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 1422 N. Palm Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, California
(760) 325-3411
http://www.delhipalace.net
‘The Tastiest Indian Food in the Coachella Valley’
Article by Lisa Robyn Lawrence
One of our valley’s very best ethnic restaurants is the Delhi Palace, Cuisine of India. Dining at Delhi Palace is like taking a trip to India and eating at one of the best restaurants in India’s capital, New Delhi. The Delhi Palace offers a delightful and tasty assortment of fresh foods that tempt your olfactory and gustatory senses, using a broad array of authentic seasonings and spices from the diverse and unique regions of India. The uniquely aromatic, sultry and exotic flavors are evident in each dish.
Now owned and operated by Ravi Singh, who was born in India, Delhi Palace has been serving patrons in the same Palm Springs location since 1989. Singh explained, “I started in the restaurant business in 1998. My career began at entry level and I rapidly ‘learned’ my way to the top.”
Singh had worked in the Delhi Palace restaurant a few years ago but was laid off. It was at that moment he told himself, “I’m going to buy this place one day!” And so, he did.
Singh loves and understands good Indian food comes from the proper balance of aromatic seasonings and herbs for each dish. Executive Chef Sumit Chowdhary, who holds a culinary arts degree, and worked as chef and then executive chef at the Marriott Taj Hotel in New Delhi. Together, Singh and Chowdhary are an extraordinary team with more than 30 years of cooking experience and 12 years of restaurant management experience.
When asked why he ultimately bought Delhi Place during this waning economy, Singh answered, “There is never a bad time to do what you really want and enjoy. We just have to work a little harder to be successful. I will keep my doors open and we will be successful!
“The key to our unique flavors is that I grind and blend my own spices. This is to enhance the experience of India for our customers. Our recipes are our own and we pride ourselves in preparing our dishes using less salt and only mild and medium spicy flavors, so we don’t burn your taste buds,” says Singh. There is additional hot pepper available for the fire eaters to add to any dish. Delhi Palace incorporates a vast array of blends of authentic herbs and spices from more than four distinct Indian regions.
 Delhi Place boasts one of the largest selections of ethnic specialty vegetarian dishes in the Coachella Valley. “On request, we can make just about any type of Indian-vegetarian or vegan food anyone could desire. All you have to do is ask and we can make it for you,” recounted the new owner.
“Delhi Palace is special because we actually cook in an authentic certified tandoor, red clay oven, which was specially imported from India,” Singh notes with pride. The tandoor oven is fueled by charcoal and cooks at temperatures of 1,200-plus degrees Fahrenheit. This allows the real flavor of tandoor cooking to come through so our customers can enjoy the full authentic flavors of Indian food.
“You have never really experienced Nan (Indian flat bread) until you have tasted it from our tandoor oven,” Says Singh. “We make our bread fresh just for you. We can make bread any way you want it made: tandoori, roti (whole wheat), paratha (multilayer whole wheat bread), aloo paratha (stuffed with potato and spices) garlic, onion, cheese, stuffed with minced meat or nuts, cashews and raisins, and poori (deep fried whole wheat puffed).”
 Chef Chowdhary told us, “Our food is very fresh. We use only the very best aromatic Indian seasonings and no artificial food colorings.”
Singh added, “I hand pick my fresh vegetables at least twice each week and use only high quality chicken, New Zealand lamb, Indian black tiger prawns and catfish.”
The Delhi Palace menu offers an abundance of the well-known Indian delights including chicken or lamb rogan josh, vindaloo, korma, mushroom korma, chicken tikka masala, chicken curry, shrimp or fish curries, sag, garlic shrimp, matar paneer, chana masala, aloo gobhi, biagan bhartha, bhindi masala, aloo mater and a host of other vegetable, chicken, shrimp, fish and lamb dishes created by Chef Chowdhary.
Also featured at The Delhi Palace are a number of Chef’s Specialties such as:
Murg makhani (tandoori chicken cooked in butter), vegetable korma, fish tikka masala, prawn masala, lamb pasanda nawabi and tandoori shrimp. To maintain authenticity, Singh imports his basmati rice directly from India. They have appetizers to whet your appetite and luscious deserts to treat you palate after a great meal.
There is a special catering menu that offers an even more diverse and unique assortment of Indian dishes from many regions of India, in addition to the regular restaurant menu. From the Northern Indian region is a special basmati saffron rice with vegetables (a meal in itself). From the Garati Indian region is dhokla, a puffy, steamed corn bread muffin infused with delicate herbs and subtle spices. From the Bombay (Mumbai) region comes lamb pasanda newabi, a heady concoction of cubed lamb in a “to die for,” rich and savory sauce. From the Southern Indian region is idli, herb infused, rice flour, steamed flat muffins or matthy a cracker/ cookie made of wheat flour and herbs. Both perfectly compliment another Southern Indian dish, tandoori fish with vegetable, carefully boned catfish fillet strips with fresh vegetables, cooked in the tandoor and served in a delightful and delicate savory sauce and topped with sesame seeds.
“Delhi Palace, Cuisine of India” is open seven days a week. Their lunch is served buffet style, or from the menu starting from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Doors are open for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. The Saturday and Sunday brunch buffet always includes tandoori chicken and up to 10 varied selections along with salad and traditional Indian deserts. The daily selections vary from day to day and may include such traditional taste treats as chicken curry, chicken tikka masala, chana masala, aloo gobhi, spinach palak panner and vegetable korma just to name a few of the delicious and assorted dishes.
 “Upon taking over the Delhi Palace Cuisine of India,” says Singh. “I entirely remodeled the restaurant and created a modern first class bar. We offer several domestic wines and even have a California house wine. There is a diverse choice of 10 Indian beers as well as a selection of domestic U.S. beers. Our nonalcoholic beverage selections include an array of delicious imported Indian teas, regular and decaf coffee, soft drinks as well as, mango lahssi (a fruit and yoghurt drink) with and without rum, or an exotic rose lahssi.”
Delhi Palace is available for meetings, parties or for catering of any size event including banquets. Food can be picked up and local delivery is available for the Palm Springs area (call 760-325-3411).
“We want our customers to experience the flavors and the ambiance of being in India. We like making friends, making people happy and serving great Indian food! The Delhi Palace continues to serve the freshest and finest quality authentic Indian food in the Coachella Valley,” Singh proudly notes.
A trip to Delhi Palace will surely be the first of many for aficionados of an exotic and delightful dining experience. While reservations are generally not needed, it is smart to call ahead for parties larger than four people. All major credit cards are accepted.
For more information about the Delhi Palace, click here. |
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