Bhatti

Having recently sung the praises of South Indian cooking, we decided to veer northward, all the way up to the Pakistani border and the region known as the Punjab. Here, an open-flame grill called a bhatti is central to cooking, and it is embraced wholeheartedly at the new restaurant of the same name in Curry Hill. We wanted to sample the subz ki gilauti, a kebab supposedly made with 160 spices, but they must have been out of spice #103, because they weren't serving it when we went. Instead we contentedly made due with a sweet and savory plate of tandoori chaat, gobhi mussalum (a spicy cauliflower curry), and bhatti da murg, a smoky, juicy chicken kebab marinated overnight in yogurt and Punjabi spices.