Taj Mahal has been not only my favorite Indian restaurant for a long time, but also one of my favorite restaurants. I dare say that this is the best Indian place in the country, and many experts have confirmed this. This is the restaurant where no expense is spared on ingredients, and where those who are interested in it can truly immerse themselves in the flavors of Indian cuisine. Here, you finally don’t have to settle for the dull, Hungarianized, creamy curry, and almost every dish explodes in your mouth.

Yet many people have never even heard of the Szondi Street unit. It’s not that easy to find, you can’t even see in from the outside, curtains on the windows block out the outside world for those who come here, who may find the strong smell of incense and the servers dressed in saris strange at first, but this is part of the experience. It has become a habit for us to celebrate all family events at the tables of the Taj Mahal restaurant , it is also my children’s favorite place. This must have happened because I left the Taj Mahal restaurant to give birth both times. 

Neither of my daughters rushed their arrival, and the midwife advised me to eat good spicy food to get the labor started. This story is not unique to us: there are many people who have been regulars for 25 years, and even their children come here. Indian cuisine, and Taj Mahal in particular, is perhaps so popular because it can satisfy everyone’s needs. In addition to the wide range of vegetarian dishes, they also please lovers of lamb dishes and the most hardcore meat lovers.

The best Indian dishes on the menu

But what is the secret of the Taj Mahal restaurant, which makes it a favorite of so many of us, including many famous chefs? I talked to the owner about this, who has lived in Hungary for 25 years, during which time he has managed to stay in the background, and he would not like to do it any other way, so he asked that we not mention his name. The restaurant opened in 2001, it was one of the first and most authentic Indian restaurants in Budapest. As the owner says, he moved to Hungary because of his wife, and then he thought it would be a good business to open a place. “I thought, I eat well while making money. Of course, since then I have seen that it is much more complicated, because running a restaurant well is not easy. It is no coincidence that I have not had another unit since, because this place also requires a complete person.”

He says that when he opened the restaurant, he wrote down the dishes he really liked and asked the chefs to find the best recipes for them. Since he is from Delhi, most of the dishes are related to Delhi, but since then he has been paying special attention to including Western and South Indian delicacies on the menu.

Taj Mahal restaurant: lots of spices, authentic flavors

The owner emphasizes that he has not compromised on quality since then. Taj Mahal only uses authentic Indian ingredients and spices – of course, they are not cheap. Also, Indian cuisine is not simple. These are not dishes that you can just throw together, they require a lot of spices, ingredients and expensive ingredients. This immediately answered the question of why there are so few good Indian restaurants in Hungary. Unfortunately, in most places, Indian curries are often diluted with cream so that they don’t have to be fussed with for a long time and the end result is cheaper. However, this cannot happen in the kitchen of the Taj Mahal restaurant. 

“We strive to prepare the food the way it is in India, which is why we only have food on our menu that is eaten in India. There are a lot of chefs working in the Taj Mahal kitchen, precisely so that they can prepare everything in the best quality, as quickly as possible.” After all, as the owner emphasizes, this is now an expectation for a restaurant. Not only the recipes or the spices, but the entire cuisine is traditional, only Indian chefs work at the Taj Mahal.

The tandoori oven base

Naan is of course made in an authentic oven, of which there are two in the kitchen. When there is a lot of traffic, both are in use. Traditional naan is made in an oven: the dough is stretched and flattened by hand, spread with oil, may be topped with tomatoes or other spices, and then pressed against the wall of the oven with a forceful movement. This is only delicious if you don’t skimp on the butter. In fact, the naan dough originally requires yogurt, but if you leave it to float, the end result will be something dry and crumbly. The same is true with rice. Many Indian restaurants think that it is enough to pay attention to the curry, and the rice doesn’t matter what it is. This is far from the case! Even the best curry is spoiled by dry, tasteless or inauthentic Indian rice. This never happens at the Taj Mahal: they only use the best quality, Indian, extra long-grain basmati rice, which is mixed with exciting spices. All I can say is that there are nine types of rice on the menu, and I definitely recommend trying one of the pulao rice cooked with spices.  

Even though I love Indian cuisine, very spicy food is not my friend. That’s why I didn’t order the lamb vindaloo, for example, but if you like spicy food, you should definitely try it. And have a cooling mango lassi or a cold Indian beer with it!

Samosa chaat

This appetizer is simply a must. You can’t leave without trying it! The base is the well-known, spicy potato-filled samosas (which can also be ordered on their own), but the sauce that surrounds it gives it an inimitable flavor. Chaat is a sauce that can be prepared in a thousand ways, here it mainly includes yogurt, onion, chickpeas, pomegranate and mint. 

Dhokla

This is a gluten-free, sponge cake-like appetizer made from yellow pea flour. I would say it’s a cake because it’s a bit sweet, soaked in sugar syrup, but also sour. It’s a very interesting and somewhat unusual flavor for Europeans. Nevertheless, it’s worth trying.

Chicken Karahi

This onion-pepper sauce is one of the restaurant’s specialties. I admit, I prefer butter chicken, but anyone who would like to immerse themselves in the world of Indian spices should definitely try this! This is a West Indian specialty, worth tasting. What sets it apart from other curries is that it is made with a lot of onions. 

Malai kofta

If you look at the Taj Mahal menu, you might be surprised to find that the widest selection is vegetarian. They have a lot of cheese dishes, which is called paneer in Indian. Be sure to try this, because the cheese is made locally, homemade. I really like the tomato dish called palak paneer, but my all-time favorite is the malai kofta. This is not just cheese, but cheese balls filled with all kinds of fragrant spices and saffron, which are surrounded by a soft, silky cashew sauce.

Masala dosa

Another South Indian specialty is the masala dosa, which is a giant pancake made from rice flour, although the dough is much crispier than the pancakes we are used to. This crispy dough is used to dip the filled delicacies. We tried the spicy fries, but it can also be ordered with minced lamb and cottage cheese. It comes with two types of sauces, one with tamarind and one with coconut, which can be used to further flavor this delicacy. I really, really liked it, I highly recommend it!

With this selection, I have just given you a glimpse of some of the wonderful dishes from the Taj Mahal’s very rich menu. If anywhere, it is worth going beyond the boring Indian curries and tasting many new things, which also have many new things in store for fish and crab lovers. In fact, they bake 19 kinds of Indian bread! The prices are not low and it is worth remembering that everything here is very spicy, so if you want less spicy food, it is worth noting in advance!

Address: 1067 Budapest, Szondi Street 40. 

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