Jyoti, Indian Restaurant, Wayne, NJ

Where: 
Jyoti - Exotic Indian Cuisine
24 Route 46 East
Wayne, NJ 07470
973-890-2224
http://www.jyotirestaurant.com/home-jyoti

What: 

Papadum with onion and green chutneys upon being seated (papadum is an extremely thin dough that is fried or baked until crisp).

Appetizers:

Paratha, which is a buttered pan-fried flat bread, plus onion panir which is an unleavened bread filled with onion and fresh minced cauliflower. 

Our second appy was a vegetable samosa, which is a crispy turnover filled with mildly spiced potatoes and peas.
Lamb Rogan Josh – Cubes of lamb marinated in Indian spices, cooked with chopped tomatoes in a creamy sauce.

Entrees:

Chicken Tikka Masala – Pieces of Chicken Tikka cooked in a creamy sauce with fresh tomato and Eastern spices. (Tikka refers to chicken roasted in a  clay Tandoor oven)

Comments:

I love this place; the food, the atmosphere, the exotic spices…everything. And although my review is going to be very positive, it is most assuredly unbiased.

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Upon being seated, our server placed down what I would describe as the Indian version of tapas – a plate of bread/chips called papadum, accompanied with a plate of onion chutney and green chutney to pick on while cruising the menu. Delicious (Shout out to Sabah for gettin' us the skinny on Papadum). The onion chutney is delicious and it's ingredient list almost impossible for me to guess due to what I consider to be a plethora of spices used. The green chutney however had the distinct flavors of fresh mint and cilantro and perhaps a dollop of yogurt. Excellent.

Next up: I ordered a Haywards 5000. This popular Indian beer came in a 650 ml bottle (that's a 22 ouncer!), and I didn't find out until the next day that Haywards is 7.5% alcohol. It’s no wonder I was feeling no pain when I got home.

Our appetizers consisted of a few Naan breads, one plain, buttered and one stuffed with onion and cauliflower. We also ordered a plate of veggie Samosas stuffed with potato and peas served with a brown dipping sauce which, to me had flavor seemed to me to be an Indian spiced version of steak sauce with tamarind being the predominant flavor.  Really great stuff.

Next came the entrees...

My wife's Chicken Tikka Masala was creamy and spicy with the flavor of fresh tomatoes popping through the cream. Soon after followed a great afterglow of heat... that wonderful Indian heat. So good. What great comfort food.

The flavors of my Lamb Rogan Josh are a favorite of mine, and although the dish lacks spicy heat, the spices used are nothing shy of fantastic. Especially when ladled over Jyoti's fragrant basmati rice.   

And last but not least, while finishing up our meals and contemplating dessert, it happened...

The lights went out... yup, no electricity. We sat in complete darkness for about 15 minutes before being led to the server station to pay by candlelight. Needless to say, they were very happy to see that we had cash.

Can't wait to go back to Jyoti and sample some more new and exotic flavors from the East.