Woodlands, a fully vegetarian South Indian restaurant in a Fairfax strip mall that’s mostly populated by Korean eateries, has an entire vegan menu. There are also dishes that cut out the onions and garlic that some Indian religions avoid. For vegetarians of all stripes, Woodlands is a good choice. But I went for the paneer dishes.
You see, it’s easy to find a palak paneer practically anywhere. But when I want to go beyond basics, it can be a challenge. When I saw that the restaurant has five varied paneer dishes, I had to get a serious dose of my favorite squeaky, bouncy cheese.
For a couple of dollars extra, I upgraded from a meal served with either bread or rice to a thali with both a paratha and basmati rice, plus nine other dishes. The rasam, a tangy South Indian soup, was so compellingly hot and nuanced that I finished it before I even tried my main course. Other dishes included sambar (a thin, lentil-based veggie stew), lentil curry, a chickpea curry and … more paneer. The paneer butter masala contrasted dramatically with the mostly South Indian dishes that filled my thali, but was all the more appealing for its creamy, tomato-based sauce.
Still, the star of the meal was the paneer mirch ka salan at the center of the tray. The fiery Hyderabadi dish is as much about the whole jalapeños stewed alongside the cheese. The result is an almost electric heat that burns from the first bite and continues to build. It never overwhelms, though. That’s due to two things. The stew itself is flavored with a nutty sesame-and-tamarind-based gravy that calms the fire on its own. Even more helpful is an occasional spoonful of cool, fresh yogurt. Thanks to the yogurt, by the time I made my way to the cup of semiya payasam, a warm pudding twisting with vermicelli, the heat was a pleasant memory. If you’re not quite ready to return to an Indian buffet yet, the thalis at Woodlands may be the next best thing.
4078 Jermantown Rd., Fairfax
Feature image by Alice Levitt
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