RESTAURANTS : Currying Flavor With This Pakistani Restaurant

You can’t really blame Rim Jhim, a new Fountain Valley restaurant, for calling itself an Indian restaurant. But it isn’t. Rim Jhim is a Pakistani restaurant, the name being an expression for romantic feeling in Urdu, the official language of Pakistan.

You’d think Rim Jhim would be Pakistani and proud. But the owners--urbane, well-groomed Yasser Ali, who has a degree in hotel management (from a college in Austria, of all places) and Long Beach oncologist Dr. Khaled Shah--decided that calling their restaurant Pakistani would be, well, a dicey proposition.

It is true, of course, that Indian cuisine is the more familiar around here (there are more than a dozen Indian restaurants in the county). It’s also true that the differences between the two cuisines are subtle at best. The food of Pakistan is, to generalize, richer in meat and more sharply flavored than that of the Mughlai/Punjabi cooking that has become synonymous with “Indian food” in this country. And the fact that Pakistanis are Muslims, not Hindus, lifts any restrictions on the use of beef. You’ll just have to ask the owners why the menu limits itself to one beef dish, a rustic kebab.

Anyway, few cuisines would seem out of place in this cheerfully nondescript little dining room. The owners have tried to brighten the place with plants and a pastel color scheme. The chairs, with their oval backs and pink cushions, look strangely overdressed. Only the classical ragas emanating from remote speakers add a proper note of elegance.

Before plunging into a few Pakistani dishes, it’s a good idea to begin with a couple of appetizers common to the whole of the region once known as Hindustan. The Punjab is to this day divided between India and Pakistan.

Onion bhaji is evocative of that all-American version of onion rings that come fried into a loaf, the pride of a Tony Roma’s or Friday’s. But the twist here is that the onions are bound together by gram (garbanzo bean) flour and seasoned with fresh cilantro, chilies and coriander. The vegetable samosas--steaming flour pastry triangles filled with a spiced potato mixture--are credible here too. I should mention that these dishes, as well as practically everything else served here, are marriages made in heaven for Rim Jhim’s wonderful house chutneys. These condiments just might be the outstanding feature of this restaurant. The spicy, chunky mint chutney, a soft moss green, and the unctuous tamarind chutney are both wonderful, and a sticky mango chutney acquits itself with honor. It is the roast pepper chutney that lingers, however--a ruddy, smoky chutney with just enough fire to keep your palate smoldering throughout a meal.

Now you are ready for true Pakistani fare, which Ali offers on a daily specials menu. Jump right into an order of Lahori korma, the pride of Lahore, a city close to the Indian frontier. The kitchen trims lamb while it’s still on the bone, then braises it slowly with slivered almonds in a cumin- and garlic-flavored yogurt reduction. The result is remarkably tender and gamy in its rich red sauce full of pronounced flavors.

Some may prefer another of Pakistan’s lamb specialties, Peshawari korma, also known as frontier korma. Peshawar is the regional capital in Pakistan’s far west, a dry, dusty expanse near the Afghan border. This region lacks the agricultural richness of the Punjab, so dishes native to it tend toward austerity. Peshawari korma , true to form, is dry-braised lamb with sauteed onion--bite-sized chunks that sting the palate with the pungency of ginger and garlic.

The regular menu resembles that of any other local, er, Indian restaurant. Ditto for the way most of these dishes taste. Several meats cooked in a tandoor, or clay oven. Few make much of an impression.

The lamb tikka is trim and tasty, but the large chunks seem a bit unwieldy. The vaunted tandoori chicken is downright bland; it’s tender enough, but it needs more fire or spice. Only tandoori swordfish, another dish from the specials menu, delivers a knockout punch. This is moist, juicy fish kissed with the fragrances of lemon, ginger and cilantro.

Good tandoori breads-- naan and various kulchas-- are the natural accompaniments. Kulchas are basically oval leavened breads studded with such things as chopped onion or minced garlic, ideal for wrapping the various meats.

Beyond that, there is the usual compendium of curries and masalas, many of which taste strangely similar. Vindaloos, those Goan stews made with a base of vinegar and hot peppers, should be fiery, but these are mild, although they are generously portioned and cooked with skill. Murgh makhani is tandoori chicken cooked in a cream-based curry sauce--the quintessential Mughlai dish, and very good here.

Among the vegetarian specialties, a few stand out. Dal (lentils) is also cooked makhani style, in a rich cream sauce. Sag paneer spinach is deliciously prepared with cubes of mild cheese. And then there is aloo gobi, a dish that seems better suited somehow to the arid climate of frontier Pakistan. The name, literally translated, means “potato cauliflower,” but there is more to the dish than that. The vegetables are cooked together with tomato, ginger and spices.

Shah is justifiably proud of his desserts, the usual big three of Indian restaurants in Southern California. There is a rich kheer, that cardamom-flavored rice and almond pudding, and a rose water- and pistachio-rich kulfi, an ice cream. But save room for the gulab jaman, the golden cheese balls served warm in a sugar syrup. You won’t mind, of course, that this is a Bengali dessert, from clear across the subcontinent.

Rim Jhim is moderately priced. Appetizers are $2.95 to $5.95. Tandoori specialties are $9.95 to $10.95. Main dishes are $6.95 to $14.95.

RIM JHIM

18687-89 Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley.

(714) 963-6777.

Open for lunch Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; for dinner Sunday through Thursday, 5:30 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday till 10 p.m.

Visa and MasterCard accepted.