Kalluri Corner

Spices and herbs combine to create a multitude of flavors — specialties from both Northern and Southern India — at this Indian restaurant in Princeton.

By: Antoinette Buckley

   I approach with caution when one location has housed four different restaurants in the span of four or five years. The seemingly desirable corner lot on Nassau Street in downtown Princeton, alongside Waikiki and Thai Village, has reincarnated itself from Emerald’s coffee house to upscale Zanzibar to Alma Mater, and now, the six-month-old Kalluri Corner serving Indian cuisine.
   The side of the restaurant that faces Nassau Street is basically a wall of glass that extends from the first floor up through the second, where most of the restaurant’s tables are arranged. Such a space seems to fit a more trendy type of restaurant. College banners that still hang from the restaurant’s former days as Alma Mater are another mismatch in the new Kalluri Corner. Then there are those few pieces of art that are suggestive of Indian culture. But don’t let the tentative décor lead you to mistrust the offerings.
   The food is well-executed and offers a refreshingly different twist on Indian cuisine. The extensive menu combines specialties from Northern and Southern India. Most restaurants in the area specialize in less spicy Northern Indian cooking. For the most part, head chef Madan Bagriya, formerly from a five-star restaurant in Southern Madras, has blended seasoning styles to create a flavor unique to Kalluri Corner.
   Co-owner Palaniappa Nanjappan speaks highly of the kabobs that are cooked in a tandoor oven and are quite popular with the clientele. In fact, a specialized tandoor chef, Chi Devaraj, cooks all the tandoori delicacies. On this visit, my guests and I indulged mostly in curries, but I’ll be back for the kabobs.
   Aatukal soup ($2.95) was the perfect opener to a meal that would clear your sinuses. It was a gently spiced tomato soup with flakes of parsley and bits of ground lamb that went down effortlessly. Ambassador Idly ($4.95), a South Indian specialty, presented a challenge with its pungent, thin lamb broth and floating, spicy rice balls. Only my guest with the highest heat tolerance found joy in that one.

Staff photo by Frank Wojciechowski

Kalluri Corner owner Saro Ramasamy in the restaurant’s upstairs dining room.

   Mini samosas ($3.95) came in neat little fried packages stuffed with a bold filling of potatoes and green peas. The one dipping sauce that accompanied it was a textured tomato-based dip with onion, oil, mustard seed and ground lentils. Its flavors were complex enough to offer interest while its heat was tame, making a good match for the rather fiery samosas. The same dip was served with the Kheema patties ($5.95), which reminded me of well-seasoned lamb burgers. The dipping sauce really brought the lamb patties to life.
   For the main meal, our plates were comprised of four distinctly different tasting dishes, all pivoting around a wonderfully bland background of rice. Each dish offered its own degree of heat, which lent itself nicely to circling my way around the plates from mild to most spicy. The most understated dish was an easy-to-enjoy lamb korma ($11.95), delivering a mild, creamy sauce coating chunks of tender lamb.
   The daal makhani ($8.95) had all the properties that I find so appealing about daal. It was a fragrant, fluid mound of lentils that had been soaked in spices overnight. Kidney beans and strips of ginger added different textures and flavors to break up the continuity of the dish. For me, it is the Indian version of comfort food.
   Making my way around the plate brought me next to a spicier Baingan Bartha ($9.95), a vegetarian curry with finely chopped barbecued eggplant cooked with green peas, tomatoes and onions. The chopped eggplant became a part of all the other vegetable bits meshing nicely amid a complex seasoning.
   The chunks of fish in the Allepey fish curry ($13.95) smelled fishy in a sauce made with coconut milk, ginger shreds and mango. Its aggressive use of spices made the dish abrasive for the moderate palate.
   The menu has a good selection of tandoori breads. We enjoyed the basic naan, which came to the table hot and fluffy. It is disappointing that naan must be ordered separately for a pricey $2.95 a serving, as does rice for $1.95. One serving of naan should be ample for two people despite the one-to-one ratio our server suggested. The rest of the menu is reasonably priced, but the extras can tip you over the edge.

Staff photo by Frank Wojciechowski

The side of the restaurant that faces Nassau Street is basically a wall of glass that extends from the first floor up through the second, where most of the restaurant’s tables are arranged.

   Service was sketchy. Our table’s server was little help with the menu. Another server who just happened to be around when we had a question was knowledgeable and articulate.
   I always find Indian desserts adventurous because they are so different from Western style desserts. Homemade kulfi ($3.95) is an Indian ice cream made with nuts and perfumed with cardamom. More icy than creamy, its taste was intriguing despite a fragrance that reminded me of lipstick. The gulab jamun ($3.95), fried balls of dough (milk dumplings) saturated in a sweet syrup, was addictive.
   Husband and wife owners Palaniappa Nanjappan and Saro Ramasamy are on to something. Offering a new Indian cuisine — one that meshes Northern and Southern food — may take a little longer to catch on. But the concept captures the most treasured trait of Indian cooking — using spices and herbs in varying degrees and combinations to create a multitude of flavors ranging from subtle to pungent. Now, if only the space can be made a little more inviting, the food would shine brighter.
For directions to Kalluri Corner, click here.