SOUTH PORTLAND – In this, my farewell review, I have the honor of describing Aroma Authentic Indian, a very good new restaurant that serves marvelously spiced meals, surprising, tasty desserts and intriguing appetizers.

The familiar Indian snacks are on the list too, but for anyone who delights in new tastes and aromas that prove the spices are freshly ground, the menu promises delights that could make dinner here a habit.

Additional Photos

Aroma Authentic Indian Cuisine at 200 Gorham Road in South Portland serves many dishes featuring spices from southern India. Diners who don’t like it hot should make that clear. John Ewing/Staff Photographer

If the business would stock a few decent bottles of wine, including a Riesling, a Gewurztraminer and even a Torrontes, it would make dinner even more enjoyable.

As of now, however, a Merlot and a Chardonnay, both from Callaway Winery in California, are all that’s offered. The white ($5.50) is simplicity itself and tastes like water once you get some food in front of you. One night, the manager had to go in search of a bottle of the white and put it on ice. We opted instead for Kingfisher beer ($7) from India, a mild lager excellent with the spicy food. Taj Mahal Lager and a few American beers are also served.

Some of the mangled English in the menu has a seductive quality. What could “puffed rice and crunchy pureed with tomatoes” be? That’s most of the description of the appetizers called chats, which turned out to be three options: bhel puri, paani puri or aloo papri chat.

When the manager told me the paani puri ($3.95) was tricky to eat, it was as if he’d sprinkled catnip in front of a cat. “That’s what I want,” I said. The Indian snack food sold on the street is put together for customers, but in this version the customer assembles them, filling little, delicate crispy shells with a mixture of mashed potato and chickpeas and then spooning on top as much watery, tangy, cilantro-laced liquid as you can.

“You have to eat it all at once,” the manager said. Starting cautiously, I didn’t fill up the shell, and then took a small bite. “All at once,” he reminded me.

Now that I knew it tasted great, I filled the little shell — there are six in a serving — spooned in several teaspoons of liquid and opened wide. The mix of smooth potatoes and hot tangy juiciness, the crisp crunch of the shell and the resilience of the nutty chickpeas make a great mouthful.

Chilli bajji ($3.95) are spicy green chilies coated with batter and deep fried. The chilies are hot, the crunchy coating cool, and the cilantro-mint and tamarind chutneys fresh and light.

Shrimp fry ($6.95) is another good, spicy appetizer, the little shrimp sauteed with onions, sesame seeds, turmeric and hot peppers. Friends found it hot; I found it perfect.

Of course, you can enjoy freshly cooked bread. The garlic naan ($2.95) was obviously just lifted from the tandoor. But lacha paratha ($2.95), though it glistened with the menu’s promised butter, was tough and seemed stale.

People who veer away from spicy food should make their preference known. We requested spicy dishes, and the kitchen came through loud and clear.

Chicken Chettinadu ($10.95) promised south Indian spices, as do many menu items. The aromatic cardamom and coriander wafted through the air and gave the pungent and rich sauce perpetual intrigue. The cut pieces of tender chicken were good, too.

Lamb Chettinadu ($11.99) proved somewhat better, the savory lamb better able to show off its own flavor. Goat is an option that might be even better.

Shrimp saag ($12.99) presented a fantastic, fresh-tasting version of its classic pureed spinach sauce. The shrimp were fresh and lightly cooked.

Vegetarian dishes are abundant. Gobi Manchurian ($11.95) is coated and fried cauliflower with a sweet and sour sauce too reminiscent of debased Chinese versions to please me.

But the bahara baingan, ($11.99) with a concentration on cinnamon and clove, was a revelation. The baby eggplant was cooked to tenderness and falling apart, and the sauce that surrounded it had an unctuous texture with delicious spice.

The lentil “doughnut” dipped in spicy sambar, called sambar vada ($4.50), is indeed doughnut-shaped, not sweet, light in texture and unexciting.

Plain and elaborate dosas (long, thin rolled crepes) and uthapam (savory pancakes) are more south Indian specialties.

Masala chai ($1.50) is served without sugar — a blessing if you don’t have a sweet tooth — with its tannic black tea and spices.

Dessert was wonderful in each of the three dishes I tried. Fruit custard ($4) is a perfect children’s dish that grown-ups can’t help but love, with canned fruit mixed in a kind of vanilla pudding. Pista kulfi ($3.50), house pistachio ice milk, is served cut in spears, is full of pistachios and delicately rich.

Gulab jamoon ($2.95) is two fried cheese balls soaked in honey syrup. The menu’s description seemed revolting, but the dish proved to be exciting and delicious, the cheese mild and spongy and the syrup buttery and sweet. Who knew?

There are so many things I learned writing this column, as I chose menu items I’d never heard of and never tasted. Since the kitchens of Maine are inventing new things all the time, we all can encounter new things worth tasting. We are so lucky.

My readers’ curiosity has inspired me, and their expectations have kept me on my toes. Thank you all so much for reading about so many of the meals I have eaten since 2005. 

N.L. English is a Portland freelance writer and the author of “Chow Maine: The Best Restaurants, Cafes, Lobster Shacks and Markets on the Coast.” New dining reviewer Nancy Heiser begins next week.

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