Chili Chutney - Lake Forest

I have an equal number of Indian and Persian co-workers. So whenever I go to lunch with them, it's usually a restaurant that serves one of the two cuisines, both of which Orange County is blessed to have in spades.

But there's one restaurant that seems to exist to please both groups simultaneously, and not by accident or happenstance or artificial fusion-y construct--Chili Chutney in Lake Forest is an Afghani restaurant, and if you look at a map you'd see why it's a perfect example of cross-cultural sharing.

Afghanistan is sandwiched between Iran and the Indian subcontinent.



As such there's overlap in the cuisine. There are kormas like you'd see in Indian restaurants, but also koftas that aren't unlike Persian koobideh.

I went during their buffet lunch ($11.99), and it was as though I was at one of those Thai and sushi hybrid restaurants--but with way better results.

Yet, although there are similarities to Indian and Persian, Afghani cuisine has distinct characteristics all its own. If I were to generalize, I'd say it has a lighter hand at spices than Indian and has fewer sour notes than Persian.

But whether my co-workers and I are at an Indian, Persian, or Afghani buffet, one thing's always the same: we overstuff ourselves to get our money's worth. That's universal.

Chili Chutney,
24301 Muirlands Blvd.
Lake Forest, CA 92630
(949) 859-1778
chilichutney.com

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