Tiffany S.
Yelp
I'm so glad we decided look on Yelp for Indian restaurants on our drive through Indy! I've done this drive over a dozen times, but it's the first time I've discovered Chapati. It's super unassuming but it's worth a stop-in!!
They had two menus - one for Chapati and one for their fusion fried chicken concept! We opted for for the Pakistani & Indian dishes:
*Pani Puri - (Vegan - $8.95 Crispy mini puries with spiced water, sweet chutney, sweet yogurt, tomatoes, onions, and chickpeas) - if you haven't had this Indian Street dish, it's worth a try and so fun to eat! My husband said it reminded him of pico de gallo & instead of tortilla chips, you get fun puffed up puries!
1) You take one of the puffed up puri pieces & knock it with the back of your spoon to make a little opening
2) You fill the opening with the chickpea mixture that also has tomatoes & onions (see the pico de gallo reference a bit?!)
3) Then you squirt a bit of the spiced water for a PERFECT bite!
*Beef Nihari ($16 - Our rich, spiced, and beefy broth soup served with chunks of tenderized beef all slow cooked after deep marination.) - This dish was so comforting and stewy. The flavors were clearly developed over a long time. It was a bit thick so my only wish was that there was more beef brothy goodness to dip and eat with the chapati/basmati rice!
*Palak Paneer - Vegetarian - $13 Spiced spinach cooked in a creamy sauce with fresh paneer) - Paneer really reminds me of cheese curds - in a good way. When it's super fresh, there's a nice squeakiness to it! No complaints - super tasty!
*Butter Chicken ($15 - Boneless chicken marinated in our tomato spread then slow cooked with spices and our cream sauce.) - The chicken was definitely chicken thighs as it was flavorful and practically melted in your mouth from all slow cookin'! Yum.
*Chapati ($1.75 Whole wheat flat bread) - per my tip below, no entrees COME with rice or bread, so you must order separately! I figured this place is called chapati, so I should try ordering their chapati. It's like a flat bread that is PERFECT for soaking up all the deliciousness from the nihari, palak and butter chicken!
The above was way too much for 2 people and we had leftovers for a couple more meals after!
TIPS:
*all the grilled items take ~30 minutes, so order ahead or plan accordingly!
*nothing comes with rice or breads so you need to order a la carte on the side!