Did you know that you can patent a recipe in India? Me neither. But if you invent something delicious—say, unicorn tikka masala—and you don’t want anyone biting your style, you can lock that goodness down. And yet apparently there are chefs who wouldn’t dream of doing that, who believe their inspirations are gifts to humanity. That’s how, according to legend, a guy named A.M. Buhari gave his Chicken 65 to the world. Buhari, who owned a hotel in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, which over the course of a half century or so blossomed into a small restaurant chain and banquet business, so believed in the genius of his fried chicken that he refused to patent it so that its brilliance might shine from sea to sea. He did, however, give it its name—”65″—for the year of its debut. That’s one story, anyway, as told on the restaurant’s own website, which reproduces a Wikipedia entry to establish its credibility.
Proteins seem to be of a relatively high quality at the Spice Room. In the haryali chicken even the bird’s breast presents as silky and tender amid the intense flavors of green chile and cilantro. In the bhuna jinga, a garlicky dry-shrimp curry, sweet, fat crustaceans together act like a subcontinental shrimp de jonghe. Okra masala takes a similarly curious turn as a dry preparation, sweet with natural caramelization, in contrast to its soupy tomato-and-chickpea cousin. Meanwhile okra battered in chickpea flour and fried hard has all the elements of counterpoint to the aforementioned cauliflower theater snack.
2906 W. Armitage 773-360-8689thespiceroomchicago.com
