In December 2024, La Mesa gained a fine-dining Indian restaurant called Aromas of India. Aromas features cuisine from India, the Himalayas (northern India bordering China, including Nepal and Tibet), and the popular Indo-Chinese cuisine.

A brief culinary history of Indo-Chinese cuisine might help us to understand what exactly this cuisine is.

It is a creative fusion of Chinese flavors with Indian ingredients. When Chinese people emigrated to Kolkata (formerly called Calcutta) in the early 1920’s they brought with them their cuisine and adapted the dishes to Indian culinary traditions and spices. This fusion resulted in dishes like Gobi Manchurian and Chili Chicken.

Gobi Manchurian is a vegan dish with cauliflower florets tossed in a sweet, sour and spicy sauce. If you prefer the non-vegan version, add chicken and it is called Chicken Manchurian. Another popular dish is Chili Chicken, consisting of fried chicken bites, battered, deep-fried, and coated in a spicy, sweet and tangy sauce. Chili Paneer is also featured on the menu. Paneer is Indian cottage cheese. This is cubed and fried, then tossed in sweet, sour, and spicy chili sauce.

Aromas also features Himalayan cuisine, which is also fused with Indian cuisine. Historically, Nepal, Tibet, and India, sharing a border, had similar trade routes and cultural exchanges that facilitated this fusion.

On the menu are Momo dumplings, which are steamed and filled with ground chicken and aromatic Nepali spices. A restaurant specialty is Jhol Momo, which are dumplings dipped into the chef’s special soup and garnished with cilantro and spring onions.

For spicy chicken, try the Chicken Chhoila, a popular Nepali dish consisting of chicken grilled in a clay oven, served with fresh vegetables and spices.

Curry is popular in the subcontinent and many variations are on the menu.

“We use up to 20 spices in our Indian curry,” said manager Bidur Khadka, proudly displaying the spices at the front of the restaurant. Varieties of curries are offered, such as Fish Curry, a wild-caught Alaskan salmon in spiced onion gravy, or Scallop Coconut Basil Curry or Shrimp Curry.

Save room for a popular Indian dessert called Gulab Jamun, which translates to “rose berry.” A dough ball is fried and soaked in a sweet, flavored syrup infused with rose water and cardamom.

The menu is so large; you will have to return many times to try all of their dishes.

Located at 5270 Baltimore Drive. Phone (619) 439-6072.

Check out the menu at: aromaslamesa.com/.