Traditional Taste at India Hot ‘n’ Fast

The Bidiwala brothers--Barkat, Siraj and Minas--opened India Hot ‘n’ Fast Food six months ago. Although it is a clean, spare little place with an emphasis on takeout, and although all the food is served in plastic containers, Barkat can’t restrain himself from waiting on tables.

He is, you see, a former manager of the upscale Gaylord India Restaurant in Beverly Hills. Brother Siraj was also a manager. As for Minas--he was the maitre d’. This is hardly your usual fast-food business.

The food is not what you would expect either. Instead of shortcut adaptations, it serves full-blown Indian cooking so traditional that two chefs are needed to produce it.

Deep Singh, a Punjabi from New Delhi, mans the tandoor oven. He excels with his seekh kebab . The finely ground lamb is strongly seasoned with spices, garlic and onion, formed into long sausages and plunged on skewers into the tandoor. This is one of the best versions in Los Angeles, perfect for anybody who likes powerful flavors.

Singh also produces fine chicken tikka . There is an art to cooking these small chunks of meat in the tandoor without drying them out, an art that Singh has mastered. He knows just when to pull out the skewers. The chicken is marinated first with yogurt, cumin, cayenne and the Indian spice blend called garam masala . Lemon juice and vinegar add an interesting tang.

His tandoori breads are best eaten at once. Take them home and they’ll be limp upon arrival. (I revived the garlic naan in a toaster oven and it emerged with a new, crisp texture that was quite acceptable.)

Soman Mahalingam, a Tamil from Madras, does the saucy dishes and chutneys. He deserves high praise for his chicken makhani-- chicken chunks in a vibrant yet mellow sauce of tomatoes, butter, cream and spices. His spicy spinach, saag , is wonderful--aromatic with seasonings but smoothed out with cream. Try it combined with chicken saagwala , with lamb ( saag gosht ) or panir (Indian-style cheese).

Karahi chicken and karahi gosht --stir-fries of chicken and lamb with green peppers, onions and tomatoes--take their name from the karahi , the Indian wok. Rogan josh , a lamb curry, was rather oily, but Indians tend to cook with generous amounts of oil and ghee . (If you don’t like oil, order rogan josh to go and let the container stand for a while. The oil will rise to the top and you can spoon it off.)

The dish I liked the least was the South Indian dosa , a large pancake made from a fermented rice-and-lentil batter. In India, where dosas are as common as corn flakes for breakfast, they are usually browned and slightly crisp. This one was pale, thick and wet in the center.

There are also sturdy meat and rice briyanis , nice mango lassi to drink and several desserts. I liked best a circle of milk fudge called peda that is flavored with cardamom and saffron and sprinkled with pistachios. Gulab jamun , a fried-milk sweet that looks like doughnut holes in syrup, came decorated with glittering flakes of edible silver leaf. Many non-Indians often mistake the fragile leaves for aluminum foil.

If you are among the non-Indian customers, you’ll be happy to know that photographs of the dishes are mounted on the walls to make ordering easier.

Recommended dishes: seekh kebab, $4; chicken saagwala , $3.75; saag panir , $2.75; chicken makhani , $3.75, and chicken tikka , $3.50. For $2.20-$2.50 more, entrees come with salad, a vegetable, dal , rice and naan . Weekday lunch specials include these accompaniments and a main dish for $4.25-$4.95.

India Hot ‘n’ Fast Food, 10200 Venice Blvd., Culver City; (213) 559-1123 or 559-1232. Open Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m. Shopping center parking. Cash only.