ANN ABOUT TOWN: Swagath Indian Cuisine

If I had six weeks to live, I’d be on a flight to India faster than you can say “salwar kameez.” I’m viscerally drawn to it: the bright colors, the spices, the chai wallahs, the wandering cows and white-draped spiritual men, the lights of Diwali and the kitschy rush of Bollywood.

I don’t want to be some ridiculous wannabe with a stick-on bindi on my forehead, so until I can actually make the trip, I make my own private India-in-East-Lansing with books, music, movies, Indian cooking and Indian restaurant meals. Maybe, also, a little sandalwood incense.

Last Saturday Captain Carnivore and I visited the East Lansing location of Swagath, a family-owned and operated market and restaurant. (The family operates another store and restaurant in Okemos, as well.) It’s tucked behind Woody’s Oasis; as you pass Woody’s on Trowbridge you’ll see a sign for Swagath that leads you back to a small strip mall with grocery and restaurant side-by-side.

If Indian cooking isn’t your thing, the Swagath Foods might seem to be similar to other Asian markets in town. If, on the other hand, you make Indian food with any regularity, you will find every exotic ingredient you’ve ever needed for a recipe. You won’t have to substitute or order online, you can visit Swagath for your gram flour, paneer cheese, Idli batter, methi leaves, ghee, poppadums, frozen naan, chickpea flour, lime pickle, chaat masala, mustard oil, some fresh produce, and an assortment of toiletries from India.

The market also stocks enough frozen, ready-made foods on the premises that one could pretty easily pop in and buy some or all of the elements of an authentic meal from samosas to rice pudding. Your dazzled guests don’t ever need to know you didn’t make the Aloo Gobi from scratch.

Last Saturday, after stocking up at the store, we headed next door to the restaurant to check out the lunch buffet. Some things were pretty standard (chicken biryani, chicken and goat curry, naan, tandoori chicken. dal and idli) but others were unusual for the local scene. On what looked like a large cymbal, separate from the buffet, was Samosa Chaat. A “chaat” is a savory snack, often sold as street food or in train stations in South Asia.

Swagath’s Samosa Chaat is a mixture of chopped samosas, chickpeas, fresh coriander leaves, chilis, tomatoes and spices. There were probably more things I didn’t recognize, but I can say that I have never had anything remotely like it. It was crunchy, chewy, spicy, and creamy with bright hits of fresh cilantro and pepper.

Another novelty was Gulab Jamun, a dessert I’ve read about many times but never actually tasted. Not exactly a health food, Gulab Jamun consists of fried balls of batter served warm in a sweet syrup. What it tastes like is a spherical pancake immersed in something sweet and sticky, but not at all maple-y. Maybe a hint of rosewater?

Swagath is completely family-friendly; a tiny girl across the room took breaks from consuming her weight in tandoori drumsticks to clap when the waitress poured water from an impressive height. There were families, MSU students, two older gentlemen discussing poetry, and what looked like a first or second date.

As far as dietary choices, Swagath has many vegetarian options, really enough to create a very complete and filling meal. It’s also fairly easy to eat healthy. The opportunities for vegans are a little narrower; it seems smart to inquire ahead of time about which vegetarian dishes contain butter or yoghurt and whether a vegan customer could order such a dish made without dairy.

Swagath Indian Cuisine is located at 1060 Trowbridge Road, Suite #3, in East Lansing.