Indian is one of those cuisines we’ll never get tired of, for a few reasons. Firstly, the food is all about sharing; you order a whole lot of dishes for the table and get to try a bit of everything, which we love. Secondly, the cuisine spans so many regions and as a result is subject to so many influences and interpretations of dishes, with different families having their own secret recipes that have been passed down for generations. That’s why we were so excited to check out Delhi Palace, a family-owned restaurant in North Strathfield who want to share their special recipes with Sydney.
You can tell Delhi Palace is a family-run restaurant from the moment you walk through the door. The staff are so familiar with each other and extend this warmth to their customers, chatting and talking like they’ve known you for years. Our host for the evening Erum even told us that a lot of the art featured in the venue had been painted by her daughter, which gave the place a wonderfully unique touch.
The menu spans quite a few different styles of Indian dishes, from your typical tandoori meats and fried pastries to plant-based dishes like eggplant and potato masala. We started off with one of our favourite Indian entrees which we hadn’t seen yet in Australia but had enjoyed for the first time at an Indian street food vendor in London – dahi bhalla. These fried lentil dumplings yoghurt, chutney and chaat masala, creating a wonderful blend of hot meets cold temperatures, and an overall savoury dish with hints of sweetness from the chutney.
We also had garlic prawns, which were large, juicy and buttery, served alongside some fresh veggies, and seekh kofta, which were delicious spiced lamb sausages cooked in the tandoor and served with a mint yoghurt sauce.
For mains we went for a tried-and-true classic, which might seem a little boring of us, but trust us, it was anything but. The butter chicken at Delhi Palace was so rich and delicious, and the chicken so tender, we’d seriously encourage everyone to try it.
Two of our favourite curries are palak paneer, a creamy spinach curry with large cubes of moreish paneer cheese, and dahl makhani, which sees black lentils simmered in a onion and tomato curry for eight hours, creating a dish with deep and complex flavour. Both of these are plant-based as well, so our vego friends can safely indulge.
Our host Erum also recommended that we try the goat sizzler, which we were so glad she recommended. This is more of a dry spice dish than a curry, but is served on a sizzling hotplate and had just the right about of heat to warm your tastebuds without overpowering all the other flavours of the dish.
We paired everything with some soft and buttery garlic naan, thick cheese naan and rice, which gave us plenty of options to mop up the incredible curry sauces with.
Special mention goes to the mango lassi here, which were fresh, sweet and a great way to cool your mouth down after a bite that might pack a little too much of a chilli punch. We also finished the meal with some incredible gulab juman, little fried dough balls soaked in sugary syrup, and served at Delhi Palace with a scoop of ice-cream, a drizzle of strawberry syrup and a sprinkling of sliced almonds.
You can find Delhi Palace in North Strathfield, and also on Menulog, Uber Eats and Door Dash, if you’re keen to try some of their incredible Indian dishes. They also have a lovely function room upstairs where you can host work functions, birthdays and any special events, which you can get more information on by contacting Delhi Palace.
