original maurya palace - edmonton, ab

Original Maurya Palace Restaurant
Home of East Indian Buffets & Curries
9266 34th Ave
780.468.9500

Ah the classic standby. My Indian home away from home! Pulling up tonight and realizing there was new signage above the door had me worried. When did this happen? Was it sold? Would it still be the same?

I've been going to Maurya Palace for years. I don't remember my first visit exactly, but I know it was with my brother. While he filled up on vegetarian delights, I succumbed to my flourishing desire for Indian cuisine on goat curry and naan. This relationship, with both the cuisine and Maruya Palace, matured quickly. Now-a-days I enjoy cooking Indian cuisine and discovering the wide offerings from North, South, East and West.

After stepping in, I quickly realized the interior reminded me of Origin India on Whyte. What used to be your basic, nonchalant, mom n' pop Indian restaurant had transformed. The walls now a rich deep red, are occupied by pseudo luxurious booths. While shiny half-globed serving vessels now covered the food instead of generic hotel pans. Big changes I must say.

After deciding on a a pot of green tea, it was time to walk the buffet. A la carte is nice, but like Chinese, I find Indian buffets, especially during solo/small group dinning, your best option. After visiting quite a few Indian buffets, I feel Maurya offers bang for the buck. Two basic areas, a small cold station is wrapped by a u-shaped hot selection. The cold area included 8 or so options, from corn to potato, and chick peas to broccili. You also find the various chutneys and raita located here.

The hot selection starts with rice (saffron or basmati) and is followed (this is by memory) by turnips, kidney beans, chickpeas, small potato like meatballs??, tandoori chicken, chili chicken, curry goat, butter chicken, naan and a paneer (cheese) dish. Hopefully I didn't forget more than one or two items. There is also a dessert section where you find the delicious sugar gulab jamun, a white cold version of gulab?? a custard, pistachio rice pudding, jello and fresh fruit.

I sampled a little it of everything over a few plates. The standouts for me; goat curry, turnips, and cold corn salad. The biggest disappointment came with the kidney beans. Having never witnessed these on the buffet here, I found them totally blah. Of course you can't go wrong with butter chicken, but as I search for more intensity with flavours and spices I find butter chicken melting into the generic category. Maybe, I'm jaded, but I think butter chicken in general has become a watered down version of what it used to be. I finished the evening sipping my green tea, while sampling the dessert offerings.

The buffet was good. Warm, filling, and friendly. At 15 dollars a head the price has jumped over the years, but then again, renovations don't come cheap these days. I started to wonder if part of the change was due to the increasing competition near by, or by the success of it's classier younger sibling, Origin India. The experience felt a little like coming home after having a TV show redecorate your house. At first it feels so strange, but soon those familiar smells wafting from the buffet bring you back. Still number one for me in Millwoods.

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new asian village - edmonton, ab

new asian village
17501 100 ave
780.488.6666

Last time I had some eats with Sherri and Kevin, we ended up on the west side at Dan Shing. With Kevin still without wheels, Sherri and I decided to head back to the west end and have another go around. On the way over, Sherri mentioned a craving for butter chicken and I'm always down for Indian. With Little India on the southside of town, I had a feeling we were driving into limited options. So with Kevin in tow we headed out. The only Indian restaurant that we could even think of on the west end was New Asian Village.

I should start by saying I've never had great experiences at any New Asian Village over the years, so I haven't been in some time. The restaurant itself is fancier than the mom and pop competition I frequent, and has blossomed into 4 locations around the city. We arrived a few minutes before they opened and noticed 3 other cars patiently waiting with us. Once open, we were seated quickly and got ready to dive in.

I was apparently pretty hungry on this day and mowed my way through two plates. Plate one was veg heavy;

including some butter chicken, tandoori chicken, cauliflower and potatoes, sweet peppers and paneer, corn, a mushroom dish and some fresh vegetables and chutneys. My favorite was definitely the cauliflower and potatoes. Dish two was similar;

but I added some more butter and tandoori chicken this time. Apparently I really enjoyed the corn, cauliflower, and bell pepper dishes, as I loaded up.

I didn't get a shot of Kevin's first plate, but it didn't matter as plate two looked exactly the same. Chicken and rice with a small spoon of vegetables. He liked the dishes, cleaning up both, along with some naan.

Sherri doesn't do Indian food in a grand scale. Her choice is straight forward - butter chicken, rice and naan. While I know many people enjoy butter chicken, the plate below was her second, I've never seen someone enjoy it this much. She even got a bowl of sauce to dip her naan in.

The food was good on this evening, which made up for the poor service. Our server only stopped at our table once throughout the night; to take away our first plates. We had asked for our water glasses to be filled and this request never materialized. While the appearance may be nicer than many Indian restaurants, its price point ($20 buffet) is higher than most and would definitely keep me from coming back regularly.

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peanut butter banana naan bread sandwich

Has this even happened before...I think it may be a first. See I grew up in a peanut butter happy family, so it's no surprise this creation was put together with a left over naan. Really, ask my brother - we love peanut butter sandwiches...with honey, jam, jelly, banana, bacon, etc..

Directions!
Take one delicious naan (un-delicious naan should be destroyed!)
Slather with peanut butter
Peel and place banana
Wrap like a croissant
Enjoy!

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lamb curry - dish two

With dish one a success and still no harissa, I caved to my dads desire for naan goodness and decided to use the final pound of lamb to make a curry. My standard go-to in this case is Classic Indian Cooking by Julie Sahni, so that is where I went.


There are a few options for lamb in the book, but as I had cubed meat, my options were a diminished a bit. I prepared the dish the day before, as Julie Sahni has noted, many Indian dishes develop their flavor more the day after. Plus this way you can cool the dish to skim excess fat before serving. The lamb was super tender after it's 2 1/2 hour simmer and it went well on a bed rice with fresh naan from Maurya Palace. Two lamb dishes down, and two successes!

With only a pound of meat, no lamb bones, and not wanting to add potatoes. I modified the recipe as such.

Mutton Kari
adapted from Classic Indian Cooking

4 tbls oil
1 pound of cubed lamb
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 1/2 teas minced garlic
1 tbls minced ginger
1 teas coriander
1 teas turmeric
1 teas cayenne
2/3 cup finely chopped tomato
1 teas kosher salt

Brown the lamb in a hot, heavy bottom pan and remove to a paper towel.
Add the onions and brown nicely over medium heat - make them dark
Add garlic and ginger and fry for a minute
Add spices and fry until fragrant 15-20 seconds
Return the meat, along with salt, tomatoes, and 1 cup 1 1/3 cups of bowling water
Bring to a boil before lowering to a simmer - let it simmer for a few hours.
Cool and refrigerate over night.
Skim fat before reheating and serve over rice.

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