Lawrence.com

Posted by Tom King May 8, 2005 at 11:40 p.m.

Ruchi

Hospitality "Will you take some lunch? Please, just a little." Three times in fifteen minutes had Ravi Seelam inquired of my comfort, sincere inquiries, not the usual empty platitudes. "Would you like to sit? Are you feeling thirsty?" Service standards are high at [Ruchi][1], the latest restaurant to settle into the space on the southeast side of the Orchards Corners shopping center at Kasold and Bob Billings Parkway. Ruchi's manner of service is warm yet formal, solicitous, perhaps a little florid, like the service in crusty, venerable country clubs; a style of service--fast disappearing--focused entirely on the customer and the dining experience. "Please, enjoy a little something." Each time I've visited Ruchi, I've recklessly overeaten--sweating and crazed--to the point of pain. Maybe it's the mixture of ghee and beer (but drinking wine made no difference); maybe those seven servings of nan with that fiery, salty carrot pickle (best washed down with beer); maybe it's that mango lassi (a mixture of yogurt, sliced mango and fresh mango nectar which instantly douses a chili fire--a tart, sweet milkshake; a fine complement to a spicy lamb vindaloo), too cloying and heavy as an aperitif; and maybe, no probably, it is the tantalizing, awe-inspiring Thali (super-sizing, Ruchi-style), unquestionably a dalliance with the deadly sin of gluttony. Oh, Thali! You can order a la carte or you can order Thali. Thali generally costs three dollars more than the a la carte entree and there are over fifty entrees to choose from, in five categories: Tandoor and Kabob (marinated meats and seafood cooked in a clay oven), Chicken, Lamb, Seafood and Vegetable. Say you order the Chicken 65 Thali--a strong recommendation. Not only will your waiter praise your choice and call you "Sir" at every opportunity (even women), he will set before you a round stainless steel tray containing five stainless steel cups surrounding a pile of basmati pilaf studded with peas and shavings of carrot and fragrant with caraway. Atop the mountain of rice, like lava oozing from a volcano, is your Chicken 65--cubes of boneless chicken breast marinated with peppers and "Indian spices" (turmeric, cumin, coriander, cardamom, fenugreek (a seed with a maple-like flavor), black pepper and ground sweet and hot peppers are common to many mixes), coated with egg batter and deep-fried, and garnished with a generous dollop of hot or sweet (your choice) mango chutney. Impressive indeed, and certainly addictive, but the Thali is all about the five cups. Three of the cups hold soups: one is always Ruchi's excellent and mild lentil curry--for me the benchmark, after breads, of any good Indian kitchen. The other soup changes frequently: one time, a tomato soup suspiciously reminiscent of Campbell's with a dash of garam masala; a perfectly balanced sweet-spicy-sour tamarind elixir (Rasam) on another visit. The third cup contains the comforting Sambhar, a chunky potage of pureed potatoes and onions with peas, green beans and carrots. The fourth cup contains holds raitha (cucumber-infused yogurt, in this version)--only dairy, not water, effectively douses the flames of spicy food. The fifth cup holds dessert, which, on each visit so far, has been a soothing, cinnamon-kissed rice pudding. Thali also comes with bread--your choice of Poori or Nan, and, like India Palace downtown, Ruchi excels at breadmaking. Thirteen breads are listed on the menu, from the laser-crisp lentil papadum to dense parathas (pan-fried wheat bread, often stuffed with vegetables), to the Kabuli Nan, a chewy Tandoori bread similar to pita, stuffed with braised lamb, cashew nuts and dried cherries. Other Things I've Thalied, or Seen Thalied - Bhendi Masala: Okra fried with "curry" (like "Indian spices", a vague term to define highly individualistic combinations of a vast spice palette--great cooks of India are the global masters of culinary spice alchemy). A dish of contrasts: the tooth of the okra versus the bounce of the pilaf and the cool of the raita--quite a ride for twelve bucks. - Lamb Vindaloo: I love it. Second after Chicken Tikka Masala--which isn't Indian at all; it was invented in Scotland. The Ramones, also, love Vindaloo. - Baigan Bartha: Ten years ago in Spain, Ferran Adria-in his forty seat restaurant that employed forty five cooks-was running pistachio-hinted foie gras and pig-sniffed truffles and any outrageously expensive ingredient he could find through whipped cream chargers to create avant-savory foams in severe, characteristically Spanish arrangements on $100 dollar plates at the price of $250 per head. Booked solid a decade in advance. At Ruchi, for the Baigan Bartha, they chop roasted eggplant--by hand, with plain knives--together with potatoes, peas, onions, garlic, cilantro and "Indian spices" to a consistency lighter than Adria ever dreamed, a composition as straightforward and startling as a Picasso. For twelve bucks.Thali is beautiful. Thali can be painful. Thali is a guaranteed to-go box. Cold Ruchi might be your breakfast epiphany.Oh Buffet! Many the happy times I've had at Indian food buffets! My last visit to Ruchi was on Mother's Day, this past Sunday at 2 pm. The place was packed. Wisely, Ravi had opted for a Mother's Day Buffet--big parties, always a tricky variable on a made-to-order menu, overwhelmed the house. I remarked on the number of turbans in the dining room. "On the weekends, many people come from Topeka. There are many more Indian people in Topeka than Lawrence," Ravi explained. "During the week, 90% Lawrence people, American people." I asked what the weekday bestsellers were. "Tandoori Mixed Grill, Butter Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala." Ravi and I wove ourselves through the buffet line, dodging bemused customers. He was clearly proud of his food--I took notes as Ravi pointed out his favorites: Goat Curry and Chilly Fish (catfish). I asked if the Chilly moniker referred to the Scoville rating of the dish. "We don't make things too hot at the buffet," Ravi stated. "but at night, you can have it as hot as you like." We continued our buffet tango, sweeping lithely past the vegetable biryani (an elaborate rice casserole--a grand pilaf--of the northern Mughal tradition; at dinner, the biryanis are served with both raitha and curry sauce), and the idli (steamed rice cakes); past daal curry (lentils), chicken curry and masala dosa (a shell of ground rice and lentils fried in ghee--clarified butter--filled with a mixture of potatoes, onions, peas, turmeric, chiles and mustard seed); past the nan and the pakora and tandoori chicken until at last we settled gently at the salad bar where, amongst thickly-sliced cucumbers and wedges of tomato, amongst the wedges of iceberg and pots of coconut dressing and mint sauce and hot carrot pickle, there was the inevitable container of Ranch.The buffet runs every day from 11 am to 2.30 pm--mango lassi and masala chai included. KU students with valid student ID recieve a one dollar discount.The Brothers Seelam Ninanjan, Ravi and Davender are the brothers Seelam. In 1999, they opened Ruchi in Overland Park, a runaway success (3 ½ stars out of 4 from the Kansas City Star; 3 stars from the Pitch). Ninanjan now runs the OP store and, one gets the sense, keeps a paternal and discerning eye on all the family's ventures. Ravi and Davender handle the Lawrence store, which opened January 2005. Ruchi, by the way, means tasty--the name was Ravi's idea. "We feature both northern and southern specialties," replies Ravi, when asked what sets Ruchi apart from the mighty India Palace (my high regard for The Palace is public record). "They are mostly from the north." Southern specialties like Puliyodharai, a Tamil rice dish flavored with toasted coriander, cumin and fenugreek seeds, tamarind (the sweet-tart pulp of a large tropical bean), and turmeric, mustard and brown sugar, enriched with a handful of chickpea dal and garnished with peanuts and curry leaves; or Upma (known in India as "a bachelor's dish" and blithely described on the Ruchi menu as Cream of wheat), a sublime and nostalgic semolina porridge--think polenta--with onion, chiles, coriander, cashews and tomatoes. "We make very good food at Ruchi," Ravi proclaims. "Our saag (chopped, braised spinach) is from fresh leaves; we make the paneer (cheese):but I won't tell you the recipes. The recipes are the secret weapons."With 124 items on the menu, Ruchi has plenty of culinary ammo. So far, I've been delivered no duds. And to think that Lawrence now has two world-class Indian restaurants within its city limits-what better reason for unabashed gluttony? Get yourself to Ruchi! Thali ho! "Yes, you eat too much, but it's healthy!" Ravi cries. [1]: http://www.lawrence.com/places/ruchi_...