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Most
tandoori chickens look
and taste the same: bright
red and charred. Tikka,
too, teases the taste buds
similarly just about wherever
it is served. Korma, biryani,
vegetable samosas — we
know them well. Tipu Rahman
and his wife, Bithi Begum,
both from Bangladesh, put
out respectable renditions
of all of the above for
lunch and dinner at their
handsome 45-seater (with
just as many seats on an
outdoor patio), but the
less conventional dishes
are what distinguish this
North Miami Beach spot
from other vindaloo venues.
You won't, for instance,
find the Bangladeshi appetizer
of fried grouper fritters
(mas bhora) on every
menu, nor karahi specialties
in which meat, poultry,
or fish gets quick-cooked
in a woklike skillet heated
by coals.
Heelsha's lamb
karahi is one fired-up
stir-fry: succulent pieces
of meat melded with tomato,
onion, green pepper, and
garlic, then kicked up
with cumin, coriander,
and cardamom. It is worth
a trip here just for the
restaurant's namesake fish,
a sweet, freshwater, silver-skin
shad flown in frozen from
India, and roasted with
all manner of aromatic
spices. Prices, however,
are more typical of other
Indian restaurants — meaning
entrées are under
$15 to $25. |
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