Masala Art

Masala Art
Branchburg
1049 US 202 North
908-575-2200

Open: Lunch & dinner daily; breakfast, Mon-Fri; brunch, Sat & Sun

Price: $$  BYO

Style: The rich and varied cuisine of North India, which originated with the Mughlai emperors of the Middle Ages.

The Scoop: Executive chef Harkishan Lal Arora draws from influences other than Mughlai and aims to present a menu as healthy as it is tasty. He regards the creation of masalas (distinctive spice mixtures) as an art, hence the restaurant’s name.

The Menu: Start with a basket of vegetable kulcha, delicious unleavened bread stuffed with onion and paneer cheese. Dunk this delicacy in the spicy mulligatawny soup made with lentils and tomatoes. The kulcha also serves to mop up the rich juices of chicken jalfrozi, which is prepared with bell peppers, tomatoes and spring onions. Another fine choice for a main course is shrimp dansik, a sweet-and-sour dish featuring large shrimp marinated in honey and vinegar and cooked with lentils.

You don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy Punjabi-style baingam bhurtha, composed of roasted eggplant, green peas, fresh tomatoes, onions and ginger baked in a tandoori oven. Indian desserts, like Greek ones, are notoriously sweet. But after a spicy meal, you just might crave gulab jaman, which is deep-fried cheese curds in syrup garnished with almonds.

Heads Up: It’s easy to miss Masala Art on busy US 202. Slow down when you see the blue solar panels on the right; the restaurant is in the strip mall that follows.