The Best-Cooked Secret at Spice Xing

The menu at Spice Xing, Sudhir Seth's new restaurant in Rockville, is like a scratch-and-taste history book.  Behind nearly every dish are fate-changing moments in Indian history. 

And, because the restuarant looks through a glass plate into the past, the a la carte items are more interesting and unique than many other Indian joints that sit you through the same old paneer, masala, vindaloo regimen - it's like they think Indian dining should be as rote as drills for cricket practice.

Vegetable Cutless

Take, for example, the vegetable cutless appetizer.  "Cutless" is how East Indian laborers heard the Brits when they first stepped ashore in Bengal and described their batter-covered cutlets. 

It's no wonder they couldn't concentrate on pronunciation, distracted as they must have been by these powerful flavors.  The version at Spice Xing is perfectly crispy and sweetened with beets to contrast the minced vegetables.

Balchao Shrimp

Another must-have is the balchao shrimp.  Sudhir's history lesson?  When the Portuguese colonized the Goan region of India in the 16th century, they brought a new mysterious liquid with them: vinegar.  Indians learned to mix this souring agent with chilis and coriander. 

And the taste?  One of the top masalas in DC.  It's even better than the balchao calamari at Indian Ocean, the excellent restaurant in Van Ness that specializes in Goan cuisine.

The only shortcoming of the balchao: no tears or enflamed tongue.  It seems like a number of the dishes, including balchao, forgo red chilis for the cooler Kashmiri ones.  This place is called Spice Xing, right?  One member of our dining party, Joanna, can't stand hot food, but Xing was no problem for her.

Bread Pakora

But back to Sudhir's food/history lesson - make sure to get the bread pakora, a chutney sandwich dipped into besan butter and deep-fried.  These snacks are a staple of Gymkhana, the oldest and most exclusive country club in India.  When blue-blooded Indian gentry ate pakora in the early 1900s, they didn't just swallow white bread - pride went down the gullet, too, as they tried to assimilate with oppressive British executives.

If I have one complaint about Spice Xing, it's that all the great backstories are lost on the patrons.  Why not include good descriptions on the menu so we understand that the history is as rich as the curry? 

But even then, like all historical accounts, the menu at Spice Xing wouldn't tell you the full story.  Because the most amazing dish at Spice Xing isn't even on the menu. 

Yes, the best-cooked secret at Spice Xing is the chicken saag.  Sudhir cooks pieces of chicken in butter and garam masala infused spinach until they are incredibly tender.

Chicken Saag

I was so taken with this dish that I called Spice Xing co-owner Harry Sanotra demanding to know why its excellence isn't on the menu.  He explained that Indian cuisine is so vast and diverse that it's impossible to list everything. 

Co-owner Harry Sanotra

The chicken saag's spot on the menu was taken by the lamb saag, which Harry described as "even more awesome" than the chicken.

Saag Gosht

Lamb dices simmered with spinach, cardamom and curry leaf

Well, our table had the lamb saag, and we didn't think it was quite as good.  Like history, though, it's open to interpretation.

Other highly recommended plates at Spice Xing:

Gobhi Simlamirch - 9/10 points

Cauliflower & bell peppers, tempered with wild onion seeds

Tandoori Wings - 7/10 points

Spicy tandoor broiled wings

Dahi Papri Chaat - 9/10 points

Seasoned yogurt with crispies and chicpeas

Tandoori Chicken - 7/10 points

Yogurt, ginger, and garlic marinated and cooked in the clay oven

One dish that was less well-received by our table, although it's gotten strong praise from other foodie pundits, was the aloo do piaza - cumin tempered potatos with scallions and bermuda onions.