The Royal Khyber............A Journey for your palate and mind. The art of Indian cookery lies NOT in high spicing but in the delicacy of spicing. Indian cuisine is universally known for its distinctive flavorings. It was in fact the lure of these spices which first brought the British and the French, the Dutch and the Portuguese to the Indian coast. It is the use of selected spices in a particular manner (whole spices, ground and or spice blends) to bring out the dormant flavors of a dish, which is the real art, practiced by the experienced chefs in the Royal Khyber kitchen.

Tandoori cooking is recognized as the most flavorful and healthy cuisine, where meats, poultry or fish is skinned and defatted first , marinated for hours in home-made yogurt, ginger, garlic paste and delicate blend of spices, then cooked in the Imported Clay Oven ( Tandoor ) at 450 F degrees plus temperature , fired with mesquite charcoals . This cooking method is in fact combination of grilling, baking & smoking simultaneously and thus creates a UNIQUE Tandoori flavor unmatched by any other technique. For traditional & innovative Indian cuisine, few exceed the Royal Khyber restaurant.

Owner Arun Puri founded the Royal Khyber in 1980, and it didn't take long for it to become a fixture of the Orange county dining scene. It's a favorite of those partial to Indian cuisine, but also those looking for smoke good food and a unique dining experience.

Puri and his family are very health conscious, so they wanted "all the flavors but not the fatty stuff," as Puri said. Accordingly, Royal Khyber has shifted away from using dairy products. Cream, butter and eggs are used sparingly, as are oils, and no cream, eggs or flour are used in the sauces. Lighter sauces have been created, such as the karahi sauce (a light, flavorful blend of tomatoes, olive oil, ginger, garlic and Indian spices) and the lassooni sauce (similar too karahi but without tomatoes).

Puri said that "the whole emphasis has been to bring to the public a very flavorful and healthful cuisine, and not what people traditionally perceive Indian cuisine to be".

To achieve this, some 38 different herbs and spices are used. Many of the entrees contain no curry, using cardamom, fenugreek or saffron instead. Few of the dishes are genuinely spicy -- the chicken vindaloo and the chicken Madras are among the few exceptions. All foods are made to order, as mild or spicy as you request

The traditional dishes are still there, for the diehards," Puri said. These include a wide range of Indian cuisine, from dumstyle steamed dishes (lamb biryani, for example) to samosas (a mixture of potatoes and peas in a flaky, delicious pastry shell). Dinner begins with a choice of soup or a salad of mixed greens and cucumbers tossed with garlic and a tasty chat dressing. You'll also whet your appetite with delicious naan, the Indian-style bread baked in a tandoori oven. Another tasty appetizer is the basmati rice pilaf with mango chutney.

The large, well-varied menu includes fresh fish such as swordfish, halibut or salmon; chicken or shrimp cooked with garlic, herbs, spices, tomatoes and olive oil tossed with pasta in an Indian wok; and shashlik kabobs of swordfish or chicken breast, made with bell peppers, onions and tomatoes, then broiled over mesquite in a tandoori and topped with a chat measlier sauce.

New items include the fish Malabar - swordfish, halibut, or salmon with a special sauce created by Royal Khyber's chef. Lobster has been introduced into the menu, as have curried mussels, serves as an appetizer with garlic naan. The newest dessert is the mango creme brulee.

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