Stepping out of the cold, windy night and into the candle-lit corridor, Indigma's mild aroma of curry welcomes me as I am shown to my table. Traditional Indian art decorates the walls around me, contrasting with the modern mood lighting and elaborate table setting, wine glass and fake flowers included.
I am presented with a simple paper menu, along with an extensive wine menu. The menu is categorized into familiar sections such as starters, salads, soups, entreés and desserts. But that's where the familiarity stops.
For the most part, the names are an enigma, though the fairly extensive descriptions of the ingredients that go into each dish certainly help to clear up confusion. My waiter, Jon, was more than happy to explain the details of some of the dishes, as well as make some recommendations.
To start off, I ordered a crab soup and coconut naan, a traditional Indian flatbread. The crab soup was not the typical Maryland dish: It contained such ingredients as coconut milk, curry leaf, mustard seeds and chili flakes.
The chili flakes are probably the most common ingredient that one might find in a typical crab soup, perhaps emulating Old Bay Seasoning. The soup was not thick but rather was thin and pungent. The coconut was very much present, and it nearly dominated the flavor of the crab.
The flavor of the curry leaf combined with the spices to give the soup a very distinct aroma. As good as the soup was, it was quite salty - much more so than my taste could accommodate. So, I turned to the naan to balance that out.
The naan was extremely fresh. It came out in a wire holder, and though I'm no expert in Indian cuisine, I'd still say that it was quite good. The bread was chewy yet soft, with a nice amount of crisp on the outer layer. However, the "coconut" part of the coconut naan seemed to be lost among the other flavors, perhaps because of the heavy coconut flavor in the crab soup.
My first two dishes were not only fresh and culturally appropriate, but they were also crafted with care. As an example, my soup arrived in a very distinct bowl with square sides that curved elegantly.
I select the "Korma Indigma" for my entrée, which contains eggplant, almond, corn, chick peas, peas, dates, nuts and raisins. It arrived just as I was finishing up my soup and naan, allowing me to flow into my next course smoothly.
The dish came with a small bowl of rice, and I was instructed to pour the rice out onto the plate that it came with and then spoon the curry over it. The dish was a large, thick curry with a variety of ingredients in it, surpassing what the menu listed and surpassing my expectations with each bite.
I felt that the heat of the chilis that were in it was a little much compared to the amount of rice I received, though in the end I finished both the curry and the rice with neither left over, so something must have worked out right.
My waiter ended up talking me into trying their desserts, claiming that Indian desserts are "very tasty." Perhaps I am too easily persuaded, but there was a certain amount of intrigue about what sort of desserts the restaurant offered.
The dessert menu contained drinks, cakes, caramelized mango, Indian donut and various flavors of kulfi, which is an Indian ice cream. I ordered the walnut-cherry kulfi, which was quite an experience.
Aside from the cherries and almonds on top, the cream-based ice cream was actually partially made from almonds, which explained the very unique, almost bean-like texture.
The dessert was presented in a cylindrical bowl that sat inside a larger saucer-like dish, on which were drizzles of fudge and orange marmalade that went very well with the ice cream.
A word on pricing. There are two versions of each entrée, a small and a large. Small dishes range from $8 to $18, while the large ones cost about $4 more. My order was a small entrée, and I found that it was plenty to eat, considering my choices of soup, bread and dessert.
The soups and desserts are $4 to $6, and all the breads are $3 per serving.
Overall, Indigma provides excellent Indian cuisine in an authentic atmosphere at reasonable prices, making it an attractive dining location for Hopkins students.
