Indian Dishes in Dubai

1 Konju Manga Curry Coconut Grove Price Dhs 50
Exemplifying the majesty of the dishes at this south Indian haunt, this union of meaty prawns, creamy coconut and tangy mango is Keralan paradise on a plate.
Rydges Plaza (Call for home delivary 04  398 2222). Open12 noon-3pm, 7pm-midnight daily

2 Jheenga Shan
Asha’s Price Dhs 94
The giant tandoor-charred prawns are tender and yielding, their delicate flavour given extra ballast by a robust, yet perfectly pitched coating of cardamom-infused yoghurt and cheese.
Wafi (Call for home delivary 04  324 0000).Open 12 noon-3pm, 7pm-11pm daily

3 Chicken Handi
New Sind Punjab Price Dhs 16
Served with fresh chunks of tomato and green chilli juliennes in a spicy, fragrant sauce, mop up the tender chicken handi with a tandoori onion kulcha for Punjabi perfection.
Karama (Call for home delivary 04  337 5535). Taxi: Behind Karama fish market. Open 8am-1am daily

4 Chapati Masala and Kuruma
Sangheeta Price Dhs 5.50
Look beyond the canteen-style dining and you’ll find a sensational chapati masala – flatbread wrapped around potato. Dip into the coconut-infused kuruma sauce and your mouth will water in anticipation of the meal ahead.
Sangheeta Karama (Call for home delivary 04  336 7111). Taxi: opp. LuLu Centre. Open 7.30am-3.30pm, 5pm-11pm daily

5 Lobster Masala
Mumtaz Mahal Price Dhs 115
Fish pieces are served simmering in a smooth blend of tomato, onions and spices that complements, rather than bedazzles, the precious seafood. Featherweight roti seals the deal.
Arabian Courtyard Hotel (Call for home delivary 04  351 9111). Taxi: opp. Dubai Museum, Bur Dubai. Open Sun-Thu 12 noon-3pm, 7.30pm-2am, Fri 7pm-3am, Sat 12.30pm-3pm, 7pm-2am daily

6 Shaam Savera
Options Price Dhs 42
This special from Sanjeev Kapoor’s Dubai HQ is a spinach kofta stuffed with malai paneer (balls of rubbery Indian cheese). But it’s the gravy that gives the dish a distinctive flavour, as honey sweetness meets tomato tang.
World Trade Centre (Call for home delivary 04  329 3293). Open 12 noon-3pm, 7pm-11.30pm daily

7 Tandoori Lal Jheenga
India Palace Price Dhs 48
The clay oven weakens the resistance of these fiery prawns, churned out with a consistency so soft they implode on the tongue.
Garhoud (Call for home delivary 04  286 9600). Taxi: Near Al Tayer Motors. Open 12 noon-11.30pm daily

8 Tandoori Salmon
Indego Price Dhs 75
If the fish had any fat, it’s obliterated in the Tandoori oven. The result is achingly tender rare salmon, which, thanks to a honey, yoghurt and chilli marinade, is also smoulderingly sweet.
Grosvenor House (Call for home delivary 04  399 8888). Open Sun-Fri 7.30pm-12 midnight

9 Mutton Biryani
Karachi Darbar Price Dhs 10
We never knew rice could be so fluffy, mutton so flavourful and biryani so transcendent. Yet the mutton biryani at Karachi Darbar is all these things.
Deira (Call for home delivary 04  222 2244). Taxi: Near Fish Roundabout. Open 11.30am-1am daily Other locations: Karama (Call for home delivary 04  334 7272),
Bur Dubai (Call for home delivary 04  353 3177)

10 Chilli Milli Paratha
Paratha King Price Dhs 6
Everything this smokin’ stuffed bread touches bursts into flames (or that’s what it feels like). Once the heat’s died down, the assortment of chillies has a divine flavour.
Karama (Call for home delivary 04  397 9110). Taxi: next to Baskin Robbins. Open 5pm-11pm daily

11 Fish Mango Curry
Calicut Paragon Price Dhs 16
Soft, fluffy chunks of hammour coated in gravy pack a fiery punch. We haven’t scoffed curry this good since we were in the Subcontinent.
Karama (Call for home delivary 04  335 8700). Taxi: opp. Lulu Centre. Open 11.30am-4pm, 7.30pm-12.30am daily
12 Nalli Gosht

Aangan

Price Dhs 59

Aangan’s nalli gosht (lamb shank) falls off the bone and comes in a chunky gravy, accompanied by a cloud of cumin studded rice. Avoid the live music (from 9.30pm).

Dhow Palace (Call for home delivary 04  359 9992). Open 12.30pm-3.15pm, 7pm-12.45am daily

13 Nizam’s Treat

Amarathi

Price Dhs 23

Anything served on a massive banana leaf is sure to delight. Add to that an assortment of authentic curries, biryani and chapati, and you’re guaranteed a winner. Plus, this king’s feast bears a pauper’s price tag, and we like that.

Karama, Trade Centre Road, near ADCB Bank (Call for home delivary 04  337 7077). Open 7.30am-3pm, 7pm-11.30pm daily

14 Murgh Tikka Lababdar

Antique Bazaar

Price Dhs 55

Chunky, tender morsels of chicken bathe in a buttery sauce, with just enough fire in the aftertaste to stop you going for the ‘safer’ mild butter chicken masala.

Four Points by Sheraton (Call for home delivary 04  397 7444). Taxi: Bank Street, Bur Dubai. Open 12.30pm-3.30pm, 6.30pm-2.30am daily

15Tadoori Lobster

Nina

Price Dhs 105

The dishes are more ‘contemporary’ than ‘Subcontinental’, but for the curry-phobic, the Tandoori lobster is a good gateway into the cuisine. Tender and juicy, it’s accented with a mild masala.

One&Only Royal Mirage (Call for home delivary 04  399 9999).

Taxi: Arabian Court. Open7pm-11.30pm daily

16 Prawn Masala

Iz

Price Dhs 80

Smouldering cumin-infused gravy coats these plump prawns, lending them a toasty flavour that’s surprisingly dry for a coconut-based curry. Do we like? Yes we do.

Grand Hyatt Dubai (Call for home delivary 04  317 1234).

Open 12.30pm-3pm, 7pm-2am daily

17 Night Meals Thali

Aryaas

Price Dhs 10

Thali offers a curry assortment for those who can’t make up their minds. Served on a silver plate, Aryaas’ version doesn’t have the added preservatives of many of its brethren.

Al Nakheel building (Call for home delivary 04  335 5776). Taxi: opp. LuLu Centre. Open5.30pm-12 midnight daily

18 Korma Asmani

Kamat

Price Dhs 18

Fresh, tasty vegetables are served in a simmering sauce of spinach and cashew gravy. Scoop it up with naan sprinkled in chopped mint leaves and garlic for a meat free feast.

Port Rashid Road (Call for home delivary 04  359 5441) Taxi: opp. Al Rafa Hospital Open 10.30am-3.15pm, 7pm-11.45pm daily

19 Masala Papads

Gazebo

Price Dhs 4

For an appetiser, you won’t find better than these tomato and channa- (aka chickpea) stuffed wafers. Basted in a fruity tamarind paste, they crumble in your mouth. In a word? Irresistible.

Bur Dubai (Call for home delivary 04  397 9930). Taxi: near Dhow Palace Hotel. Open 12 noon-3.15pm, 7pm-11.30pm daily

20 Butter Paneer Aappam

Aappa Kadai

Price Dhs 4

The aappam, a pancake presented as an inverted dome, is revered at this tiny eatery, which is, after all, named after it. We love the butter paneer variety, which feels so good while being so very, very bad.

Karama (Call for home delivary 04  334 8030), Taxi: opp. Lulu Centre. Open11.30am-3.30pm, 6.30pm-midnight daily

21 Chicken 65

Thalaserry

Price Dhs 6.50

Chicken 65 makes the (cramped) setting irrelevant with its tamarind goodness. Think chicken chunks swimming in tangy orange curry, ornamented with coriander and topped with a chilli tinge.

Bur Dubai (Call for home delivary 04  393 9177).Taxi: Al Raffa Road, near the Bur Dubai police station. Open 6am-1am weekdays and Saturdays 6am-12pm

22 Chettinad Chicken Masala

Anjappar Chettinad

Price Dhs 17

Offering doughy south Indian idlis and dosas, Chettinad chicken masala is the standout dish, sometimes served in vivid mint green. Radioactively spiced, it’s best sopped up with some spongy apam.

Karama (Call for home delivary 04  335 6116). Taxi: opp Lulu Centre. Open 11.30-11.30pm daily



23Bihari kebab

Dehli Darbar

Price Dhs 19

The cuisine of India’s poorest state may be predominantly vegetarian, but the Bihari kebab is a thing of flawless carnivorous wonder – especially when rendered as perfectly as it is at Delhi Darbar.

Naif Road, Deira (Call for home delivary 04  273 3444). Open8am-12.30am daily

24 Chemmeen Muringakka

Palm Grove

Price Dhs 40

Muringakka curry is a rarity in Dubai. The sauce blankets thick prawns, oozing sweetness. Accompanied with a paratha as light as a feather duvet, this dish made us feel like we were on a slow boat to Kochi.

Marco Polo Hotel (Call for home delivary 04  272 0743). Taxi:

Al Muteena Street. Open12 noon-1am daily

25 Paneer Makhni

It’s Mirchi

Price Dhs 26

The setting – with its old Bollywood movies and karaoke – may seem cheesy, but that’s what makes the paneer makhni the ideal choice – chunks of cottage cheese dissolve in the mouth under a coating of spicy tomato sauce.

Ramee Royal Hotel, Bur Dubai (Call for home delivary 04  334 4088). Open7pm-3am daily

26 Potato Chops

Casa Goa

Price Dhs 22

One bite of these fluffy balls of lamb-stuffed mashed potatoes, and you’ll know why these chops are a party favourite in Goa. The Palm Beach Rotana Inn (Call for home delivary 04  3931999). Open 7.30pm-1am daily

27 Assorted Sweets

Pak Ghazi Restaurant And Sweets

Price Dhs 20 for a box

One box may contain light, syrupy dumplings of gulab jumun, or sweet, grainy balls known as laddoo. They may do no favours for your waistline, but we guarantee your wallet will thank you.

Bur Dubai (Call for home delivary 04  397 9711). Taxi: Bank Street, opposite Bur-Juman. Open 4am- 2am daily

28Yumyum Ice Cream

Flavours

Price Dhs 6

Nothing complements a hot curry as well as Flavours’ saffron and pistachio ice cream cone. All products are made from scratch daily,

including the cones.

Karama (Call for home delivary 04  397 8784). Taxi: Across the street from Al Madina Supermarket, near Royal Garden Restaurant. Open 12 noon-midnight daily

29 Assorted Sweets

Chhappan Bhog

Price Dhs 62per kg

You’ll never know what you’re going to get with these colourful sweeties – some taste like rose, or melon or pistachio. Just close your eyes and be surprised.

Karama (Call for home delivary 04  396 8176). Taxi: Opposite BurJuman. Open 9am-11.30pm daily

30 Dahi Batata Puri

Bombay Chowpatty

Price Dhs 7

In a word, this honey, yoghurt and tamarind-topped puri (or fried bread) is weird. But the flavours melt in the mouth, and soon this strange little beast is all you’re craving.

Karama (Call for home delivary 04  396 4937). Taxi: Behind Trade Centre Road, opp. BurJuman. Open 9am-12 midnight daily