Stuttgart

How does an Indian woman like Indian cuisine in Stuttgart? Sukhada Tatke visited six restaurants in the city and ordered Butter Chicken. Again and again. A personal report.

It was late and the evening was unbearably cold. The roads were deserted and the faces new. It was only my first week here and I was trying to get used to the city. On such a day, I stepped into a place which was warm and lit with candles. The faces there looked familiar, the aromas even more. I felt I was at home. It was the first Indian restaurant I visited in this city- the Indian Palace.

Not much of a food fan myself, I didn’t know that food could actually transport someone to another place, in a different continent. Just the thought of the fragrant, spicy butter chicken - or Murg Makhani as it is known in India - and the memory of its smell and taste so deep-seated on my palate, were enough to make my mouth water. And then it became a routine- I checked out six Indian restaurants in the city and ate the same dish everywhere. The gravy of the butter chicken in all the restaurants was light orange and it was not spicy. In India, the gravy is red and the chicken a bit spicy.

Every Indian restaurant here concentrates on details of trying to create an authentic Indian feeling, as they perceive it. These restaurants, mostly found in the corners of the inner roads of Stuttgart, manage to transform this little bit of German land into a typical Indian space. So there are portraits and idols of Gods hanging in some restaurants, and incense sticks are burning in others. In the backdrop, there is always Indian music playing- popular Bollywood songs or quiet ghazals. The European neighbourhood outside is momentarily forgotten. One sits waiting for one’s food, and the spell cast by the decor can almost lull you into feeling one is in Mumbai. One’s glance travels across the room - when suddenly it stops at a window, and the sight of the quiet, empty street reminds you of the reality you are in.

Adding to the warmth of the atmosphere, are small stoves which keep the food hot till you finish it. The food, however, is obviously modified to suit the European tongue. While staying completely faithful to the appearance and recipe, the masalas or spices are not as many as you find in real Indian food. In India, peanuts are served with drinks, bowls of chopped onions and lime to go with our food, but not in the Indian restaurants in Stuttgart. At the end of every meal, there are finger bowls filled with warm water to wash hands. Understandably, the concept doesn’t exist here because people don’t dirty their fingers while eating.

The pieces of the chicken are bigger than normal. I think it is because people here eat with knives and forks and not with their fingers, so it is convenient for them to dig into a bigger piece. Every meal, meanwhile, is served with rice. It was surprising, at the same time slightly annoying that I had to eat rice all the time, whether or not I wanted it. In India, it is customary to end a meal with sauf (Aniseed), mint seeds in the end. This was often replaced by a small alcoholic drink in some restaurants.

According to me, Indian Palace had the best butter chicken, the quantity was small and the price too high, but the taste was as close to the chicken made in India. Our next stop was at Ganapati, at Schlossstraße 33. Here the cook was Nepalese and owners Sri Lankan. The prawns were better than the chicken whose price was the same as at Indian Palace. But the roti which is the Indian bread was not of the right shape and was hard to chew.

At Prince of India, however, the rotis were better than anywhere else. The chicken was nice as well, but bordered more on the sweet side, completely contrary to the original spicy quality of the dish.

At Ganesha, a restaurant serving Indian and Sri Lankan food, the atmosphere is the best- mythological paintings line the walls, papad is served free and the meal ends with the customary mint seeds.

The Ceylonas restaurant, which has a mix of Indian and Sri Lankan food, did not quite match up to the original standard of butter chicken. The food was mild.

At Kohinoor, a buffet dinner cost €13.90, and the butter chicken was good, but could have been better.