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Vegetarian Travel Guide: Spice Kraft, Alexandria, Va.

July 9, 2020 by KitchenRecessionista

Spice Kraft, 2607 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria, Va.
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-8:30 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.
Menu: https://www.spicekraftdelray.com/menu-2
Suitable for: Vegetarians, vegans, omnivores, lovers of good Indian food

Whether you’re ready to emerge from home for a dine-in experience or grab some takeout to bring back to the ol’ casa, it’s time to spice up this era of social distancing, you know? So with that preamble: the travel guide is BACK. Good food never goes out of style, even in the throes of a pandemic!

Alexandria, Va., is no stranger to good Indian restaurants. Dishes of India sits near the city’s southern border with Fairfax County; Old Town sports the likes of Diya and Namaste. But the Indian eatery in the city’s Del Ray neighborhood is where we should focus our time today: A little restaurant called Spice Kraft.

Now, the space that currently houses Spice Kraft is itself no stranger to good Indian cuisine. Prior to Spice Kraft’s entry into the space last year, for several years before it played host to Bombay Curry, a longtime Alexandria Indian establishment with a storied past and several locations under its belt. But with the retirement of Bombay Curry’s ownership, it was time for a change, and after a closure, the block now smells again of curry and vindaloo and korma.

One step into the restaurant and it’s clear that the kitchen staff knows their stuff. The aromas wafting out from behind the scenes are incredibly compelling even at first whiff, and judging by the packed house on any given night, it’s clear as well that you aren’t the only patron moved by such things. There’s a buzz to Spice Kraft, an electricity that lends itself to sitting down and taking it all in.

And there is a great deal to take in. The menu has the standard vegetarian designations, but Spice Kraft takes things a step further with a clearly titled vegan section as well, listing a half dozen or so entrees that are all plant-based. And don’t fret: All your favorites are here! And then some.

I couldn’t pass the korma by without having a taste, and I’m awfully glad I did. The creaminess of the sauce melded beautifully with the crisp-tender vegetables, soaking into every bite of the accompanying rice. Slightly spicy, slightly sweet and slightly savory, it was a concert of flavors with every bite.

LeeLee, meanwhile, settled on the kata meta aloo with lentil sauce, which was admittedly a dish neither of us had ever had (and we call ourselves Indian-food fans! Oh, for shame.). But we’ll definitely order it again. From the okra and potato fritters to the mango and tamarind, it brought a crispiness along with a tenderness that really worked well together. Paired with the rice as well as some naan, it made for one heck of an entrée that packed a subtle wallop.

We left Spice Kraft 1) full and 2) aware that we had only scratched the surface of what the menu had to offer. We’ll definitely be back to give it another try – and the next time you find yourself in Alexandria, you should, too!

Vegan Kickstart, Day 18.

March 17, 2016 by KitchenRecessionista

This week’s been a doozy at work (and at home – lots of side projects to tackle and shelter cats to pet!), so I’ve been a bit absent on the blog this week. But my vegan kickstart has remained fully intact in the face of such hectic times! We’ve had fajitas:

And aloo gobi:

And vegetable lo mein:

And tofu-scramble nachos:

And, finally, for tonight’s St. Patrick’s Day meal we enjoyed a recipe from a 1970 copy of Vegetarian Times (!) that has held up just perfectly over the years – Irish stew with mashed potatoes.

Now, I’ll give you a secret on the mashed potatoes. I didn’t drain as much water off as I should’ve, and added a bit too much almond milk. But as it happened, I had some instant mashed potato flakes in the cabinet for an unrelated recipe, so I simply added a quarter-cup or so to the fresh potatoes, mashed to combine, and voila! Perfectly firm potatoes once more. I love a good household solution!

At any rate, I’d say this vegan kickstart is moving along quite nicely. I’ll be sort of sorry when the 21 days are up — but excited to continue experimenting with new recipes well after these three weeks!

Crock-Pot Wednesday: Vegan Aloo Gobi.

November 25, 2015 by KitchenRecessionista

We had such fun with our Indian-inspired Crock-Pot meal a couple of weeks ago, I knew we had to go back to that well again in short order! A few days ago, I stumbled on this recipe for aloo gobi – that is, cauliflower and potatoes – from The Perfect Pantry and immediately added it to the menu plan!

Now, the recipe calls for a 4-hour cook time on Low, but no matter – I knew the ingredients wouldn’t suffer from a full day’s cooking. So this morning before I left for work, I added cauliflower florets, a diced tomato, a couple of diced potatoes (from our summertime potato-picking festival!), an onion, and plenty of herbs and spices into the slow cooker, flicked the heat to Low, and went on about my day. By the time I got home – early, today, since it’s a holiday weekend! – the meal was already smelling glorious, and we had several hours to go till dinnertime.

Actually, the glorious-smelling meal was fighting with the overpowering aroma of a bottle of vegetarian Worcestershire sauce, which the cat had managed to knock down and shatter all over the floor. She remains unrepentant. But LeeLee said the house smelled nice as a result!

At any rate, about half an hour before we planned to eat, I cooked up a pot of jasmine rice and heated up two slices of garlic naan. When the rice and naan were ready, we sat down to eat!

I have to admit, we both really enjoyed the meal. I perhaps went too lightly on the salt in the slow cooker – we both had to add some to our plates – but otherwise, the spices and flavors were spot-on and the meal itself was tasty and filling. The flavors mingled so nicely with the rice, and the naan gave us another texture and flavor to enjoy. Washed down with some Beaujolais, it was a glorious dinner indeed!

We’ve got leftovers, which will come in handy in a couple of days when we’re sick and tired of Thanksgiving feasting. Hey, it could happen!

Crock-Pot Monday: Vegan Chik’n Tikka Masala.

November 9, 2015 by KitchenRecessionista

“Does the house smell like an Indian restaurant yet?” I asked LeeLee, who was working at home, when I called around 2 o’clock this afternoon.

“YES!” he exclaimed. And that was good enough for me.

He spoke the truth. I verified this when I got home from work-plus-animal-shelter tonight and was immediately hit with all the wonderful aromas that garam masala brings to the table (so to speak). Yes, friends, tonight our Crock-Pot went international with a recipe for chik’n tikka masala I found over at The Kitchn. (Now, granted, the original recipe is for real chicken, but y’all know I’m no stranger to vegifying things!)

Putting everything in the slow cooker this morning took no time at all – within 10 minutes or so, the Crock-Pot was humming nicely on Low and I was dashing off to work! At lunch, I picked up some naan bread and some basmati rice, because when you’re going to enjoy an Indian meal for dinner, there’s no point in phoning it in. So when I got home from the animal shelter (it was a cat-petting night), I put the rice in the rice cooker and preheated the oven, then added some coconut milk to the slow cooker. Within half an hour, both the rice and the naan had finished their cooking process, and we were ready to eat!

I’ve never been great at cooking Thai or Indian meals – the complexity of their spices always seems to be just out of my reach. But this one hit the spot! Both LeeLee and I marveled at how authentic it tasted. So I may have finally gotten the hang of how to properly spice up these dishes, but only time will tell!

In the meantime, we’ll continue to enjoy the fruits of today’s labor – we’ve got plenty for leftovers tomorrow! I’m looking forward to it already.

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