Tawa, an Indian restaurant located in a strip mall on High Ridge Road in Stamford, either moved to the old Ocean 211 space on Summer Street or opened a second Tawa there, depending upon how one interprets the facts. Shortly after Tawa was ensconced in the new downtown Stamford location, the original Tawa became Chili Chicken, Connecticut’s first Indian-Chinese (a.k.a. Indo-Chinese or Sino-Indian) restaurant. Both restaurants are owned by chef Kausik Roy and J.P. Agarwal.
In late September, I joined other members of the food press in visiting the new Tawa.
I was accompanied by my visiting mother, beautiful at any age.
Tawa’s owners took the awkward, split-story, Ocean 211 space and turned disadvantage into advantage. The downstairs is used as a more casual meet-and-greet area. It consists of a bread bar with counter seating that allows guests to watch the food created in the kitchen
or bar seating ideal for taking a drink and/or a light snack.
I normally eschew cocktails, but I couldn’t resist trying this one.
The festivities (believe me, these events are more play than work) began in the bread bar, with the personable Roy
demonstrating how bread is made in the tandoor oven.
Here is one of the breads he prepared for us.
He also cooked mouthwatering chicken.
Eric Meadow, publisher of Weston Magazine, decided to try his hand at bread-making.
After that, our party moved upstairs, where we found group seating,
two-person seating, four-person seating,
and appealing booth seating.
Here you see Agarwal giving a member of the food press the grand tour.
Note the interesting floor detail.
But let me return the focus to the food. Tawa is by no means your typical Indian restaurant. In my opinion, the Thalis, the Coromandels, and Tawa occupy the top tier of Indian food in Connecticut. The food at these restaurants is superior in both quality and imagination. At this Tawa dinner, we were swept away by an avalanche of great dishes. I just hope, after some time has passed, that I can correctly identify each item that I photographed.
Note the use of some non-traditional ingredients in this colorful corn and asparagus chat.
This Bombay bhel is a street-inspired food.
This lamb shammi kebab made of ground lamb, split lentils and garam masala comes with an eggplant, tamarind and coconut sauce.
An artichoke scallion pakoda also features some non-traditional ingredients. Roy explains that in India, one cooks with whatever vegetables are available there. Why should he deprive himself of using whatever vegetables are available here, simply because they’re untraditional?
Doesn’t this Konkani crab and shrimp pocket look intriguing?
I believe this dish is the signature lamb dampak.
This dish must be the Bengali fish curry.
And this, of course, is the saag paneer, the spinach and cottage cheese cubes being unmistakable.
It may look like broccoli, but this remarkable dish is the chicken hariyali, the green color supplied by mint, cilantro, basil and Key lime.
This is undoubtedly the rezala, a bay-leaf-and-clove-infused white chicken curry served with potato straws.
And this, which I remember liking very much, must be the Kerala lamb fry with red onion, curry leaves and ginger coconut flakes.
And this dish is one of my favorites from the original Tawa. A nine-year-old Roy, displeased with slimy okra, came up with the inspired idea for this crispy okra tossed with red onion, cilantro and green chili. And the rest, as they say, was history…
And this, I’m pretty sure, is the black lentils.
Of course, it would be unthinkable to consume these great dishes without basmati rice.
We also enjoyed delicious breads like Rumali roti and my longtime favorite, Peshwari naan, neither of which I photographed.
The desserts we tasted were both traditional and non-traditional. Ras malai, with paneer dumplings and reduced sweet milk, has long been a personal favorite.
However humorous its appearance, gulab jamun is a popular treat which I usually find a bit too sweet.
But I was wowed by the shrikhand, a delicious mango dessert trio.
I close with a photo of chef Roy, the talented individual responsible for all of these tempting treats.
Tawa Restaurant & Bread Bar, 211 Summer Street, Stamford, 203-359-8977