India’s Tandoori Brentwood’s New Authentic Bangladesh Catering Menu

(Gerry Furth-Sides, photos are identified)India’s Tandoori Restaurant, Brentwood is already a neighborhood favorite that includes celebrities who hold gatherings there that can last an entire evening  and turn the place into one big party – like the one we were at last Sunday.  It is fitting then that beloved, dedicated  Chef-owner Martin Shah of //India’s Tandoori Restaurant – Brentwood  would create special catering menus for such occasions on and off-site.  His new one, assisted by friends Israt Jahan Irin, focuses on popular Indian dish eggplant bharta, which is already a signature.  And this time he added seven more, including taro bharta and fish bharta.

Proprietor Matin Shah’s Bangladeshi dinner at India’s Tandoori in Brentwood  started with a pretty, innocent that turned out to be spicy.  The Bangladeshi drink, described on the menu as “tropical fruit juice with a kick” said it all, and in was green chiles, lychees, jackfruit, mangoes and oranges.

Bangladeshi-born and raised,  Shah and Israt, prepared the special off-the-menu- bharta dishes.  The meal can be ordered for groups of ten or more.   Matin recommends two bharta dishes for six people, with the rest of the mean being paired dishes, such as what we were served that included lamb, chicken and fish.

According to writer and guest, Fay Levy, “Matin told us that in Bangladesh, where he was raised, bharta (also spelled bhorta) is a basic preparation that is made from many different main ingredients. He describes bharta as food mashed with flavorings–mustard oil, fresh onions, garlic, cilantro, green chilies, red chilies and salt–and served with rice. Shah considers bharta the simplest form of Bangladeshi comfort food and describes it as an easy-to-make dish that’s often prepared by peasants.” 

The preparation of eggplant bharta resembles middle eastern baba ghanoush, also cooking the eggplant right over the fire, or “burnt” to give it a smokey flavor.  Mustard oil and other seasonings give it a distinct Indian flavor. Two taro bhartas are on the catering menu, one using the root and one the taro stems.

Two fish bhartas followed–the fried fresh fish seasoned with turmeric plus traditional  bharta flavorings, and a spicy one called chepa shutki bharta, which is a dried Bangladeshi fish.

Green bhartas made from Chinese long beans and from a vegetable called shim that looks like snow peas. There was also a plantain bharta made from boiled mashed green plantains.

India’s Tandoori Brentwood New Catering menu dinner :

• Tropical fruit juice with a kick – made with jackfruit, lychees, mango and oranges, flavored with ginger, green chiles, red chile flakes and fresh mint
• Mango lassi – a cooling beverage made of mango, yogurt and sugar

Eight kinds of bharta

• Basmati rice with cumin seeds and bay leaves
• Malai shrimp in coconut sauce -with coconut milk, ground coconut, chilies and spices
• Lamb shank curry with fried onions and yogurt
• Sizzling grilled chicken with mint
• Hilsha caviar – The roe of hilsha fish that is fried, then cooked with fried onion, garlic-ginger paste and tomato
• Carrot halwa – a dessert made of shredded carrots fried in olive oil and ghee, then cooked with milk, sugar, cashews, raisins and cardamom
• Opo squash firni – a creamy dessert made of the grated squash cooked with milk, sugar and cardamom, similar to rice pudding
• Chai – hot tea with milk and cardamom