Red dot

Lately I’ve been reading about ghee. It’s like butter if butter could get more buttery. A popular fat in Indian and South Asian dishes, it’s made by heating butter until it reduces and the solids (the dairy proteins) separate and are drained out. The end product is 100% fat version of butter which is usually 80% fat. It’s appropriate for higher heat cooking and imparts a nutty flavor in place of the burned scent that fast-melting butter can leave behind.

Anyone can make ghee at home with a stick of butter and 10 minutes, or you can pick up a jar of homemade ghee along with lunch at the Red Dot Kitchen in Wurtsboro. This vegetarian restaurant offers traditional Indian dishes: soups and sides such as daal (lentil soup) and pakora (battered vegetables in sweet chili sauce), lunch and dinner options like tofu curry and kulcha (naan stuffed with seasoned filling). For breakfast are pancakes with coconut sauce, multigrain waffles, and Indian breakfast potatoes. I had the protein burrito, a spinach tortilla wrap filled with brown rice, black beans, veggie chicken nuggets, kale, tomato, red onion, and a lemon-tahini dressing. House-made canned ghee is available and is found in many Red Dot dishes including brushed on the breakfast paratha wrap and drizzled on the sourdough bread starter.

The Red Dot is one of two restaurants, the first presently in the mountain town of Frasier Park, California.  The seasonal menus of both are packed with vegetables and Indian flavor. Paired with the restaurant’s welcoming, bright, peace & love vibe the experience is something even a carnivore can savor.    

The Red Dot: www.thered.kitchen