Mogul Indian Restaurant, Houston

Chef and owner Ram Allam brings decades of culinary experience to Mogul Indian Restaurant. He graduated from the Institute of Hotel Management in Catering and Nutrition in New Delhi in the 1970s, and then spent two decades working as an executive chef and manager for various restaurants and catering services in India, the U.K. and the U.S before fulfilling his dream of opening his own Indian restaurant. Ram, recognizing that Indian cuisine can be dauntingly complex and unfamiliar, promotes a "back to basics" theme that also includes many of his own creations and favorites. This results in flavorful dishes that rely on traditional Indian flavors plus a few more inventive combinations. These include traditional dishes such as saag paneer and chicken curry, along with lesser-known dishes such as a chicken fajita platter with Indian spices, Khumb hara Dhania (mushroom curry), a shrimp platter slathered in a coconut gravy with jalapeños, and pistachio ice cream infused with saffron.