Avinashkapoor Archives - Local Food Eater

Beloved Akbar Returns to Pasadena

January 19, 2022 Comments Off

Pasadena food devotees have a reason to rejoice as Akbar returns to Pasadena at 404 Arroyo Parkway this month under the ownership of Avinash Kapoor and Sri Sambangi. The new location will feature an update of its stylish contemporary Indian cuisine. The site across from Whole Foods is not far from the one Chef Avi left four years ago.

Akbar partners, Sri Sambangi, founder of Clorder, Inc.(left) and Avinash Kapoors (right) with writer Barbara Hansen

Avinash Kapoor always had a devoted following at his Pasadnea Akbar for the 20 years on Fair Oaks until 2018. In fact, The Pasadena Weekly voted him the best Indian restaurant in town every year the restaurant was open at its nearby site at 44 N. Fair Oaks Avenue.

For the past four years, Kapoor has devoted his time to a more casual version of his family-founded business at 701 W. Cesar Chavez, Kapoor’s Akbar. Traditional favorites remained on the menu, even as the emphasis was on take out and delivery during the pandemic starting in 2020.

Avi at Kapoor’s DTLA thoughtfully making up a pink pineapple lassi

The founder of Clorder, Inc., Sridhar Sambangi has been building SAAS applications for multiple industries for more than 24 years. His focus during the past eight years has been within the hospitality industry, building White Label online ordering solutions that helps restaurant owners build their brand and reach customers more effectively. He was recently recognized as a Google Elite Network Contributor with 160 million views.

Chef/owner Avinash Kapoor’s refined starters are rich and intensely flavored. And there is usually a twist to each dish. Below are the new lamb sliders with a lively mint chutney;

“Dirty Fries” are topped with spiced ground lamb masala and sunny-side up egg. “It’s my take on poutine, which is so popular now,” explained Chef Avi. It also is not laden with the usual heavy gravy that makes the fries soggy.

The practical prices menu offers the classics as well as some updated options. Kapoor’s Akbar features a variety of naan (plain, garlic, green herb and stuffed with dry fruits) and paratha, a whole wheat unleavened bread.

Cheddar and paneer cheese, herbs puff out this pillowy naan with “tooth”

Pink Pineapple Updates The Original Smoothie: Indian Lassi

June 11, 2021 Comments Off

Everyday is a celebration of dairy at KAPOOR’s with variety of Indian Lassi’s.

National Dairy Month started in June,1937 as a way to sell excess milk in the warm summer months. Within two years, National Dairy Month moved to national prominence. Today it’s a full-blown celebration of all things dairy, with parades, festivals, and farm-inspired activities all around the U.S. in the month of June.

This past year we discovered surprising new favorites from (1) home baking, (2) a new farmers market visit that led us to Stepladder Ranch cheeses (part 2 of this article), (3) winning a pink pineapple competition that inspired a new Indian Lassi flavor, and another dairy story: buttermilk.

Stepladder Ranch Cheese and Big Sur, our favorite!

Classic Indian lassi was actually invented as a way to use up the “buttermilk” or rich liquid that remained after cream was churned into butter. The leftover liquid is termed as Buttermilk, which is commonly known as ‘Chaati ki Lassi’. Thousands of years old, the drink originated in the Punjab in northern India.

Chef-owner Avinah Kapoor remembers drinking it this way, when he was a kid on a farm in northern India. So did others at our table (see above): Avi’s Katie-roll Partner, Sri Sambangi, growing up on a south Indian farm; Cathy Arkle on a farm in the heart of the country, and even me, who has family with a beloved “gentleman’s farm” that included dairy cattle, near Ann Arbor, Michigan.

These days it is made with milk and yogurt, at all Indian restaurants, including his Kapoor’s Akbar in DTLA and Akbar in Marina del Rey, . And sugar. Chef Avi Kapoor discovered that with very sweet pink pineapple “there isn’t even a need to add sugar!”

Chef Avi Kapoor’s making a milk, yogurt pink pineapple lassi

Every Indian restaurant serves lassis. And there are many, many easy to follow recipes to make your own lassi at home. And videos that prove how easy it is to make.

pink pineapple from Costa Rica – sweet enough for smoothies without sugar

Still, Lassi not only is refreshing but it it healthy, loaded with good bacteria that promotes a healthy gut and can help healing the stomach. the probiotic content in lassi makes it a perfect dose to cure several digestion related issues. The calming effect of lassi is known to prevent sun strokes. Healthy protein helps in building muscle mass, and also improves bone mineral density and aids in weight loss.

Bakers lament because commercial “buttermilk” is only sold in quart containers and they have unusable leftovers. We used what we needed for a recipe and wound up happily drinking the rest of the buttermilk, straight. Turns out I am not the only one who loves the stuff. Buttermilk bars were set up by the Salvation Army during Prohibition as a refreshing alternative to alcoholic drinks. And it was a favorite of my own mom.

Lassi these days comes in a variety of fruit flavors and also pistachio.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 11F89F2D-702D-4AA0-94EA-E8E1095BD7A0.jpeg — Everyday is a celebration of dairy at KAPOOR’s with variety of Indian Lassi’s.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 48489407-F6D0-4FEC-AAA7-77B6A392FE46.jpeg — Chef Avi Kapoor’s making a milk, yogurt pink pineapple lassi – sweet enough without sugar

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is B6FB7E92-41B9-4167-B704-A0197A761F37.jpeg

Lassi not only is refreshing but it it healthy, loaded with good bacteria that promotes a healthy gut and can help healing the stomach. The calming effect of lassi is known to prevent sun strokes. Healthy protein helps in building muscle mass, and also improves bone mineral density and aids in weight loss.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is A983D6AF-DD7B-4452-82C2-96305306F27D-copy.jpg

And It turned out that we were not drinking real buttermilk this year because buttermilk is made from cream, not milk like the ones on the market now. Buttermilk is the liquid that’s left when cream is churned into butter, the very same that inspired the Indians to create “lassi” in the first place. If you look carefully, you will see that “buttermilk” sold in cartons at the supermarket is labeled, “cultured skim milk.”

The only true buttermilk commercially available is Kate’s Real Buttermilk from Maine, found in Northeastern supermarkets. The Federal Government recognizes that cultured skim milk isn’t buttermilk, but it’s not a big enough problem to force dairy companies to change their labels

Real buttermilk contains amazing emuslifiers that can only be found in cream. Dr. Robert Bradley, Professor Emeritus in the Food Science Department at the University of Wisconsin explains, explanation: “Phospholipids are the emulsifiers in cream. They are part of the fat globule membranes. Churning cream causes collisions of the fat globules. When the collisions occur, the membranes are stripped off and go into the buttermilk.”

And that’s why Real buttermilk is the secret to exceptional baked goods. Its resounding emulsifiers make cakes, biscuits, and muffins more tender and taste richer and moist even though buttermilk is low in fat.

As kids at home, we always drank milk, which my mother walked to get in half gallon glass bottles from a neighborhood dairy story. My parents did not drink although my mom’s favorite things in the world in addition to buttermilk was cheese (and salad greens – a real California girl born in Europe!).

This lockdown year of reflection, it occurs to me that I have never given milk a thought since the “food police” have frowned on dairy for decades. This is not to say that I don’t put 1/2 and 1/2 into espresso when it is available, eat ice cream and an egg every other day!

Dairy in our favorite iced coffee, hot espresso and baked goods!

Are you a Kati or a Frankie? Find Out at KATI ROLL CO Coming Soon

May 20, 2021 Comments Off

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is IMG_0898.jpg — The foil wrapping tells you if it is a Frankie or Kati!

(Gerry Furth-Sides) Are you a Frankie or a Kati? Do you know the difference? You will soon when Kati Roll Company (#katirollco) comes to to town, bringing authentic, fun Indian Street food to LA. And second generation, Avinash Kapoor, who is bringing it to Los Angeles, already owns two of the most popular Indian restaurants in Los Angeles.

Both concepts started because street vendors didn’t have enough time to wash their plates between customers. So they started serving their marinated and grilled kebabs wrapped in paratha or roti (Indian flatbread), serving the two items together without dishware.

And both go beautiful with refreshing fruit Lassis, a house-made blend of fruit and organic yogurt. The most famous is Mango Lassi shown below. Other flavors include blueberry and strawberry.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is IMG_E0888.jpg — **Lassi**s, a house-made blend of fruit and organic yogurt.

I start with the Kati, because it is my preference! The Kati (or Kathi ) roll originated in Kolkata (Calcutta). It has come in Bengal to be simply known as “roll”. The word Kati in native Bengali roughly translates to “stick”, referring to how they were originally made on skewers.

It has stuffing variations chosen from assorted veggies, cheese, meat, paneer, soy. The traditional Kati fillings include coriander and chutney, with egg, and chicken proteins. A warm, lingering layer of spiciness comes from the addition of a sparkling array of spices. Plain roti or a parantha that has some lamination is used as a Kati roll wrap.

The Frankie was created in Mumbai (Bombay) in the north and is unique to this area. A Frankie is an Indian wrap best described as a “Mumbai Burrito” with no rice or beans. The standard Mumbai version wrap is roti. Stuffed with a veggies, cottage cheese cutlet, it is seasoned with a combination of tangy sauces, then rolled into an omelette-like layer on the inside. Frankies are also distinguished by the practice of egg washing the casing of the wrap.

In American versions of the Frankie, naan baked in a tandoor oven is used, and an extra cost is made for the darker wheat, thicker roti, possibly because roti seems more exotic. This is a lot like the choice of a hamburger sandwich bun simply being on a soft white bread or whole wheat.

Naan, an ancient Indian staple is perfect for a folded over quesadilla-like sandwich. It’s a soft dough cooked at extremely high temperatures in substantial metal or clay cylindrical oven. Yogourt is added to the dough to soften it, and ghee to give it a gloss before the chef gently slaps it onto the side of the oven, where it sticks until it is baked. Naans are slightly puffy with a crackling thin, crisp crust spotted with bits of smoky char that breaks open to reveal airy, stretchy, slightly chewy bread underneath. Your mouth waters just to read about it!

Kati rolls are packed in paper whereas Frankies are rolled in foil. So the Kati paper can be torn around the side as you eat it. The Frankie can be slid up through the foil circle instead. This makes both of them convenient!

To get a better idea about how loved these two street food favorites are, consider this debate as the Indian counterpart to the American obsession with NY style versus Chicago pizza style. The NY style has the thinnest of crusts and baked in a wood-burning oven at its best for a crunchy, flatbread canvas for usually light ingredients – like the Kati. The deep-dish Chicago adds a doughy crust, more like the Frankie!

And, like the intense New York style vs Chicago-style pizza style debate in America, the Indian one depends on which style Regional food you like best. You can also compare the affection outside Indian for these two handheld street foods as the counterpart to the French obsession with cous cous. And with the Brits who fell so much in love with Indian cuisine in India during the Raj that they blended their own flavors into the dishes and brought them back to England, where they are ranked ahead of Anglo food in annual surveys!

Indian restaurants run by Indian families in recent decades, in Canada and the United States, have propelled the Frankie and Kati into a “favorite” ranking in take-out restaurants. Now it is available to you to make own choice to see which you are: a Frankie or a Kati!

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Read Who’s Behind the New Kati+Frankie Rolls

May 20, 2021 Comments Off

(Gerry Furth-Sides) A Kati, a Frankie in wrap form or bowl, which can now be ordered at Kati Roll Company (#katirollco) brings authentic, fun Indian Street food to LA in full force. To order food online, please see: //katirollco.com.

The concept is being brought to LA by Chef Avinash (Avi) Kapoor and Sridhar (Sri) Sambangi. Second generation chef-owner, Avinash Kapoor, owns and operates two of the most popular Indian restaurants in Los Angeles and follows a long line of family industry leaders. Sri carries his passion for food and cooking, and experience and expertise he finely honed in Clorder, a company he created to build branding and marketing platforms for restaurants, and in co-creating menus and operational functions for VR concepts.

Low-key, congenial, Avinash Kapoor has over 25 years of experience working in the restaurant industry and is chef and co-owner of the Akbar restaurants in Southern California and Kapoor in DTLA, site of the new Kati + Frankie Roll.

Kapoor grew up apprenticing alongside well-respected veteran Indian restaurateurs, Kapal Dev Kapoor, and Uncle, Jagdish Kapoor, both in India, and the U.S. Known for its elegance and traditional Mughlai cuisine, Akbar was one of the first Indian restaurants to introduce and serve Indian cuisine in Southern California, establishing industry standards when it opened in 1976.

Akbar restaurant, was named after the Indian Mughal Emperor, Akbar (1542-1605), renowned for his taste in gourmet cuisine. From the first Akbar restaurant opened by the Kapoor family in 1976, the Los Angeles restaurants have done the name proud, earning award after award for originating and keeping the tradition of serving traditional Indian Muglai cuisine in Southern California.

Avi originally intended a career in management but decided instead to carry on his father’s ability to share the culinary romance of Indian food, including the dazzling, vibrant array of flavors, colors and aromas of fresh ingredients and authentic Indian cuisine.

At the same time he grew up in Los Angeles and so his more contemporary menu reflects the local ingredients and a more pared down version of the rich Muglai cuisine dishes. Seasonings and spices are another matter. “People can be afraid of spices,” chuckles Chef Kapoor, “But not all spices are hot. Spices add that extra “umph “of aroma, color, flavor and mystery to a dish. And many spices are healthy for the body,” he adds.

So 1994, Kapoor opened the Akbar Grill in Encino, he paring down down the heavy Muglai food and using local ingredients, along with subtly blended combination of fresh herbs and spices into contrasting flavors like sweet and sour, and hot and tangy. Kapoor earned accolades for his creativity both for his work as chef and for his restaurants.

Kapoor’s lean Indian food with an open kitchen concept was in full force when he opened Akbar restaurant in Marina Del Rey in Marina del Rey. Today, Kapoor is also also owner of Kapoor in Downtown Los Angeles.

Clorder/Virtual restaurant founder-partner, Sambangi. has always had a passion for cooking Indian cuisine. He grew up on a farm in rural southern India, learning to cook using fresh farm ingredients. He continued to learn using fresh ingredients in Los Angeles throughout his almost quarter century career as a technology executive and entrepreneur with extensive experience in enterprise cloud applications.

The idea for Clorder came to Sri when he was involved in an IPO journey from one early stage startup phase to IPO at Cornerstone On Demand, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSOD). The team he managed remembered his catered dinners for in-house every Friday, sourcing the highest quality items. They were so instantly popular and applying that everyone on the team looked forward the sessions even though work ended at midnight.

For details, please see: //akbarcuisineofindia.com

The Katirollco kitchen preparing the fresh Kati + Frankie dishes is inside Kapoor’s Akbar Indian Restaurant on the north side of Cesar Chavez Boulevard just outside of DTLA.

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