I would have never thought I will end up in an Indian restaurant in Madrid but here we are. My Indian friend from Singapore was visiting the city and invited me to join her for lunch. Who am I to say no to such an invitation? And you know what: this lunch turned out to be quite good!

Indian Aroma, calle de Ventura de la Vega, 6, 28014

My friend and her husband are Indian, so I left all of the ordering in their hands. Since the staff were from India and Bangladesh, they were much more equipped at discussing our options (also, she’s pregnant, and you never say no to a pregnant lady!). The waiter gave us a few suggestions and we settled on the three following dishes: aloo tikki, paneer kadai and butter chicken.

It was very funny when the waiter asked me if I can eat spicy food. Boy, you do not know how spicy I can actually eat. Since he was not the most trusting type and did not believe my word, I had to prove my worth by sampling one of their “spicier” chutneys. The spice level of the chutney was actually laughable and the verdict was made that “she can try most spicy dishes”. Umm, thanks? The spicy debacle sorted, we happily chatted away waiting for our (hopefully, spicy) food to come.

The three chutneys picture above are sweet and spicy, mint and tamarind. None of them were actually spicy but all of them had great taste and we happily ate them with our papadams. We started with aloo tikki (€4.90) which is a fried potato and cheese patty spiced with cumin. It had a lovely crunch on the outside but it was steamy and soft on the inside. It had a very decent taste because of the spices used and it worked very well with the three chutneys. I would say that the scattering of a few carrot and cabbage strands was not strictly necessary but I ate them anyway (yay for those fresh veggies, am I right?).

Paneer kadai (€13.95) was the “spicy” dish that the waiter was worried I will not be able to eat. I mean, sure, it was a little bit spicy which I really appreciated but I would have wanted a little bit more. Food in Spain in general is NEVER spicy and while it is still flavourful, I miss that heat that is so common in Asian cooking. Back to paneer kadai though! This dish is made with fresh cheese (paneer) simmered in a rich gravy made with tomato, ginger, garlic and coriander. It was rich and full of that flavour of spices that is unmistakably Indian. Truly, truly lovely. I had no idea I missed it already but apparently, yes, I did. It was my favourite dish from this lunch.

Butter chicken (€13.90) might have had some fat/sauce separation but it was very yummy nonetheless (probably from all that butter in there but who am I look this gifted horse in the mouth?). The chicken was cooked to perfection – every little bite moist and flavourful. The sauce was very good: rich, creamy and tasty.

I legitimately think this might be the best naans I have ever had. Both butter and garlic naans, and paratha, had this super light, very crunchy texture at the same time magically staying super light and fluffy inside without being doughy at all. It honestly was a very weird (in the best possible sense) eating experience because I do not think I have ever had a naan like this before (in my limited experience most end up being chewy, doughy, oily, dry, hard or tasteless). I have had decent naans/parathas/rotis before but nothing like this.

Gulab jamun (€4.25) is a typical sweet originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made by frying balls of milk solids and semolina that later get doused with a fragrant syrup made with a ton of sugar and spices like green cardamom, rose water, saffron and whatever else that I might not be familiar with. Who am I to know? *shrugs guiltily* Having eaten a lot of homemade Indian food at my friend’s place in Singapore (and this friend fed us really well, thank you very much) I can safely attest that I still know nothing about Indian cuisine. That country is too damn big. The variety of different cuisines (North, South, inland, mountain, coastal; take any region and the food will be distinct in comparison to its neighbouring state) is daunting and one needs more than a lifetime to sample all of that and claim to know something. I am not there yet.

Anyway, back to gulab jamun. By now you know me and my aversion to desserts, especially all the cloyingly sweet things. I can eat them but they give me no pleasure. In this case, the fragrant syrup with the lovely notes of cardamom and all helps to find something good in gulab jamun but you will not see me eating these anytime soon again (the count of calories in these is too d*mn high). Along with the dessert we were served a lovely mango lassi that really helped cut through that sweetness and richness of gulab jamun. We finished that and called it a day.

Verdict

Hey, even I surprised myself by having Indian food in Madrid but I do not regret it one bit as this was as pleasant a surprise as it could have been. The food was really tasty, the service was not too bad and those naans were out of this world good. Do I recommend eating at Indian Aroma? I mean, if you are in Madrid for a few days, heck no, eat tapas, seafood and fresh produce but if you find yourself craving something different, I actually would not be opposed to suggesting this place!

So, weirdly, Indian Aroma gets Ieva’s seal of approval with “I will most likely not dine here ever again but it was actually quite good?”. 3/5 would recommend under the aforementioned circumstances.