconut rice, another nutty, fragrant dish that came with a little pot of coconut chutney to intensify the flavor.

Out of a long list of dosas -- both the glossy, rolled rice versions and the lacy, flat wheat crepe -- I much preferred the latter, for its light, nutty texture. As a starch of choice, the wheat crepe also outshone the spongy Uthappam pancake ($5.50 with onion and peas), as well as puffy, oily Nann bread. In the end, though, the onion Rava Dosa -- a wheat crepe topped with caramelized onions -- worked best not as a dish by itself but as a kind of mat to spoon on sweet, saucy chicken Korma ($8.99), smooth and rich with coconut milk; and Mattar Paneer ($7.99), a sour-sweet blend of cheese, green peas and curry.

Tamarind is very inexpensive, with entrees topping out at $12.99 -- and that means, sometimes, that you will get what you pay for. There were some mighty tough cuts of meat and poultry: The otherwise gingery, garlicky Lamb Saagwala ($9.99) -- one of the more complex, deeply flavored dishes -- contained meat that was anything but "succulent," as promised in the menu, and "boneless chicken" generally means dark meat, not white (although as a stewed dish that can mean more flavor).

During several visits, my friends and I were the only non-Indians in Tamarind -- always a good sign for those of us who crave authenticity. Indeed, on a local Web site dedicated to Pittsburgh's sizable Indian community, there is always lively debate over which local Indian dining spot serves the best food -- and Tamarind is getting some good reaction.

As it searches for its niche among the dozen-plus Indian eating establishments in the area, Tamarind can be best described as serving wonderfully adequate food, at prices that can't be beat: On Tuesday nights, you can buy one dosa and get one free.

And then there are always those great, cooling desserts, which provide finish and closure to the meal, elevating the dining experience from merely adequate to aaah-some.

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