THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

    DEC 13, 2001
By Teresa Gubbins (Guide Live)

STILL KEBABING ALONG: We have benefited from a recent miniboom in Indian Restaurants as the audience for Indian food in this area continues to grow. Kebab-N-Kurry was one of the pioneers. This small Restaurant opened right off Central Expressway, just below in the early '80s and has prevailed beyond all odds. It has miraculously outlived changes in the kitchen staff, as well as numerous owners, and remains as good as ever-if not better.

A LITTLE TLC: The current owners are originally from India but moved here from Maryland. They haven't made any drastic changes; they have even retained most of the staff. But things have definitely improved since they took over. Their devotion and tender loving care elevate Kebab-N-Kurry from an ordinary experience to something special. They visit every table and express genuine interest in how the meal is proceeding. A hospitable gesture such as this improves the caliber of the experience. They show the same attentiveness to the food. During the Restaurant's renowned lunch buffet, trays are replenished and refreshed. When you scoop up a portion of beef and mushrooms for example, you get the sense that the dish was put out moments before you came along. Even the decor has been given a once -over: Copper pans hanging on the wall positively gleam.



BARGAIN BUFFET: The lunch buffet is $6.95 weekdays,$7.95 weekends. Customers can walk into the Restaurant, drop their bags at the table, and head over immediately to fill their plates with food - faster than almost any fast - food Restaurant. Where's the benefit to a stop at Mickey D's? Items are switched out regularly and are taken from the Restaurant's main menu (used at night, when there are servers). At the buffet, there's always a soup, rice, puffy naan bread, and Indian desserts such as milky rice pudding.

THE BUFFET THIS DAY: Tucked into the corner of an inner room, the buffet was a little more elegant than most. A series of steel pans were set out on an L -shaped pair of tables: soup and salad at the end, desserts at the other, and entree items in between. The soup was incredible, perfectly combining the essence of mushroom flavor with a pleasurable zap of chili-style heat. Next to it a tray of fresh watermelon was refreshing to the eye. Lentil Dal- like a warm, pureed soup - was deep yellow and complex in flavor. If you are lucky, they'll be serving channa masala the day you go; if not, you can go and order it at night and order it as an entree ($7.95), served with rice and chutney. A mixture of whole chickpeas, tomatoes, and onions, it was nice and hot in the mouth, the vegetables just slightly undercooked for a bit of crispness, instead of the soft, limp version you expect from a steam- table item. Palak Panir was almost emerald, it's puree of spinach so deep and dense. Tandoori chicken, cooked on a charcoal fire, sported the traditional deep pink hue; it was cut into manageable hunk- wings, drummettes, chunks of breast meat- all easy to pick up by hand. Vegetable pakora included soft slices of potatoes, chunks of cauliflower, and an unusual blend of eggplant, onion, and spinach, all done in a batter and fried to a crunchy brown.

DALLAS MORNING NEWS SEP 19, 1999 (By Steve Steinberg) FOOD * * * * SERVICE * * * Tastiness wins at Kebab-N-Kurry FRISCO LIFE AUG 6, 1999 (By Kerr) Variety is the spice of life at delightful Indian Restaurant. DALLAS OBSERVER 1991 Kebab-N-Kurry best Indian Restaurant.

BITS AND PIECES: The menu offers a variety of affordable entrees. Vegetarian items are $7.95 ;chicken, beef, and lamb run $7.95 to $10.95.There are also a couple shrimp dishes, including Tandoori style and shrimp Kashmiri ($11.95), sautéed with peppers and onions and a touch spicy curry.
Naan Bread was a beautiful version with edges slightly blackened. Even the rice was exemplary: Pink from the saffron water in which it was cooked, it was gorgeously moist.
There's an amazing, delicate Kashmiri tea ($2.25), from a special recipe made by Mr. Duggal's mother, who is the source of inspiration for a number of tweaked recipes. Her style is from Northern part of India - from Delhi and Punjab, he says.