If you have a craving for home-style Indian food, check out LA’s Urban Masala who just secured their spot as the top Indian Lunch in LA. Their customers enjoy the authenticity and everything that Indian food has to offer, choose-your-own bowls, Indian naan rolls, and fresh salads featuring different flavors from India. We spoke with Arun Chhatpar, one of Urban Masala’s owners about what makes Urban Masala the best spot to satisfy your Indian food cravings in LA and what’s next for this Indian soul food eatery.

Consumers voted you Best Indian in LA—what do they love about Urban Masala?

First, is the quality of our food—we take the time to source the right ingredients at the utmost freshness. Second, is our service—we take customer service pretty seriously and make sure we provide the best every single day.

What’s the inspiration behind the vibrant menu at Urban Masala?

The home-style Indian food we grew up eating was missing in LA—this inspired us to bring Indian soul food here. We wanted to bring our customers the same flavors we experienced growing up, but in a healthier way, using less fat and oil than other restaurants while still being able to produce the same great flavors.

Our menu speaks directly to our Hollywood Boulevard location and clientele—our customers are health-conscious, and many are vegetarian or vegan, so we keep these options at the forefront. There are lots of options for everyone from veggie dishes, rich curries, masala bowls, samosa, and all our halal meat options.

What dish is popular with your customers?

Our chicken tikka masala is a customer favorite. We think it’s because of the care that goes into making it. We use a three-step process. First, we marinate the chicken which helps bake the flavor into the meat, then it’s roasted in a tandoor—an Indian clay oven, then cooked again with our creamy tomato based sauce. This process brings out the rich balance of a mildly spicy dish that our customers can’t get enough of.

Do you have any techniques we can share for readers at home?

One of our favorite tips to share with customers is for preparing the best golden-brown fried chicken—roll the chicken in powdered milk instead of flour before frying for a distinctive crispiness that will change how you make fried chicken forever.

What’s a food trend you’re seeing in LA right now?

We’re seeing a shift towards eating more fresh, farm-to-table foods—and we’re excited to announce we’ll be acting on this trend very soon and bring more fresh from the farm goods to our customers.

What are your 2017 plans for Urban Masala? 

We have lots on the go for 2017—we were just contracted by the University of Southern California (USC) to supply all of their campuses with our home-style Indian, we’re looking into another location, and we’re researching more farm-to-table ingredients—we’re excited to bring more healthy Indian food to LA soon!

The foodies of LA have spoken and voted Urban Masala the Best Indian Lunch in LA—Congratulations! This food and service-obsessed Indian soul food eatery has won bragging rights and the top spot for their healthy home-style Indian food and no doubt, their chicken tikka masala.