At the intersection of Hillcroft Ave and U.S. 59, is a small shopping center housing several of Houston’s ethnic treasures. This center is located at the edge of the Mahatma Gandhi District, officially named in 2010. The area is filled with Indian and Pakistani establishments — mainly clothing and jewelry stores, restaurants and bakeries, and grocers.
Recently, we’ve made several visits to Himalaya Restaurant, which features some of the best Indian and Pakistani cuisine in Houston (Anthony Bourdain dined there on a visit to Houston).
Inside, the restaurant is modest and tidy, its walls filled with glowing articles about the restaurant:
Chef/owner Kaiser Lashkari is usually visible, chatting with diners, offering menu suggestions, and boasting (rightfully) about his food:
Our favorite dishes at Himalaya are rich and complex, full of spice and heat. Among those we enjoyed are Aloo Chana Masala (chickpeas and potatoes simmered in curry sauce):
Paneer Hara Masala (the restaurant’s “signature vegetarian dish”):
The Chicken Kabab Platter, which has 2 skewers of Chicken Seekh Kebab and 4 pieces of Chicken Tikka Boti Kebab (our favorite of the two):
And the Spicy Rocket Nan (be prepared to fight over the last piece of this):
Other dishes we like include Chicken Tikka Masala (my son’s favorite):
Chicken Biryani:
And Baigan Bharta, a vegetarian dish made with eggplant:
In addition to the great food, another plus is that the restaurant is BYOB (provided each diner orders an entree and a nan).
On a recent visit, we waddled out of the restaurant, bellies full and mouths on fire, over to Subhlaxmi Grocers, located in the same center.
I’d been wanting to go there for some time to see if they had the Indian or Persian basmati rice I’ve been searching for, which of course, they did:
This is unlike the basmati rice commonly available at grocery stores. Indian and Pakistani basmati rice, I’ve learned, is aged at least a year. The aging process dehydrates the rice, and when the rice is cooked, it expands much more than rice that hasn’t been aged. If you’ve eaten in Persian or Indian restaurants, you’ve no doubt noticed the extra-long rice (like in the Chicken Biryani pictured above).
The store was filled with all kinds of things — produce, spices, beans, condiments, sweets — many of which I’d never seen before, such as:
I came home with lots of bottles and packages of new things to try — white poppy seeds, dried limes, pickled cut mango — and stocked up on spices, and that aged Basmati rice. My mind is racing thinking of the Indian and Pakistani specialties I can try my hand at, although I’m pretty sure I don’t have to worry about Anthony Bourdain dropping in for dinner. I’m looking forward to exploring other establishments in the Mahatma Gandhi District, especially some of the bakeries.
This week my friend and I headed over to Canino Produce (UPDATE: changed to Junior’s Produce in 2019) often referred to as “the Mexican farmers market,” located at 2520 Airline Drive.
Canino’s has been around since 1958. Unlike the local farmers markets around town offering local — often organic — produce and locally-produced products, Canino’s carries a wide variety of produce and other items not only from Texas, but “all over the United States and the world.” In the fall, shoppers are greeted by mountains of fresh “new crop” pecans — huge meaty pecans — most of which come from the Austin area, which their 15 nut-cracking machines will crack for you for 35 cents per pound.
Walking around the market, it is quite possible to briefly forget you’re in Houston. And in August, that’s a good thing. Because if you’re going to be walking around with rivers of sweat running down your face, you may as well pretend you’re somewhere more exotic.
Inside, Canino’s has neatly arranged tables displaying the fresh produce, as well as beans, rice, stone-ground flour and cornmeal, and dried fruit.
You’ll probably want to grab a bottle of Mexican vanilla while you’re there:
If you’re one of those folks who believes that size matters, these baseball bat-sized cucuzza squashes might interest you:
But the real fun of the Mexican farmers market is the open-air market located behind Canino’s. There are several rows of stalls, where the rainbow of produce is buffed to a shine and decoratively arranged. There’s always a thing or two I’ve never seen before. To make shopping in this section easier, bring a wallet full of small bills, because most of the baskets of produce are $2.
Prettiest produce around
Can you say “salsa”?
In addition to produce, you can also find cooking utensils, spices, strings of dried chiles, and bins of herb blends.
Look close — there’s an herb blend for pretty much anything that ails you. Got cramps? Got asthma? There’s a blend for that!
A popular snack sold at the open air market is fruit — slices of papaya, mango, coconut, melon — sprinkled with a chile/lime mixture. At the market, the spice mix is sometimes referred to as “chile for fruit,” but you can find a similar mix by Fiesta called “Pico de Gallo con Limon” at the grocery store:
Several of the vendors had these clever peeled mangos, cut to look like flowers, and sprinkled with the chile mixture:
We left hot and happy, loaded down with several sacks of goodies each.
But wait — there’s more!
Just a few blocks down the street, at 2201 Airline, is the Houston Dairymaids’ warehouse, which is open to the public every day except Monday for cheese sampling and retail purchases. Seeing as it wasn’t Monday, we popped in.
The Houston Dairymaids was started by owner Lindsey Schechter, a “seasoned cheese professional,” in 2006. If you have ever had a cheese plate at a Houston restaurant, chances are good the cheese came from the Houston Dairymaids. They carry approximately 150 handmade cheeses — unpasteurized when possible — from around the United States (with an occasional imported cheese), with a handful coming from Texas. Every day they offer a sampling of 5 or 6 selected cheeses, progressing from mild to more pungent.
In addition to cheese, the retail storefront also has a small but interesting selection of wines, breads from Slow Dough Bread Company, outrageously good cookies from Wackym’s Kitchen, olives, crackers, and other cheese accompaniments. It was really hard (almost impossible, actually) to narrow down our cheese choices, but we finally settled on two each to bring home, along with some bread and cookies.
There’s also a Mexican bakery, El Bolillo, at 2517 Airline, and a spice market, Lone Star Culinary, at 2520 Airline, but we were too pooped from the heat to party any longer, so those will have to wait for a future visit.
I found a recipe on Canino’s [now defunct] website for “Not So” Spicy Sweet Potato Soup, which intrigued me with its peanut butter and lime juice. Coincidentally, I had just purchased two large sweet potatoes at Canino’s. I adapted the recipe slightly, using almond butter instead of peanut butter, and half the amount of ginger called for. It only takes about 30 minutes to make, and is very good and quite satisfying.
1 large sweet onion (such as Vidalia, 1015), peeled and chopped
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon butter
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 cups chicken stock
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
¼ cup almond butter or peanut butter
Juice of 1 small lime
Salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream for optional garnish
Cilantro for optional garnish
Instructions
Melt butter in a large stockpot over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic, and saute until soft and onions are translucent. Add sweet potatoes, chicken stock, cumin, red pepper, and ginger. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered until sweet potatoes are tender, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove soup from heat, and puree in 3 batches using a blender or food processor (being careful not to overfill blender with hot liquid so as to prevent top from blowing off). Return soup to stockpot over medium heat and whisk in almond butter and lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (If soup is too thick, thin with additional chicken stock to desired consistency). Serve hot, garnished with sour cream and cilantro, if using.
Inside, the restaurant is modest and tidy, its walls filled with glowing articles about the restaurant:
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