Veda Restaurant, New Delhi

The photo here may seem very puzzling given that it looks like just a few scraps of leftover salad on a plate. But these little things brought so much joy to my mouth that I had to take a photo, even if the restaurant was so dimly lit that it made the shot look horrible.

See, this wasn't a salad. These were leaves of spinach individually fried into crunchy leaves and topped with yogurt and tamarind to effectively make this a chaat of sorts. This was one of the signature dishes of Veda (H 27, Outer Circle, Connaught Circus, 41513535), a North Indian place whose chef was behind a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York.

Other items that we got were pleasantly satisfying too, including some little deep fried fish filets as well as crispy thin slivers of seasoned ladyfingers, among others. Granted, the daal still couldn't beat Bukhara's, but this place was good enough that I'd easily come back again.