Not Just Snacks

Keeping it sweet and simple

May 17, 2006 6:11:41 PM

When the proprietors of Not Just Spices opened their doors seven years ago, they wanted to acquaint their neighbors with exotic fresh produce as well as fresh ingredients for curry. But local tastes were piqued, and more than just groceries were in the future. Perhaps it was all the atrophying East Side Yankee taste buds they caused to open like lotus blossoms, but when Not Just Snacks was established two years later, the open house crowd numbered hundreds and hundreds.

Nowadays, there’s much more seating inside than the original 20 or so chairs, and additional business can spill out onto the patio. The unassuming little restaurant, as informal as a Bombay bhel puri cart, has become a neighborhood institution — this while being within steps of some of the best restaurants in the city.

The owners are originally from Bangladesh and thought that some of their personal favorites might go over well. Mohammed M. Islam once had a restaurant in New York City, so he knew what might please. His wife, Samia, listed their customers’ favorite curries for us: aloo palak, navarattan korma and malai kofta ($7.95 each), which vary, respectively, from a simple preparation of spinach with cubed potatoes and onions, to vegetables and cashews in a cream sauce, and vegetable dumplings containing cheese and nuts.

Recently, I dropped in at lunchtime with a friend to sample Indian kebabs, which are the spiciest items on the menu. The basic plate can be as uncomplicated as a $3.50 one-piece minced chicken kebab (actually two pieces, served cut in half). That comes with a small pile of lettuce and shredded carrots, the thin yogurt sauce called raita, and a piece of naan, plain flat bread. We added beef kebabs ($2), which were even spicier. Both were delicious. They were cooked in a tandoor, a clay oven, which made a later visit by me imperative, to indulge in the tandoori chicken ($8.95). That consisted of two leg-and-thigh pieces, skinless and colored red from the traditional preparation. The clay baking left it quite moist on the inside, and the raita was there to moisten the outside.

On that occasion, Johnnie was attracted to the description of the idli ($3.95). Out came three rice cakes in a steamer, plus a cup of sambhar — vegetables such as eggplant, okra, and pearl onions in a lentil-based broth. In addition was a generous mound of coconut chutney, flecked with mysterious, tiny black seeds. She was pleased.

For accompanying bread we chose muli paratha ($2.25), flat bread with a layer of peppery mashed radish. Diners can pick versions containing cauliflower or potato, as well. We also shared an alu tikki ($2) stuffed with minced chicken mixed with flavor accents such as fennel and coriander seeds. Another preliminary treat was the pani-puri ($4.95) and its 10 little fried puffballs, as thin as balloon skins. Our waitress demonstrated the eating procedure, poking a hole in one, filling it with crushed chickpeas and topping it with splashes of both tamarind and cilantro sauces. It was quite a multidimensional taste sensation.

The same can be said for the drinks here, from the unsweetened masala chai ($1.50) that lets the black tea come through, to the mango lassi ($2.25) with its complementary tangs of tropical fruit and yogurt.

On the menu are only three desserts — or “sweets,” as they put it — and we tried two of them. Unfortunately, the difference between gulab jamun and kala jamun is just that the latter is a darker brown. Both are honey-soaked fried dough balls and equally satisfying to a non-diabetic. The next time, I want to try the rasmalai, which is sweetened and spiced paneer (cottage cheese cubes). All those desserts are $1.25.

Another way to end a meal is to step over to the display case full of exotic Indian sweet treats, various colors and shapes of sugary exotica packaged to-go in clear plastic containers. If you resist that, you might be tempted to take home some of the other menu items in the adjoining case, samosas and pakoras galore.

After that, you could step next door to Not Just Handicrafts, which the Islams opened when that space became available a couple of years ago. The place offers clothing, cosmetics, CDs, and so on. Who knows? If Festival Ballet — which is close by on the other side of the restaurant — ever moves to larger quarters, we just might be in for a Not Just Dancing in that spot.

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Bill Rodriguez: bill@billrod.com