Tommy Washbush
Soft, spicy idli served with chutneys.
If you’re a Madisonian who has been waiting for a South Indian moment in the sun, put on your shades. We now have a former Madisonian you may have heard of, Vice President Kamala Harris, about to make a bid for the presidency, and an Indian restaurant you may have overlooked, Rajni, serving South Indian fare not often found in Madison.
Rajni, in the former Happy Wok space on Commerce Drive, unfortunately doesn’t have much in the way of pedestrian or neighborhood access. If there’s one thing that’ll turn me into a repeat visitor to that parking lot, though, it’s the reliability of the kitchen’s heat scale. Spice fiends, your mileage may vary on how hot “hot” is, but Scoville scale consistency is not something to be taken for granted and Rajni nails it.
Rajni will earn your attention with a menu populated by unique and rare-to-Madison Indian dishes. This menu is so deeply South Indian that you have to work to find familiar North Indian dishes.
Skip Rajni’s naan, which is thin, featureless and perfunctory. A garlic version has a lot of pungent raw garlic, probably too much. If you want carbs, clear some space on your table, order a dosa, and prepare for the arrival of a veritable surfboard of thin, soft crepe with perfectly crispy edges. Purists may tell you that a masala dosa filled with spiced potatoes is as jazzy as dosa needs to be, but the adorably named “dosa corner” of the menu offers cheese, ghee, egg, mutton — everything under the sun can be rolled into these South Indian favorites, and I’d argue you should order with your heart.
Parotta, a relative of the more familiar paratha but with a different flour base, is also worth your time. It’s simple, but frilly and fun to peel apart, like a shaggier scallion pancake minus the scallions. I’ve found only one other parotta on Madison menus.
Idli makes an appearance at Rajni, too; I chose the milagai podi idli for the “gunpowder” spice blend. Here, the idli are quartered and tossed in the spice mix, giving the soft rice cakes a lightly crunchy exterior with loads of spicy flavor. This is a great nibble for sharing.
Punugulu is an unusual starter, billed as a street food specialty made with the fermented rice often found in South Indian cooking. It had a bare whiff of fermented funk, but was mostly just a little fried bite. I had more fun with the bright red paneer 65, a meat-free version of the popular chicken 65 that subs cubes of Indian cheese, for the fried curd fan in us all. Medium spice was plenty, but I might try this at a higher spice level, just for kicks.
Biryani is a common menu item at American Indian restaurants, but Rajni’s special chicken biryani includes little bites of flour-dredged and fried chicken, and a lemon wedge to squeeze that’s essential for full enjoyment. There’s also a hard-boiled egg in there, which could have been cooked a touch more delicately. Malabar shrimp curry came off more tomato-forward than coconutty as the recipes typically describe it, but the shrimp were plentiful and tender.
Andhra chicken curry highlighted all the flavors of South India’s favored chili peppers, from the grassy flesh to the seedy spice. Lamb uppu kari was unlike any Indian dish I’d ever had, redolent with toasted spices and sharp, almost bitter notes; the traditional mutton might have stood up better to such an aggressive gravy.
To mention a more familiar dish, the chicken tikka masala is, to its credit, more intensely flavored than many I’ve had, with both savory and sweet notes cranked to 11.
Karaikudi chettinad chicken felt familiar enough to my North Indian exposure, rich if not creamy and pleasantly spicy. For those eschewing meat, the eggplant-centered ennai katharikai kozhambu has all the smoky depth of Italian caponata in yet another spicy coconut-infused gravy. You won’t go hungry.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll start the meal with plans to try one of the handful of intriguing desserts and then run out of steam as the serious deployment of leftover boxes starts to weigh on you. One of these days I’ll find a way to make the tough choice and skip the dosa. Maybe.
Rajni Indian Cuisine
429 Commerce Drive
608-821-3362
rajnimadison.com
11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-9:30 p.m. Mon.-Thurs., 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Fri, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sat., 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sun.
$5-$20
