AMARAVATI INDIAN CUISINE Through a quirk of geophysics, a small piece of Amaravati, the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, has broken away from the subcontinent and has come to rest in the middle of Brentwood, Tennessee, as the eponymously named Indian restaurant Amaravati. Science calls this phenomenon plating tectonics. Seriously, all joking aside, this is really good food, y’all, and as authentic as it gets. As co-owner Praveen Muthu says, “There is no compromise on the ingredients.” If you want real Indian food, then you no longer have to go far to get it. Amaravati is traditional Indian cuisine, so you won’t find any pork or beef here, but there are chicken, lamb, fish and even some goat dishes. Plus, for non-meat eaters, Indian food makes it very easy to go vegetarian. Try, for example, the aloo gobi masala, potatoes and cauliflower in a curry sauce of Praveen Muthu, co-owner of Amaravati
tomatoes, onions and spices. Head Chef Chokkalingam Nadarajan—call him Chokka for short—is a veteran of Indian restaurants in Chicago and Los Angeles and can cook it all, from the milder dishes of northern India to the much spicier fare of his native Tamil Nadu. He himself grew up on his hometown dish of Chettinad Chicken. (I had some, and trust me, it’s perfect.) “But my mother still makes it better than I do,” Chokka says with a modest grin. For those unacquainted with Indian cuisine, he recommends trying one of his fish curries of fresh salmon, kingfish or tilapia. Also, consider going in for the weekend buffet. It’s even more expansive than the generous weekday buffet popular with local office workers. The weekend buffet really did look like a part of the city of Amaravati had broken off and become part of Brentwood with a largely Hindi-speaking crowd and dozens of dishes from which to choose. Welcome to town, y’all! 5012 Thoroughbred Lane, Brentwood, Tennessee, 615.840.8860, AmaravatiTN.com October 2018 | Brentwood Lifestyle
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