While Desi Contemporary Indian Casual in Campbell is grounded in classic ingredients, the owners have designed the dishes based on their study of food history and experiences sampling different cuisines while traveling.
“It struck us how many dishes across the world are grounded in their similarities,” Mohit Nagrath, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife Archana, told San José Spotlight. “We wanted to build a concept where it is rooted in Indian food, but exploits those influences and similarities.”
The Nagraths opened Desi in 2019 and offer a menu of “Big Plates” — the tikka masala, curry and paneer dishes you’d expect to find — while the flip side has enticing “Street Eats” and “Quick Bites.”
These appetizers are delicious and fun. Take the Gol Gappe, a Northern Indian dish consisting of hollow spheres of puff pastry meant to be poked open and filled with cubed potatoes. Three different infused waters — tamarind, pineapple juice and spicy mint in any ratio— are spooned to fill it, and the whole thing is eaten in one bite.