Along the border

Labeling a restaurant “Indian” isn’t very accurate. Just as Biba and The Old Spaghetti Factory are both Italian, they serve very different styles of that cuisine.

Likewise, you’ll find a variety of Indian restaurants in Sacramento. Many of them create the dishes that Americans know well, like chicken tikka masala and samosas, but they each tend to have specialties.

Ruchi Indian Cuisine in Natomas offers south Indian favorites like idli and vada, while Chaat Kafe favors street food traditions like papri chaat and bel puri.

The owners of Kabab King, which opened about a year ago in Natomas, describe their food as Indian-Pakistani. What that means is that you’ll find some dishes common to both countries, which were divided by Britain in 1947 and still share cultural traditions.

This is meaty food, not the vegetable-rich dishes more common to vegetarian southern states. They specialize in tandoori barbecue as well, such as grilled chicken leg ($3.99) that includes the thigh and drumstick, marinated with yogurt and spices. The meat remains moist, while the exterior gets crunchy and deliciously charred in spots.

Next, we had to try the kebabs, given the restaurant’s name. The chicken ($2.50 each) and beef ($3 each) seekh kebabs are made with ground meat and spices, formed around a skewer—sort of like a long meatball. Both had abundant spices, with a little kick of chili pepper especially apparent in the beef. They came unadorned, but we drizzled ours with mint chutney as a cooling condiment.

A dish that puts a spin on an American favorite is chicken tikka boti. Many people know tikka, or pieces of marinated chicken baked in a tandoor, but boti indicates larger strips of leg meat cooked in the same way. You can get it &#;agrave; la carte ($6.99) or wrapped in paratha bread ($6.99). The boti wrap comes with or without onions, plus some shredded veggies. It was a little dry on its own, but perked up well with the mint and tamarind chutneys, both served in squeeze bottles for easy doctoring.

Among the more familiar Indian restaurant dishes, the samosa chaat stands out. Meaning “savory snack,” chaat indicates a dish with lots of toppings. Two vegetarian samosas came plentifully loaded with chick peas, onions, chutneys and fresh cilantro. This version didn’t have tomatoes, which are often included, but the flavors and textures made for quick eating.

We tried two vegetarian dishes: baingan bharta ($5.99) and bhindi masala ($6.99). The former is a favorite of mine, featuring long-cooked eggplant and onions with garlic and turmeric. I missed the silken texture of the one served at Kathmandu Kitchen, and this one didn’t have any smokiness from the tandoor, but it served well as a foil for spicier dishes. The second, Indian bhindi (okra), always impresses with its complete lack of sliminess common to American okra recipes. Slivers of onion and tomato rounded out the slightly zingy vegetables.

Two unusual items on the menu are vegetable ($4.99) and chicken ($5.99) fried rice. Since northern Pakistan borders China, some of that country’s influences appear on Pakistani menus. In this case, Chef Faryad Ali stir-fried basmati rice with onions and red and green sweet peppers. It had more Pakistani than Chinese flavors, without much oil.

Of the curries we tried, the lamb ($8.99) was notable for the meat’s tenderness and lack of gristle. While it had no vegetables, the stew had plenty of meat for the price.

If you order breads, note that they are priced by the piece. A $1 naan seemed large, while a $1.50 paper-thin rumaali roti wasn’t quite enough for the kebabs and baingan bharta.

Kabab King sits in an unlovely strip mall, but it’s a popular spot for nearby office workers, with quick and friendly service. It’s a wide-ranging menu, so you can surely find lots to try.