Date: August 2021
Name: Jeera
Address: 7 Heleni HaMalka, Jerusalem
Welcome back, loyal reader(s). It's been a while. Not because we've been siting around, waiting for the perfect curry to come our way, but because, well, you know - life. First, every single Indian place in Jerusalem closed. Almora, Ichikidana - gone. Next, our lives took some interesting twists and turns - new co-pilots, new passengers, and with them - new experiences. Culinary meanderings in London and New York, exposing new passengers to new flavors and textures, and going domestic.
Fortunately for us homebodies, 2020/21 was the year of staying home. We stared our fridge in the eye, spent 65.3% of our waking time wondering what to make for dinner, then stared at our fridge some more. In short, our lives were a never-ending meditation on what to cook for the next meal, spiced with the (more than) occasional ordering in.
This tedium lasted many months - but who's counting? Come to think of it, who's counting anything anymore? Does anyone even remember whether we've had more lock-downs or more elections?
Yet suddenly, D began hearing rumors that spiked her interest - a new Indian place in Jerusalem! As if this alone wasn't miraculous enough, she and her copilot (N) actually managed to sneak away, under the cover of darkness, on a reconnaissance mission to scope the place out and ensure it was blog-worthy.
Within a few hours, R's phone buzzed. The picture she saw piqued her curiosity - it seemed to be depicting samosas and dahl. She wondered where in the world D and N might be. She replied with a starry eyed emoji and waited patiently for more details. And they were soon to come, along with a five-star review.
A few days later, D and R went for lunch, resurrecting their long-lasting tradition of celebrating their anniversary of friendship, adventure, and blog posts - which had been forgotten, swallowed by the aforementioned life and tedium. Some things change, some stay the same.
Our destination was Jeera. A hole-in-the-wall kitchen just off Jaffa St. and close to the city's light rail. For such a small place, it had a decent number of tables and chairs set up on the sidewalk. We found a shady spot, making sure that D's tiny passenger was comfortable. Usually outside the scope of this blog, D also wanted to hear R's opinion of the chairs. A brief glance at the menu and we ordered the Double Thali Special. We were still sitting comfortably when our food arrived.
Everything was delicious: a large platter of thali, malai kofta, naan, rice, and an assortment of colorful dishes. The samosas were amazing, just as they should be - crispy on the outside, soft and seasoned inside. YUM!! The spicy chickpeas went well with the rice, and a tangy yogurt and chutney nicely balanced sweetness to the spices. After such a long time without a decent Indian meal, we were in seventh heaven. Our one suggestion for improvement is to include rice with each entrée, rather than requiring it to be ordered separately.
In fact, we were experiencing such a curry-high that we kind of forgot ourselves. We began chatting with Tom, the proprietor. He's a young fellow who'd began doing deliveries out of his kitchen during the first lock-down, which grew into a restaurant, which opened its door four months ago. For the sake of journalistic integrity (and, let's face it, we were simply thrilled), we told him about our blog with all the humility worthy of a two-writer, half-reader, and long-ignored endeavor. We promised to return and spread the word!
Tom, thank you for being here. We wish Jeera success and pledge to do our part to support your amazing restaurant. Oh, and your chairs are awesome.
