Chef Heena Patel has already spent years delighting San Francisco eaters with her interpretations of vegetarian Indian — specifically Gujarat — cuisine. And her celebratory menu at Besharam for Diwali, available this weekend only, is not to be missed.
At Besharam, which opened in 2018 in the art-focused Minnesota Project in Dogpatch, chef and owner Heena Patel brings her artful mind and deft sense of flavor to the cuisine of her parents, from the western Indian state of Gujarat. The restaurant puts a California lens on this regional vegetarian cuisine, and Patel does wonders in both reimagining and paying homage to it with traditional dishes like tandoori elote — marinating and charring corn with a nod to Mexico — and masala mushrooms, in which mushroom caps are stuffed with rice and spices, and served over an almost French butter-mushroom masala sauce.
For Diwali this year, Patel is offering a six-course tasting menu for $95 per person that feels both warmly comforting and celebratory, while also offering delightfully bold flavor combinations in each course.
From the outset, the appetizer courses begin with the beautifully garnished kachori, a stuffed and fried pastry that originates in Rajasthan, the state to the north of Gujarat. Patel's version is a doughnut-like, fried patty of coconut, topped with fresh herbs, citrus, and fried potato straws known as lilo chevdo. It's a bright and hearty introduction to the meal that you'd want three of if it weren't so filling.
This is followed by a reimagining of grilled cheese and tomato soup, here in the form of a five-cheese samosa floating in a tangy yet savory bowl of guava-tomato soup. As Patel says, "My children and I love cheese," and this is her version of the comforting soups she had living in London.
A version of khaman, a lentil cake cooked in a banana leaf not unlike a tamal, is garnished with delicious pickel masala and mint-cilantro chutneys.
And the main course, which arrives with two shareable dishes, also comes with an array of house chutneys and condiments, including a seasonal apple chutney. The paneer korma is the most meat-life, with ground bits of paneer cheese swimming in a deep and hearty, well spiced cardamom sauce that packs some heat. And Patel's version of panchvati dal, which is a dal made with five different legumes, tastes like a holiday in a bowl, with layers of beautiful toasted spices. These are both served with red onion cumin rice, as well as paratha and papadam.
Dinner finishes with a refreshing and light cardamom rice pudding called kheer, with the autumnal addition of poached pear.
Besharam's Diwali menu is available tonight, October 16, through Sunday, October 19. In addition to the $95 per person, an optional wine pairing is available for $55 per person.
Besharam - 1275 Minnesota Street - Instagram
