Indian spice in a serene setting

For cooks around L.A., inspiration lurks everywhere. Just head to any farmers market, and fresh-picked favas, breakfast radishes and pretty gold beets practically leap into your shopping basket while your mind reels off menus and makes a list of whom to invite.

For something more exotic, a troll through ethnic markets often leads to one of those Indian shops where the scent of turmeric or cumin is so strong, it’s like sticking your head in a tin of curry powder. As you wander past shelves stacked with Bollywood videos, bags of basmati rice and vast armies of pickles and chutneys, it’s impossible not to find yourself craving Indian food.

You could cook, but unless you’ve had the advantage of learning dishes from an Indian grandmother, an authentic Indian meal isn’t just something to be pulled off on the spur of the moment. Or you could go out.

Bombay Cafe in West L.A. is a perennial favorite. If you’re up for a dose of Bollywood glamour, Tantra in Silver Lake beckons with fanciful cocktails and a lively lounge scene. For something quieter and more upscale, a new Beverly Hills spot offers mostly northern Indian cuisine in a serene contemporary setting.

Next door to the Writers Guild and a block south of Kate Mantilini on South Doheny Drive, Maurya has moved into the sprawling space that has been a succession of Chinese restaurants, most recently Manhattan Wonton Co. That restaurant’s jolly, pot-bellied Buddha, red lacquer and elaborate carved latticework are gone now, replaced by a contemporary decor in the vivid colors of an Indian spice box. A lounge in front is furnished with sofas and square ottoman-stools covered in silks and brocades. It’s a great spot for a drink and a few appetizers before moving into the dining room for dinner.

Maurya’s chef, J.K. Paul, is from Bombay, and the menu is basically northern and western Indian. It’s more ambitious than most, and has interesting modern touches. Of course, you can get the usual meats and kebabs cooked in the tandoor oven, but I’ve never seen baby potatoes from the tandoor before, and they’re one of the most delicious items on the menu. Slightly smoky and crinkled from the heat, flavored with mustard oil and turmeric, they’re the size of big marbles, earthy and delicious.

Samosas are fried to pale gold, without a speck of grease. The filling gets a California twist with the addition of corn to fresh spinach leaves seasoned with coriander, cilantro and hot pepper. Eat them with the seductively spiced tamarind sauce, which arrives with a plate of miniature pappadums as soon as you sit down.

Papri chaat makes a delightful appetizer too. Crisp, silver-dollar-sized wafers are heaped with diced potato and crushed lentil dumplings, then embroidered with roasted cumin and peppercorns and crystals of salt. One order is enough to share.

The menu is long and wordy, every dish elaborately described, and except for the tandoori items, most involve intricately spiced sauces. When one of my guests asked the waiter one night for suggestions, the waiter answered quite honestly that he was craving a slice of pizza at that moment. That’s the way we eat in L.A., moment by moment: Italian one night, Sichuan the next. A messy Tommy’s burger followed by northern Thai for lunch the next day. It’s all one big smorgasbord.

When you order at Maurya, your waiter, dressed in a slim, silver brocade jacket and looking decidedly more elegant than guests, will ask how hot you want your food. Though I’ve insisted on spicy or very spicy every time I’ve eaten at Maurya, I’ve never managed to get anything that had more than a whisper of heat. I can’t help wondering if the Indians at the other table are eating the same gently spiced food as we are.

But the fact that the food isn’t blistering hot lets you appreciate the way the chef has woven the flavors so tightly together; it’s difficult to untangle ginger from coriander or fenugreek from cilantro. Though each sauce is slightly different, after several such dishes the effect becomes blurred. I wish the chef weren’t so timid about cooking for Westerners.

Classics such as chicken tikka makhni -- boneless chunks of chicken partly cooked in the tandoor and then finished in a supple gravy of tomatoes and onion with a touch of honey and black cumin seeds -- is subtle and fine. Saag gosht, a stew of lamb in a velvety spinach sauce the color of army fatigues, is soul-soothing too. But there are more unusual choices, such as a fish curry of sea bass with fresh, grassy fenugreek, or the black whole lentils slowly simmered all night with fresh tomatoes and then finished off with fresh cream and sweet butter.

Vegetarians can have a field day, ordering up dumplings made of paneer cheese (on the menu translated, unfortunately, as cottage cheese) marinated in spices and yogurt and then cooked in the tandoor oven. Or okra baked with pearl onions and tomatoes.

I can never go to an Indian restaurant without ordering eggplant bharta whether anybody else is interested. Here, it’s particularly smoky and delicious, the eggplant flesh mashed and cooked with garlic, tomatoes and roasted cumin seeds.

Plain steamed basmati is a perfect accompaniment. But the kitchen also offers several biryani rice dishes studded with whole spices, perfumed with saffron and layered with chicken or lamb or vegetables. You’ll need an order of Indian pickles too, and probably some extra chutney and a bowl of soothing raita.

Breads include blistered ovals of nan from the tandoor, along with kulcha flavored with onion, fresh mint or spinach, and flaky whole wheat paratha with fresh mint baked into the dough. But my favorite is taftan, which is similar to the nan, only flavored with threads of saffron and ground cardamom.

After eating several times at Maurya, I have this advice: Don’t rush to order. You might miss some of the more interesting dishes if you jump on something before reading the entire menu.

And as for drinks, lassi, the yogurt drink, works well with the food. In the world of wine, sherries (especially sweeter ones such as oloroso) enhance Indian dishes better than anything else. Unfortunately, the wine list offers only a ho-hum selection of California whites and reds. There’s always beer.

If anybody at the table is still game for dessert by the time you reach that point, order the mango kulfi, an Indian ice cream made by boiling down milk with sugar and spices. Or get one rice pudding to share. It’s sweet and rich and somehow addictive, but so intense a few bites are all most people can manage.

Considering the handsome setting and the subtleties of the food, not to mention its Beverly Hills address, Maurya is something of a bargain. And because the restaurant also has the virtue of being quiet enough for conversation, it really is a rare bird.

*

Maurya

Rating: *

Location: 151 S. Doheny Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 786-7858; www.mauryabeverlyhills.com.

Ambience: Contemporary northern and western Indian restaurant with walls the colors of an Indian spice box, a comfortable lounge for cocktails and snacks and, in the back, a couple of private rooms.

Service: Varies from experienced to very tentative, but always welcoming and pleasant.

Price: Appetizers, $6 to $22; soups, $6 to $8; tandoori items, $11 to $22; main courses, $14 to $22; vegetarian dishes, $11 to $13; desserts, $5 to $6; buffet lunch, $14 to $15.

Best dishes: Papri chaat, spinach and corn samosa, lamb trotters soup, stuffed chicken drumstick, tandoori baby potatoes, chicken tikka makhni, saag gosht, dal makhni, chicken biryani, mint paratha, milk and rice pudding.

Wine list: Predictable selection of mostly California bottles. Corkage, $15.

Best table: A corner banquette

Special features: Takeout

Details: Open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday; for dinner from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 5:30 to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; and for Sunday brunch from noon to 3 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking, $5.

Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on every level. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.