In a strip mall, the best flavors of India

Zaika
161 Pleasant St., Marblehead
Telephone: 781-639-3700
thezaika.com
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Credit cards accepted
Accessible to the handicapped
Reservations accepted

Harjit Jhikka knows Indian food. She was born in India and grew up working in her father's restaurant, The Indian Samraat, which has been on Massachusetts Avenue in Boston's Back Bay for 20 years. Until recently, she had worked as a health information officer, while her husband, Kulwant, had worked as a lawyer. But they decided to do what was closest to their hearts, and four months ago, they opened Zaika in Marblehead.

In Urdu, zaika means the best flavor, and after a full meal at the restaurant, we decided that the food lived up to its name.

It had been a while since I sampled Indian fare -- the last time occurring in a crowded section of south Tel Aviv, where I was accommodated by platters of Cochin cuisine. The setting for this meal was far from the crowds and noise of a big city.

Zaika is located on the second floor of the Village Plaza, a nondescript, two-story strip mall that has a large parking lot. Zaika's wall murals transport the visitor far from the old seaside North Shore town to the dens of Rajasthan, where scenes of feasts are depicted, including royalty celebrating with rice and fish.

We liked those scenes, and decided to order rice and fish. We began, however, with a lassi beverage ($4). At Zaika, all of the food is homemade, including the yogurt. They stir the yogurt slowly, by hand, and add mango pulp, a dash of sugar, and a few ice cubes. This is a superb drink that everyone should have at least once.

As we sipped our lassis, we were served Indian fast food, the Zaika vegetarian platter ($7.50). There were plenty of spices in all of the golden fried patties that included vegetable samosas, paneer pakoras, aloo tikkis, and onion bhajis.

We were pleased with this dish, which was served with the Zaika bread basket ($9), which featured aloo nan, stuffed with potatoes, peas, and sprinkled with coriander; poori, a deep-fried puffy bread that's crisp on the outside and soft on the inside; and paratha, the traditional Indian bread that's eaten for breakfast along with mango, red and green chili peppers, ginger, carrots, and lemon.

We were starting to fill up when several other dishes were served. If you like spinach, then try the palak paneer ($10.50). It's a finely blended mix of creamy spinach and greens with homemade Indian cheese that's similar to tofu.

If you like chickpeas, order the channa masala ($10). This is a large portion of chick peas with a rich, complicated body of ingredients dominated by onions, potatoes, and a thick tomato sauce.

We were most impressed by the tilapia ($18), a whole fish that's marinated in fresh coriander, garlic, bay leaves, red chili, and mustard seed. It's served with a tomato sauce, and the warm, white flakey fish was just what I needed on a brisk May evening.

Zaika is already a hit with the locals, and the place fills up fast on weekends.

If you want to learn how to cook Indian food, Harjit Jhikka will offer cooking lessons next month. She also plans to hold a henna brunch for women in June.

STEVEN ROSENBERG