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aRoqa Brings Creative Indian Fusion to Chelsea

Kataifi mushrooms: mushroom-saffron croquettes with goat-cheese relish. Photo: Liz Clayman/New York Magazine

Over the last decade, Delhi-born Gaurav Anand has brought Punjabi kebabs to Curry Hill at Bhatti Indian Grill, delivered Mughlai butter chicken to the Upper East Side at Moti Mahal Delux, and delved into sealed-lid dum pukht cookery at the Upper West Side’s Awadh. Now, at aRoqa in Chelsea, the chef-owner has cast off the shackles of culinary authenticity to fuse Indian and Western flavors and techniques, giving rise to such whimsies as kataifi-wrapped mushrooms with goat-cheese relish, pork dumplings with bacon crumble and vindaloo sauce, and chicken chops flambéed in Old Monk Rum. Alcohol also works its way into creative cocktails, which incorporate such unlikely ingredients as olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and vegetables like snap peas and Swiss chard.

Bhatti murgh ki champ: chicken chops, Old Monk Rum, gram-flour chutney, and lentil wafers. Photo: Liz Clayman/New York Magazine
Kandhari arbi: taro root, fenugreek flatbread, and pickled-onion salad. Photo: Liz Clayman/New York Magazine
Corn paddu: rice cakes with coconut-kaffir-lime chutney and gunpowder-masala crumble. Photo: Liz Clayman/New York Magazine
Kaanshiphal ke kofte: butternut-squash dumplings with broccoli-sweet-corn-malai curry and kale chips. Photo: Liz Clayman/New York Magazine
Dora kebab: goat meat, saffron aïoli, heirloom-tomato salad, and ulta tawa paratha. Photo: Liz Clayman/New York Magazine
In the Garden: Cachaça with English peas, carrot eau de vie, and rhubarb. Photo: Liz Clayman/New York Magazine/©2017 Liz Clayman
aRoqa in Chelsea. Photo: Liz Clayman/New York Magazine/©2017 Liz Clayman

206 Ninth Ave., nr. 23rd St.; 646-678-5471

*A version of this article appears in the May 1, 2017, issue of New York Magazine.

aRoqa Brings Creative Indian Fusion to Chelsea