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Going vegan in New Orleans: Nirvana Indian Cuisine
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The savory lentil mulligatawny, made with the broth of boiled lentils.
No meat, no fish, no dairy, no eggs – until someone invents tofu gumbo, there wouldn’t seem to be much in New Orleans for devout vegans.
So consider Indian cuisine, which often relies on tomatoes, coconuts, and vegetable or nut pastes as sauce thickeners, and coaxes great flavors out of vegetables with spices and herbs.
Nirvana Indian Cuisine has a menu page devoted to vegetarians; some of these items are vegan-friendly, as are several appetizers.
I’d start with the kasjmiri naan, mainly because of its mild flavors – moist cherry paste and finely chopped cashews inside a warm, blistered wedge of naan bread. It loosens your palate for all the spices that lie ahead, and it’s also fun finger food for kids.
The mulligatawny soup, or pepper water, comes in chicken or lentil. The lentil version gets its woody, earthy flavor from lentils that were boiled and then strained away, leaving their essence in a broth enriched with coconut milk and ground corn. Kernels of black pepper also dot the bottom of this complex soup.
Healthwise, you’d get more protein eating real lentils, and coconut milk is high in fat, but this soup is more broth than bisque, and a cup doesn’t feel heavy at all. It tastes even better as it cools.
Another option to start is the samosa duo – two deep-fried wrappers filled with chunky potatoes and fresh peas. For better health, eat one whole and cut out the filling of the other. The filling alone is substantial enough to dunk into the accompanying sauces – a mint-cilantro chutney and a tamarind chutney.
The sauces are based on pastes – either ground mint leaves or the sour, fruity tamarind - to which water is added. They each deliver fresh, mellow heat. (Mint and tamarind also help with digestion.)
Also on the appetizer list is the rugda pati, which is rugged enough to make into lunch (a bargain at $4). The stars of this dish are garbanzos, which are tossed in a fiery gingered curry sauce and spooned over pan-fried mashed potato cakes, studded with fennel seeds.
The kitchen was able to transform a not-quite vegan friendly entrée – the bhenghan bhartha – by leaving out what my server called cream, but was probably really yogurt. This is a beautiful dish of soft roasted puréed eggplant and tomatoes, served with basmati rice.
The curry really draws out the eggplant’s flavor in a way I haven’t experienced in other cuisines, and the tomatoes here take a backseat to the smoky eggplant as well. Next time I order this dish, I’ll be curious to see how the yogurt changes this dynamic.
Nirvana Indian Cuisine offers a great buffet for $10, daily at lunch and at dinner on Thursdays and Sundays. Only three of buffet items are promised to be vegetarian, though, so vegans might have trouble finding something they can eat. Desserts, including rice pudding and Indian ice cream, are entirely dairy-based and so off-limits to vegans as well.
Though the wait staff is inconsistent (one server was eager and friendly, another aloof and way too relaxed), vegans should find the kitchen at Nirvana Indian Cuisine accommodating, and welcoming.
For more:
Nirvana Indian Cuisine, 4308 Magazine St. (504) 894.9797
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