India Sweets & Spices

INDIA 🇮🇳

COVID-19 UPDATE: The restaurant is located inside a market and is fully reopened. There are plastic screens between the steam table and staff and customers.

📍22011 Sherman Way, Canoga Park, San Fernando Valley

There are many locations of India Sweets & Spices around Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, and into Orange County, but not all of these are made equal. Since the chain is made up of franchises owned and operated by different people, there are a lot of opinions on which ones are worth traveling to, and which ones are worth passing.

In the Valley, there are only two, but the Canoga Park location is by far the best and might challenge for best in the Southland as well. They seem to cook much of their food, which is all vegetarian, like you might find from family members if you are lucky enough to have Indian relatives.

If you have the ability to stay for your meal, their chaat setup is good and should not be missed, as well as to-be-eaten-immediately dishes like chana bhatura and an array of freshly made paratha. If you take things to go, grab a big tub of their white basmati which is filled with whole cloves, cinnamon shards, and other spices and load up on options from the steam table.

These also just taste better than you may expect, the products not of the backroom of a grocery store but rather the recipes of your grandparents. Even the potato-filled samosas ($1.25 each) are top-notch, humming with spices and accompanied with some of the best mint-tamarind chutney in the area.

On a recent visit, small portions ($4.49 for 8oz) of three dishes were selected to accompany their vibrant rice, and all were standouts like usual. Standards like chana masala (above, upper right) are hearty with chickpeas and deeply hit the spot, just like dishes a bit more rare like matar paneer (above, lower right) which combines green peas and cottage cheese.

While they both pack plenty of heat, the star of the order and by far the spiciest is kadhi chawal (above, left), a yogurt curry served with chickpea flour dumplings. If you have never tried this dish, it is just as interesting and satisfying as it sounds, and full of intensity from all directions. On future visits it will be selected every time, as well as the wide variety of ever-changing options that always seem to do the trick.

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