Tali Lama - Indian vegan feast prepared in a ghost kitchen
Everything was mildly seasoned with an overall curry flavor, which was fine, although at home we make our curry so hot that after a few mouthfuls you are in a hot sweat.
By GLORIA DEUTSCHTali Lama(photo credit: Courtesy)
Tali Lama is a vegan Indian establishment run by a young Israeli couple, Aviv and Daniel Maizels, neither of whom came from the world of catering.She worked in sales, while he had tried his hand at many things, including acting and directing, working for a time at Beit Lessin and also with Orna Porat.He had traveled extensively in India, loved the food and dreamed of opening a restaurant. During a “resting” period from his acting career he spent some time working in a bank.It was there, in a serendipitous encounter with a client, that he discovered there was a restaurant for sale.“I had just given birth to my second daughter,” relates Aviv, “and two hours later we bought the company.”After several culinary adventures in Ra’anana and Herzliya, they relocated to Netanya just before the coronavirus hit. Here they rent a ghost kitchen and send out their food to an ever-increasing crowd of satisfied customers.A ghost kitchen, for the uninitiated, is a food preparation facility set up for delivery-only meals. It’s been around for years, worldwide, but the concept really came into its own during corona.We opened our vegan Indian feast with samosa and dipping sauces. The crispy exterior surrounded a filling of potato puree, peas and a mix of Indian spices. The two sauces were tamarindi, a sweet syrupy mix, and coriander and mint chutney, which was very green but not sweet (NIS 22).For the main course, there was a generous helping of white basmati rice and three different “stews” to eat with it. The first was a spicy blend of kidney and haricot beans, the second was a kind of stuffing made from tofu with poppy seeds and raisins, and the third, a classic dish known as aloo gobi made from potato chunks and cauliflower.Everything was mildly seasoned with an overall curry flavor, which was fine, although at home we make our curry so hot that after a few mouthfuls you are in a hot sweat.We also enjoyed an Indian “hamburger” which consisted of an authentic bun filled with crusted potato.Included in our food parcel was a dish of soy yogurt, quite pungent – and a chapati – Indian pita-like bread.Finally, we found two very good desserts in the bag: a malabi-type jelly flavored with lemongrass and topped with organic raspberry jam; and two slices of Bhagsu cake, a delicious three-layer concoction of shortbread biscuit, caramel cream and chocolate topping.Dessert went very well with a cup of (homemade) Indian tea and made a fitting ending to our exotic meal.Prices: Burger – NIS 43; stews, three kinds – NIS 53; desserts – NIS 18; chapati – NIS 3.Tali LamaSun.-Thurs., 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.Phone for deliveries: 051-260-8026.The writer was a guest of the restaurant.
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